Bulang musical landscape
‘Tune of the Horse Caravan’ (赶马调)
‘Tune of the Horse Caravan’ is from Yunnan province, the Southwest mountain area of China. Many ethnic minority groups live there, as well as the majority Han Chinese. In fact, there are many folk songs under the name of ‘Tune of the Horse Caravan’ with totally different melodies and lyrics. The example given here was sung in Han Chinese, by a Bulang women named Yang Ziju who is from Baoshan city. Yang doesn’t know whether this song is originally Han or Bulang or when it first emerged, but her mother taught her that it was sung by people who are going to travel (personal communication, 8 July 2018). Historically, the city and its region were economically underdeveloped, and man there often had to travel elsewhere to make a living.
Lyrics: (Say to you, older brother) October is coming, (ai yo, plum flowers are smiling, my older brother.) The swan is passing the road, your younger sister is worried (ai ai, my old brother). [Lyrics explained in Mandarin by Yang Ziju]
Lijuan Qian. 2019. ‘The Music of China’. On Music of the World. Class 12, 13, 14 and 15. Herndon, VA. Connect for Education, Inc. (https://c4elink.org/).