Xiaohai Xin Village
Xiaohai Xin 1 Village (小海新村) is located in Tangzi Street, Xundian Yi and Hui Autonomous County (寻甸彝族回族自治县), Kunming City, Yunnan Province. It is a typical resettlement village. Originally named Xiaohai Village, it underwent a transformation in 2017 when 33 households from Shanhou Village, located 10 kilometers away and facing geological hazards, were relocated to Xiaohai Village with the support of China’s poverty alleviation policies. This relocation led to the renaming of the village as Xiaohai Xin Village. Currently, the village consists of 77 households of original villagers and 33 households of newly relocated villagers. All 33 relocated households are registered impoverished households and have been allocated newly built brick-concrete structured houses. The village is a pure Miao community, belonging to the Da Hua Miao subgroup and speaking the Northeastern Yunnan Miao dialect. In 2020, it was designated as a Featured Village of Ethnic Minorities in China, highlighting its unique cultural and linguistic heritage.
小海新村位于云南省昆明市寻甸彝族和回族自治县的塘子街道。是一个典型的易地搬迁村庄。该村原名为小海村，在中国扶贫攻坚政策的推动下，于2017年迎来了来自10公里外山后村地质灾害隐患点的33户村民，随着这次搬迁，村庄更名为小海新村。目前，村落共由77户老村民和33户新迁入的村民共同组成。新迁入的33户村民均为建档立卡贫困户，并且每户都分到了新建的砖混结构安居房。该村落是一个纯粹的苗族社区，隶属于大花苗的支系，并且使用的是滇东北地区的苗族方言。于2020年被命名为中国少数民族特色村寨。
1. the ‘Xin’ is Pinyin to ‘新’, which is the Chinese word for ‘new’.
Miao Musical Culture in Xiaohai Xin Village
The villagers of Xiaohai Xin Village possess a profound passion for music and dance, reflected in the existence of two performing arts groups: the Old Village Art Troupe and the New Village Art Troupe, with the former is organized into senior, youth, and children’s team. The village’s music and dance are rich and varied, with the older generation primarily preserving the Miao’s traditional songs, such as ancient tunes, flying songs, and Lusheng (mouth organ) tunes. On the other hand, the younger villagers show a preference for modern innovation, enthusiastically embracing newly composed and original Miao songs and dances, as well as contemporary popular music.
Villagers primarily engage in farming and poultry rearing for their livelihoods. In the evenings, after dinner, they come together to relax and entertain themselves with singing and dancing. Here’s a glimpse of the village youths gathering in the activity room after dinner, casually dancing to DJ remixes of Miao songs.
村民们对音乐舞蹈的热忱很高，该村落有两支文艺队：老村文艺队和新村文艺队，其中老村文艺队又分为老年人组、青年人组和儿童组。村里的音乐舞蹈形式多样，中老年人群主要传承苗族的传统歌曲，如古歌、飞歌和芦笙调，而中青年群体则偏爱现代化的创新，热衷于新编曲和原创的苗族歌曲与舞蹈，以及流行歌曲。村民们日常以农耕和家禽养殖为生，通常在晚上劳作之余会聚集在一起，通过唱歌和跳舞来放松娱乐。
ECura’s Collaboration with Xiaohai Xin Village
In February 2024, researcher Keyi Liu, representing the ECura project team, signed a cooperation agreement with two community leaders, Hongming Zhang and Haiyan Long, in Xiaohai Xin Village to jointly promote the inheritance of Miao’s traditional music culture. During the fieldwork in Xiaohai Xin Village, Keyi Liu participated in and observed the local Miao villagers’ music and dance activities, gaining a detailed understanding of the village’s specific needs for developing these domains. The aims of this cooperation are to record the ancient Miao songs passed down by the village elders and to provide support for the younger generation’s new adaptations and creations of Miao music and dance. Additionally, the cooperation intends to use online media platforms to transform these daily music-related activities into digital content for wider dissemination, with the goal of promoting broader recognition and appreciation of Miao music and dance in modern society.
2024年2月，研究员刘可意作为ECura项目的代表，在小海新村与两位社区负责人张洪明和龙海燕签署了共同推进苗族传统音乐文化传承的合作协议。刘可意在田野中参与和观察了小海新村村民们日常的音乐和舞蹈活动，并详细了解了村民们在发展该领域的具体需求。此次合作的目的，一是记录村里老一辈人传承下来的苗族古歌；并根据青年一代改编和创作苗族音乐的需求提供相应的帮助。二是利用线上媒体平台将村民们日常生活中与音乐相关的活动转化为数字内容进行传播，增强公众对苗族音乐与舞蹈的认知与欣赏。
ECura’s Meeting with Miao Community Leader Hongming Zhang for Collaboration
Principal Investigator of the ECura project team, Dr. Lijuan Qian, conducted fieldwork in Yunnan in July 2024. During her fieldwork, she visited Hongming Zhang and inquired about the development needs of the Miao community regarding the preservation of traditional music. During the meeting, Hongming Zhang expressed his desire to learn how to create musical scores using MIDI software for multi-instrument compositions, with the support of ECura’s academic guidance. Additionally, he showed interest in learning piano tuning to ensure that the villagers’ instruments are well-maintained for their musical activities. Furthermore, Hongming Zhang highlighted the rich collection of epic stories within the Miao community that await exploration. Lijuan Qian agreed to begin preparing for these initiatives and proposed collaboration between ECura and the Miao community to enhance their musical capabilities with modern techniques.
ECura 项目团队首席研究员钱丽娟博士于2024年7月在云南进行了实地调研。调研期间，她拜访了苗族社区负责人张洪明，并问询了苗族社区的关于传统音乐保护方面的发展需求。在会谈中，张洪明表达了他希望在 ECura 的学术指导下，学习使用 MIDI 软件为多乐器编曲的愿望。此外，他还对学习钢琴调音表现出了兴趣，以确保村民们的乐器在音乐活动中得到良好的维护。此外，张洪明还强调了苗族社区丰富的史诗故事，这些故事有待进一步发掘。钱丽娟同意为这些计划做准备并将提供技术支持。
ECura’s Meeting with Miao Community Leader Haiyan Long
Dr. Lijuan Qian conducted a month-long fieldwork in Yunnan in July 2024. During this period, she met with Haiyan Long, the collaborative community leader of the Miao community, to discuss current preservation strategies and explore ways in which the ECura project team could technologically and with equipment to assist the Miao villagers in promoting their traditional music and dance.
Lijuan and Haiyan first met in 2017 while Lijuan was working on her Irish Research Council and CAROLINE Cofund research project, ‘Working with NGOs In and Outside Traditional Music in Yunnan’. Haiyan, a Miao native born and raised in Yunnan, is also the first university graduate from her village. Working full-time at an NGO in Yunnan, Haiyan has spent her spare time preparing for the national graduate entrance examination for five consecutive years. Her perseverance and diligence paid off, as she has been admitted to Yunnan Agricultural University for a master’s degree in Rural Development, starting this September.
Long believes that her collaboration with ECura and academic interactions can enhance her professional experience, which in turn will support her studies. She aims to continually act as a bridge between the ECura project team and the Miao villagers, fostering the sustainable development of Miao people’s music and dance through various initiatives.
2024年7月，钱丽娟博士在云南进行了为期一个月的田野采风。在此期间，她与苗族社区的负责人龙海燕会面，讨论了当前的保护策略，并探讨了ECura项目团队在技术和设备上如何协助苗族村民推广他们的传统音乐和舞蹈。
丽娟和海燕的首次见面是在2017年，当时丽娟正在云南进行她的爱尔兰研究理事会和CAROLINE联合基金研究项目“在云南与传统音乐内外的非政府组织合作”。海燕是在云南土生土长的苗族人，也是她所在的苗族村的首位大学毕业生。大学毕业后，海燕在云南的一家非政府组织全职工作，并利用业余时间连续五年准备国家研究生入学考试。她的坚持和努力得到了回报，今年9月，她被云南农业大学录取攻读农村发展硕士学位。
海燕表示，与ECura项目的合作和学术交流可以提升她的专业经验，有利于她今后的学术研究。她旨在继续充当ECura项目团队与苗族村民之间的桥梁，促进苗族音乐和舞蹈的可持续发展。
ECura’s Meeting with Miao Community Leader Hongming Zhang
On September 23rd 2024, research assistant Yalun Yang, representing the ECura project team, visited Xundian County in Kunming City to meet with Hongming Zhang, the community leader of the Miao Xiaohai Xin Village. The meeting focused on resolving two key issues: project payment processes and music production support.
Yalun assisted Hongming in setting up online banking to address a payment issue with service fees from University College Cork (UCC). This enabled efficient online management of project funds and streamlined financial processes. To support Hongming’s music production needs, Yalun recommended and installed EOP NMN Master, a free music notation software, providing on-site training. Given his interest in music arrangement, she also demonstrated how to use GarageBand for track design and instrument layering. Yalun is further exploring Windows-based alternatives to support his work effectively.
Hongming expressed that the collaboration with the ECura project greatly supports the community’s cultural heritage and musical development.
2024年9月23日，ECura项目研究助理杨雅伦前往昆明市寻甸县，与苗族小海新村的社区领袖张洪明会面，重点解决了项目支付和音乐制作支持方面的问题。
杨雅首先伦协助洪明开通了网上银行，以解决与爱尔兰科克大学（UCC）劳务费支付相关的问题，使张洪明能够在线高效管理项目资金，简化财务流程。另外，为支持张洪明的音乐制作需求，杨雅伦推荐并安装了免费的制谱软件EOP NMN Master，并提供了现场培训。鉴于洪明对编曲的兴趣，她还演示了如何使用GarageBand进行音轨设计和乐器分层。杨雅伦也将继续寻找适用于Windows系统的替代方案，以更好地支持洪明的音乐创作。张洪明与ECura项目的合作对苗族社区的文化传承和音乐发展提供了极大的支持。
Preparation Work for the Miao Spoken Language Database: Collaborate with Xuede Li
The ECura project members connected with Xuede Li, the Miao folk specialist of Northwest Yunnan Miao Dialect Area, a month before with the help of local Miao music scholar Yunhui Yang. A preliminary agreement between the ECura team and Mr. Li was reached online to record a voice database. On 5th Nov. 2024, Yalun Yang represented the ECura team and visited Zhaotong City. During the four-day stay, Yalun visited Yunhui Yang, Mr. Li and his family, including his wife, Rongfen Tian. Xuede and Rongfen signed a paper agreement with the ECura team to collaborate on recording for the Miao Spoken language database, and then Yalun helped them set up a bank account for receiving the money from the ECura team. Considering that it is inconvenient for an elderly person to work for long hours staring at a mobile phone screen, the ECura team equipped Mr. Li’s computer with a good quality microphone after consultation and helped him set up the microphone parameters and recording software. Yalun also helped Mr. Li type ancient Miao song lyrics into his computer and taught him how to select vocabulary so that Mr. Li could better understand the focus and process of database recording.
Xuede Li invited Yalun and Yunhui to his hometown village, A Chu Lu. There, he introduced Yalun to the local musicians and participated in a local music performance.The ECura team’s collaboration with Mr Li Xuede shows the determination and action to build a spoken language database of ethnic minorities. In the future, we will also continue to give technical support to Mr Li and increase our recording and observation of the local Miao culture.
2024年11月5日，项目助理杨雅伦代表ECura团队来到昭通市开展了为期四天的工作。ECura团队于此前一个月通过苗族音乐学者杨云惠线上联系上了李学德老师，李学德是滇东北次方言区的民俗专家，尤其通晓苗族音乐和苗族古歌的演唱。杨雅伦的此次到来为与李老师录制苗族语音数据库做了前期准备。在杨雅伦的帮助下，李学德老师和其妻子田荣芬与ECura团队签署了同意录制语音数据库的纸质合同，之后又帮助他们在银行设立专门的账户以便接收合作款项。考虑到老年人不便长时间紧盯小小的手机屏幕，ECura团队为李老师的电脑配置了高品质麦克风以及便捷的录音软件。同时，雅伦和李学德一起整理了苗族古歌的词汇，让李老师更熟悉语料库录制的重点和流程。
此外，李学德老师还邀请杨雅伦和杨云惠前往他的家乡阿初鲁村，为雅伦介绍了当地音乐家，并参与了饭后的音乐表演。ECura团队与李老师的合作展示了团队对于搭建少数民族语音数据库的决心和行动。经过沟通和交流，李老师很好地理解了录制内容、方法并和团队形成良好关系。ECura团队也将继续致力于对苗族音乐文化的观察记录和保护。
Meeting with Zhang Hongming
The ECura Project Assistant Yalun Yang revisited Miao musician Hongming Zhang in Xundian County, Kunming City, on 10th-11th March 2025 to establish the progress of his musical activities and to agree on further collaboration. Mr. Zhang took time from his busy schedule to show Yalun his electronic software to create a short score. Since Yalun’s last visit to Mr Zhang and the software installation, Mr. Zhang has successfully used the software to transcribe his composed songs into simplified notification scores, providing more convenience for his future music teaching and promotion. After that, Mr. Zhang showed Yalun 19 Miao songs composed by Mr. Zhang and will help him to record and arrange the pentatonic scores in the future.
ECura项目助理杨雅伦于2025年3月10日至11日再度于昆明市寻甸县拜访了苗族音乐家张洪明，确立了他的音乐活动进展并商定后续合作内容。张先生百忙之中抽空为雅伦展示了自己用电子软件制作的简谱，自从上次雅伦拜访张先生并为他安装了软件之后张先生成功用软件将自己创作的歌曲转录成了简谱，这将为他以后的音乐教学和宣传提供更多的便利。之后，雅伦认真记录了张先生创作的19首苗族歌曲，并将在后续的时间里对他的五线谱录制以及编曲进行帮助。
