Chaozhou Music 潮州音乐 - Welcoming the Guests from Heaven 迎仙客

[ccs168]

nice music !

[gogosurr]

the banners hanging behind

him

are superb

[dbadagna]

Can you summarize what the gentleman introducing the piece has to say about the title?

[kesflight]

@dbadagna not the best translation ever but here you go:

This song, 'Welcoming the Guests from Heaven', also has an alternate title, 'Welcoming the visiting Soldiers'. The thing about this song that shows through in all variations, I believe, is the word 'welcome'. Initially this 'welcome' was used to refer to greeting the soldiers, then their position was elevated until they became 'heavenly'. In this way they became 'heavenly guests', because it's like saying that these (cont.)

[dbadagna]

@kesflight

I've just found out that there is a piece of this same title (not sure if the melody is similar or the same) in the repertoire of the Daoist music of the Ming Dynasty. I'll have to look for more information about this.

[kesflight]

@dbadagna ordinary folks could do things above and beyond the norm, which would have lead to the term 'heavenly' being applied. So when you raise up 'soldiers' to become 'heavenly', it's like acknowledging and respecting their achievements. The song itself reflects this spirit in its music, like in the line 'in manners like scholars, with respect and humbleness'.

[dbadagna]

@kesflight

Thank you; that's fascinating. I've also seen this title translated as "Welcoming the Fairies" (from the heavens as in the famous "Fairy Couple" story from Huangmei opera), but I guess that was wrong.

[kesflight]

@dbadagna No, no, that makes sense too- the problem here is the word Xian, or '仙', which literally translates into 'immortal' but can be read in several other ways depending on context. Heavenly spirits is one, fairies is another, so that could be a correct reading of it as well. Also, my Chinese really isn't the greatest, so it's possible I might've made an error here or there.

[dbadagna]

@kesflight

Sometimes the titles of old qupais are very strange, and shrouded in mystery. Faced with a lack of documentary evidence, sometimes all we have to rely on are (educated) guesses. I actually played this piece in a Chinese ensemble and the director translated the title as "Welcoming the Guests." Regarding the Eight Immortals, I just learned that the Hakka (in Taiwan and Indonesia, and maybe some other places too) do music and rituals in their honor.