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Chaozhou Xianshiyue in Hong Kong: A Case Study of the Music Division of the Hong Kong Chiu Chow Merchants Mutual Assistance Society, Ltd. by LAW Bing Kuen Anthony A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Philosophy In Ethnomusicology ©The Chinese University of Hong Kong May 2002 The Chinese University of Hong Kong holds the copyright of this thesis. Any person(s) intending to use a part or whole of the materials in the thesis in a proposed publication must seek copyright release from the Dean of the Graduate School. i 々/统系書圔!A I 21 1 iT ji ” WVXLibrary ^sy I i, i 二 I! Ji f.' U ！j KI Abstract of thesis entitled: Chaozhou Xianshiyue in Hong Kong: A Case Study of the Music Division of the Hong Kong Chiu Chow Merchants Mutual Assistance Society, Ltd Submitted by LAW Bing Kuen Anthony for the degree of Master of Philosophy at The Chinese University of Hong Kong in May 2002 Due to its unique geographical and political circumstances, Hong Kong was one of the most common destinations of emigrants from China in the twentieth century. The Chinese immigrants, who came from different places of origin, also brought their culture into Hong Kong. Today, we can still observe the persistence of these imported cultures. One of these observable cultures is the Chaozhou culture. Since May of 1999, the author has carried out continuous investigation on the musical activities of the Music Division of Hong Kong Chiu Chow Merchants Mutual Assistance Society, Ltd. in Hong Kong. The music performed during their activities is called xianshiyue and is a kind of sizhuyue attributed to Chaozhou ethnic groups by both insiders and scholars. In order to understand the content and the meanings of the musical activities, this thesis will be an ethnography based on the author's observations and interviews during fieldwork, and will discuss and explain xianshiyue in Hong Kong in terms of ethnic group and boundary. 潮州弦絲樂在香港： 香港潮商互助社音樂部個案研究 Chaozhou Xianshiyue in Hong Kong: A Case Study of the Music Division of the Hong Kong Chiu Chow Merchants Mutual Assistance Society, Ltd 羅秉權 論文概略(中文譯本） 因著地理上及政治上的獨特因素，香港曾是國内移民主要之目的地之一 °這 些來自國内不同地區的移民，亦曾豐富了本地文化多元的特色。直至今天， 我們仍可看見這些外來文化——潮州文化的一些餘暉。 自1995年5月，作者對「香港潮商互助社音樂部」的活動進行了一連 串的考查工作。在他們進行活動的同時，「弦詩樂」 種被中外學者譽為 各地潮州族群獨有的「絲竹樂」亦有演出。為了解「弦詩樂」的音樂内容及 它在這些活動當中的意義，筆者將根據實地考查所得，對香港「弦詩樂」的 演出活動作出報告，並將之以「族群」及「族群界線」等角度一併討論。 Acknowledgment With his continuous encouragement and valuable suggestions, this thesis was made possible by Professor J. Lawrence Witzleben, the supervisor of this thesis. Thanks also goes to ethnomusicology professors of the Music Division of the Graduate School of The Chinese University of Hong Kong, namely, Prof. Yu Siu Wah, Prof. Chan Sau Yan, and Prof. Tsao Pen Yeh, for re-shaping the way in which I think about music and the study in the Graduate School. Deep gratitude is expressed to Liu Fu-guang, and numerous informants, for their valuable information and friendly attitude, which have made me feel at ease during fieldwork. Last but not least, to my family, especially my mother, for their comfort, support and patience all the times. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page List of Tables iii Abbreviations iv Introduction 1 Concepts 5 Previous Studies on Xianshiyue 6 Fieldwork 10 PART ONE: CULTURAL AND SOCIAL BACKGROUND 19 Chapter One: Hong Kong 20 The Rise of Modem Hong Kong: Hong Kong 21 in the Nineteenth Century Formation of Norms and Values 27 Chapter Two: The Chaozhou Community of Hong Kong 30 The Name 30 The Area 31 The People and Culture 32 Migration of Chaozhou People to Hong Kong 35 Social Organization of the Chaozhou Community 41 The Chiu Chow Merchants Mutual Assistance Society 43 PART TWO: XIANSHIYUE 48 Chapter Three: Xianshiyue in Hong Kong 49 The Music Division of the Hong Kong Chiu Chow 51 Merchants Mutual Assistance Society (the "MD") From Waijiang Traditions to Chaozhou Traditions 56 Performances in the Music Club Context 61 Performances in the Concert Hall Context 72 Performances in the Chaoju Context 76 Performances in the Gatherings of the Parent Organization 80 Summary of the Performance Contexts of Xianshiyue.. 82 in Hong Kong Chapter Four: The Music of Xianshiyue 84 Setting Up the Temperament 86 Tuning Process as Social Process 90 Conclusion 93 Glossary of Chinese Characters 96 Bibliography 100 Appendix A: An Inquiry on the Place of Origin of 109 Hong Kong Chinese People Appendix B: Newspaper cutting Showing Ethnic Stereotypes 110 i ii LIST OF TABLES Number Page 1. Chaozhou population prior to WWII (figures from Hong Kong Census 37 Reports, 1841-1941, quoted by Sparks 1978:26). 2. Xianshiyue performances in the concert hall context by the XCY. 74 iii ABBREVIATIONS CGL Chaozhouxue guoji lunwenji. {Collected essays of International Conference on Chaozhou Studies,《潮州學國際研討會論文集》， Guangzhou: Jinan Daxue Chubanshe[暨南大學出版社]). COMMAS Hong Kong Chiu Chow Merchants Mutual Assistance Society (香 港潮商互助社). MD The Music Division of the Hong Kong Chiu Chow Merchants Mutual Assistance Society (香港潮商互助社音樂部). MZMJYY Minzu minjian yinyue. {Chinese folk music,《中國民間音樂》， Guangzhou; from 1981 to 1984, called Minzu minjian yunyue yanjiu [Chinese folk music research《中國民間音樂研究》， Guangzhou). XCY Xianggang Chaoyue Yanzoutuan (Hong Kong Chaozhou Music Ensemble,香港潮樂演奏團）. YYS Zhongguo Yishu Yanjiuyuan Yinyue Yanjiusuo (Chinese Academy of Arts, Music Research Institute,中國藝術研究院音樂研究所)• iv INTRODUCTION Hong Kong has a population of seven million, and among them around 95 percent are ethnic Chinese from many different regions of China (Witzleben 2000:81), mostly from the coastal region of Guangdong (Canton) province. Although it has a population that comprises various Chinese regional ethnic groups, cultural diversity is not significant in Hong Kong if we observe what is inside the mainstream of the marco-domain/ As far as music is concerned, to most Hong Kong people the domain mainstream is the mass media and Cantonese pop. Nevertheless, diversity still can be observed. In his article on “Musical Systems and Intergenre Relationships in Hong Kong", Witzleben has reported on various musical activities and has identified four musical systems within these activities, namely "Chinese", "Western", “a syncretic fusion" of both “Chinese” and "Western", and "foreign" traditions (2000: 82). The application of these labels varies according to different users. For example, the labels "Chinese" and “syncretic,，are applied to Cantonese pop by, respectively, "most Hong Kong listeners" and "ethnomusicologists" of both Western and Chinese origin (88). In addition, cultural diversity does not only 1 In Hong Kong, where ethnic Chinese form the majority in the population, macro-domain refers to the culture of the ethnic Chinese, while micro-domain refers to the culture of minorities, such as Filipinos and Indians. exist at the macro-level of Chinese vs. Western music, but also within individual musical systems. Within the “Chinese” system that the article focuses on, Witzleben discusses various "subsystems" to illustrate the intergenre relationships, leading to the discussion of the intricate parameters involved in the studies of a complex urban music culture (88-89). Aside from his concerns with "total music" vs. "musical systems" in the urban ethnomusicological studies, Witzleben's descriptions and categorizations of local music have reflected the complexity of ethnic structure and the diversity of music in Hong Kong. Within the "Chinese" system, musical activities can be further divided into categories like "pan-Chinese" and "regional". Although not being major components in the macro-domain, some traditions of Chinese “regional” music and ethnic music are still going on in places that are not widely known, and they always remind us that they had once been significant in the local history. This thesis examines one of Hong Kong's lesser-known traditions of regional music: it is a case study of an amateur music club in Hong Kong. Inside the music club, xianshiyue {xianshi in shorter form), a musical genre indigenous to the Chaozhou region and recognized as a part of its culture by both Chinese and Western scholars, is performed. The amateur music club, The Music Division of 2 The Chiu Chow Merchants Mutual Assistance Society 香港潮商亙助社音樂部 (abbreviated as “MD” below) has existed as a division under the parent organization, The Chiu Chow Merchants Mutual Assistance Society 香港潮商亙 助社(abbreviated as “CCMMAS” below),^ for more than seventy years, and it is the most reputable music club within the participants' network. Xianshiyue is a kind of traditional instrumental ensemble indigenous to the Chaozhou region. It is also called xianyue (literally 'string music') (Lin 1994: 416), and xianyue is more often used in the Chaozhou region (Jones 1995: 324). The origin of the name xianshiyue "is uncertain" (Dujunco 1994: 33).^ The name xianshi (literally “the string poems"), a popular outsider's term for Chaozhou string music, “suggests that the repertory once consisted of accompanied songs, but as neither lyrics nor the vocal tradition survive; the claim that the ‘poems, were once accompanied by the plucked zither qin is dubious"(Jones 1995: 324). However, after making comparisons between its notation system (ersipu, literally "two four notation", using Chinese numbers to -The name CCMMAS was used since its establishment in 1930. However, after its registration as a limited company in 1969, the name has been altered to "Hong Kong Chiu Chow Merchants Mutual Assistance Society, Limited". As the original name, The Chiu Chow Merchants Mutual Assistance Society, is commonly used within the society, the author retains the name in this thesis. The address of the CCMMAS is Flat A-D, 4'Vf, Overseas Trust Bank Building, Des Voeux Road West, Hong Kong. 3 See Dujunco 1994:33. According to the past writings on xianshiyue available to the author, the term xianshiyue is first seen in Zhang Bo-jie's article in Chaoju Yinyue, together with other terms luogu (drums and gongs), suona qupai (the fixed tunes of suona) and ditao (the flute suites) (Zhang 1983:9-30, first published in 1958).

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