Field Songs

These songs are also called field-planting or weeding drum songs. They were born in the great crop-growing regions around the Yangtze and Pearl rivers. In these regions, two and sometimes three harvests a year were normal, and so the tempo of work was intense, including planting, weeding, irrigation, harvesting, etc. The need for songs to regulate the farmers' moods and relieve their fatigue arose spontaneously. However, farm work was different from the type of laboring described above, as although it was collective work it was not as necessary that everyone should work in unison. Therefore, the field songs were like the Haozi inasmuch as they were closely related to work, but they were different from the point of view that they did not need to coordinate the rhythm of the work. So the forms of the field songs were somewhat different from those of the haozi.

In most of the large farming areas there were semi-professional singers. They bore the respectful titles of Geshi, Gebo or Gejiang, all of which can be translated into "singing master". These people were skilled at making up extemporaneous songs, and they also had large repertoires of historical tales and carried on the tradition of long epic ballads. In the busy planting seasons, they would be invited to come and help the work along. Two or three would stand at the head of the field and sing antiphonally, sometimes accompanying themselves on drums and gongs. Because crop planting took place from dawn to dusk, the singers were expected to perform all day. To entertain the farmers and help take their minds off their fatigue, they would intersperse their songs with interesting stories and comic routines at random. Sometimes, the singers would give the work orders, including moving to other work areas, and announce meal and rest times. In order to encourage the workers, the employer would sometimes hire two "singing teams", and get them to compete with each other in singing for prizes. There were occasions also when the master singers would sing the lead, and the workers would join in the chorus.

Distinct characteristics grew up in dialect, customary presentation, structure and musical style among the field songs of the different regions. In addition, they were called by different names, some of the prominent ones being: the Gedongdai and Luoguche of Jiangsu province, the Qingpu folksongs of Shanghai, the Calling the Crops and Weeding the Crops songs of Anhui Province, Jiangxi's Zhushangu and Drum Song, Hubei's Changyang Weeding to the Sound of Gongs and Drums, Field Chant and Weeding Song, Yunnan's Flower Drum and Gong Song, Hunan's Treading the Fields and Duoluodong songs, Fujian's Weeding the Field Rhyme, the Crops Song of Guangxi and Guangdong provinces, and haozi to accompany weeding sung in Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan provinces.

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