Hakka-Chaozhou Instrumental Repertoire: An Analytic Perspective on Traditional Creativity

In both the Hakka and Chaozhou instrumental repertoires, as in most regional repertoires of China, the outside listener is struck not only by the continuity in style among pieces, but also by the similarity in melody. At the root of this perceived melodic similarity lies the historic use of melodic models as bases for new compositions. The 68-beat model examined in this study, which survives under numerous names and variant, is easily the most pervasive structure in South China.1 Yet, to date no in-depth analysis of the underlying principles of melodic variation has appeared in either Chinese or Western scholarship. What is further, few Hakka and Chaozhou performing musicians recognize the melodic relationships that are obvious through analysis. In preparation for this study, I conducted numerous interviews with musicians and scholars of eastern Guangdong province. In one long session on structural similarities apparent to me, the noted Chaozhou zheng performer Lin Maogen responded out of frustration with Westerners always think that Chinese music sounds the same! In fact, each (of the 68-beat variants) is different and unique, and any melodic resemblance amongst them only coincidence. This response I initially dismissed in the light of overwhelming structural evidence to the contrary. However, as this point of view (emphasizing the difference) was confirmed again and again in interviews with other musicians and scholars, it became necessary to re-evaluate the very concepts of melodic similarity and melodic difference as understood by Hakka and Chaozhou musicians. As I will show at the end of this study, Lin Maogen is correct in stating that each piece is different because, in the traditional viewpoint, musical structure is not among the criteria for evaluating melodic relationships. This study is about musical structure. I will, in the conclusion, explain the reasoning behind the traditional Chinese view of melodic difference, but will not attempt to exactly correlate these disparate orientations.