Time: 2006

Category: Folk Literature

Region: Yunnan

Number: Ⅰ-28

Application area or unit: Shilin Yi Autonomous County, Yunnan Province

1. Introduction

Shilin culture is profound, and the Yi culture represented by Ashima is rich in connotation, far-reaching influence, and the most influential What affects is "a poem", "a shadow", "a song", "a dance", "a section", and "a embroidery". "Ashima", a long narrative poem popular among the Sani people, a branch of the Yi ethnic group in Shilin Yi Autonomous County, Yunnan Province, represents the "one shadow" and "one song" in it. "Yi Shi" is a long narrative poem "Ashima" recorded in Yi language, which has been translated into more than 20 languages ????and distributed at home and abroad; "Yi Ying" is a long poem adapted into China's first color musical film "Ashima" 》 later became famous at home and abroad.

"Ashima" uses oral poetry language to tell or sing the story of Ashima. The story of Ashima's unyielding struggle against powerful forces reveals the human ideal that light will eventually replace darkness, goodness and beauty will eventually replace ugliness, and freedom will replace oppression and confinement. It reflects the fact that the Sani people of the Yi nationality "cannot bend" national character and national spirit. "Ashima" is called "the song of our nation" by the Sani people. The legend of Ashima has become a part of the Sani people's daily life, weddings and funerals, and other customs and habits, and is widely sung among the people. Its artistic charm has become newer over time and has not diminished in brilliance. It has become a dazzling treasure in the garden of Chinese national literature and is famous in the world of literature.

2. Historical legends

Ashima is a classic legend of the Yi-Sani people. The smart, kind, beautiful and hard-working peasant girl Ashima falls in love with the brave and honest shepherd Ahei. The leader's son used both soft and hard tactics to pursue Ashima, but Ashima resolutely refused. Azhi was determined to be a traitor, so the central matchmaker Hai Tie came to force the marriage with generous gifts, but was flatly rejected again. So Azhi took advantage of Ahei's opportunity to go far away to herd sheep and sent someone to kidnap Ashima. Ashima took the opportunity to throw the camellia that was in love with Ah Hei into the stream. The stream immediately reversed, and Ah Hei rushed back to the rescue after being informed. He was blocked by mountains on the way, so he shot through the mountains with magic arrows, opened a passage, galloped forward, and moved forward quickly. Azhi tried all kinds of threats and inducements, but could not make Ashima give in. Ah Zhi became angry and was about to whip Ashima, but Ah Hei arrived in time. A Zhi proposed to have a showdown with A Hei Saige. A Zhi lost the game, but was still unwilling to accept it, and tried to kill A Hei with a secret arrow. Ah Hei angrily shot a divine arrow through the village gate and the pillars of the hall, and the arrow hit the tablet of the Lord God. Ah Zhi ordered the servants to pull out the arrow with all their strength, but the arrow did not move at all. Azhi was so frightened that he had to release Ashima. Ashima and Ah Hei happily rode home together. They came to the stream and dismounted to take a rest. A Zhi led his men to steal A Hei's magic arrow and set off a flood to drown Ashima. Ah Hei called her name sadly and angrily, but Ashima had turned into a majestic stone statue and remained in the world for thousands of years. Just as the local folk singer sang: "On the twelve cliffs, there is a girl standing. She is a flower in the sky, and she is the lovely Ashima." The long poem adopts a romantic and mythological poetic style. The technique highlights the goodness and beauty, wisdom and strength, diligence and bravery of the characters.

3. Characteristics

The original form of "Ashima" was created in the Sani Yi language. It is the crystallization of the collective wisdom of the Sani people after many years of hard work. It has a wide range of Mass nature. It is mainly spread in the areas where the Yi and Sani people live in Shilin Yi Autonomous County, Yunnan Province, and is divided into two similar schools in the north and the south. As a narrative poem, it can be narrated or sung. The singing tunes include "happy tune", "old man tune", "sad tune", "crying tune", "scold tune", etc. There is no fixed occasion for singing, and it can be sung at weddings, sacrifices, etc. It is sung and told in many different occasions such as funerals, labor, and daily life. In addition, it also has the following main characteristics:

1. Fresh content

"Ashima", in terms of genre, is of course a long narrative poem, but Its content is not dry at all. It has a heavy lyrical component. It pours hearty emotions into every chapter, first section, and every sentence.

The whole poem is like a big garden of life, full of colorful colors and fragrant fragrance.

2. The plot is simple

Although this is a narrative poem, the plot of the story is not too complicated, and the people of Sani used it to express their emotions and spent one thousand and fifty It took six hundred lines to sing it. They are telling a story and actually praising their heroes. Love and hate are clear and strong.

3. Rich rhetorical techniques

"Ashima" is sung in five-character sentences, which uses foreshadowing, exaggeration, irony and other techniques as well as harmonies, thimbles, strings, metaphors, etc. Technique, content and form are perfectly unified.

4. The historical development of "Ashima"

Fifty years ago, the publication of "Ashima", a Sani folk narrative poem of the Yi ethnic group, caused a sensation across the country. It has been translated into English, French, German, Spanish, Russian, Japanese, Korean and other languages ??and spread overseas. In Japan, it has also been adapted into radio dramas, musicals, children's dramas and other art forms. Domestically, "Ashima" has been adapted into movies and performed in various places including Peking opera, Yunnan opera, opera, dance drama, and Sani opera. China's first color widescreen stereo music and dance film "Ashima" won the first International Music and Dance Film Award in Santander, Spain, in 1982. "Ashima" began to become famous at home and abroad.

From then on, the image of Ashima, a hard-working, kind-hearted, good at singing and dancing, and not afraid of power, not only lives in the hearts of the Yi people in Sani, but also lives in the hearts of people all over the world forever. . On August 6, 2004, the Minzu University of China and the People's Government of Shilin County jointly organized an international academic seminar on "Ashima" to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the publication of the narrative poem "Ashima" and the 40th anniversary of the filming of the movie "Ashima". The conference once again brought the masterpiece "Ashima" to the stage of the new century. Experts and scholars at home and abroad from different regions and countries, but with the same intention, took this opportunity to face the problem from all aspects. The culture of "Ashima" has been studied and discussed at multiple levels. This is the first international academic symposium with the theme of "Ashima". The convening of this conference marks the opening of a new page in Ashima research and establishes a future direction for Ashima research. milestone.

However, with changes in lifestyles, education systems, and social spaces where minority languages ??are used, the inheritance of "Ashima" is facing a crisis.

Currently, the representative text of the Yi Nationality Sani oral narrative poem "Ashima" for national intangible cultural heritage application has been listed as an application text template by the Ministry of Culture. The Shilin County Party Committee and County Government attach great importance to the application work. Protect a group of inheritors of the long oral narrative poem "Ashima" in the Sani language of the Yi ethnic group, protect a group of Ashima cultural ecological villages, compile a series of Ashima cultural books, and plan to build a medium-sized "Ashima Cultural Exhibition Hall" , established an "Ashima Cultural Research Institute", formulated a series of protection and development measures, registered a number of "Ashima" cultural trademarks, established an "Ashima" protection fund, etc. to promote the oral transmission of the Sani language of the Yi people. This provides a guarantee for the protection and inheritance of the long narrative poem "Ashima".

5. Significance of inheritance

Ashima, a long narrative poem passed down orally in the Sani language of the Yi ethnic group, is a beautiful song that is spread orally by the Sani people. The collective creation of generations. It fully reflects the living habits and customs of the Sani people. This sentiment in life is reflected in poetry, creating a feature that is different from other national poetry. It is a long poem with rich ideological content and very beautiful. It is also a long poem that shines with national color in the treasure house of Chinese people's literature and art.