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Collection of Chinese Folk SongsWith Lu Ji as the chief editor and He Luting, Zhou Weizhi and Sui Shen as the vice editors, this collection reflects the quintessence of Chinese folk songs, which were passed down orally from generation to generation.

While the collection was being compiled in different provinces, the editors insisted on covering the widest range, gathering the most complete genres and guaranteeing the highest quality. For example, folk songs prevailing in a certain area would be investigated and collected comprehensively in forms including audio, musical scores, pictures, texts and video.

Each volume of the collection demonstrates the special features of the local music in four parts: pictures, texts, scores and folk singers introductions. There are about 300,000 folk songs in the collection, while the repertoire pieces reach about 40,000 accompanied with nearly 2,000 exquisite performing photos. Of the total 30 volumes, 28 have already been released, and the last two will be published by 2005 to finish the whole collection of 49.32 million characters.

  Collection of Chinese Traditional Opera Music

The chief editor of this collection is Zhou Weizhi and the vice editors are Lu Su, Yu Cong, Chang Jingzhi and He Wei. The collection is a multiple-volume musical series that is scientific, comprehensive and representative. The collection systematically sorts out the fine music heritages of traditional opera of various ethnic groups and different regions as well as the achievements in opera music after the establishment of the People’s Republic of China.

It provides full and accurate materials for inheriting, referring and developing the traditional opera music, and endeavors to be complete, accurate, precise and clear. Different volumes are based on the divisions of China’s different provinces, with a total of about 20,000 arias, 10,000 instrumental tunes, 200 highlights from operas, 2,500 historical pictures and 4,000 artists introductions. Twenty-nine of the total 30 volumes have already been released and the rest will be published by 2005 to finish the whole collection of 59.22 million characters.

  Collection of Chinese Folk and Ethnic Instrumental Music

The chief editor is Li Ling and the vice editors are Huang Xiangpeng, Ding Ming and Wang Minji. The main contents in this collection are the rich traditional instrumental arias performed by folk artists in the past twenty years or so, as well as the representative instrumental music pieces (except ancient string instruments) collected between the 1950s and the 1970s. Religious, palace and sacrificial music are also collected due to its close relationship with instruments.

About 11,661 instrumental music pieces are collected in the 22 volumes that have already been published. Plenty of both black and white as well as color photos, and pictures of special local instruments also accompany the music pieces. The whole collection, with 67 million characters in 30 volumes, will be fully finished by 2006.

  Records of Chinese Quyi Music

The chief editor is Sun Shen and the two vice editors are Zhang Ming and Feng Guangyu. The collection dynamically incorporates Quyi music, social life and cultural tradition in various forms of expressions such as audio, scores, captions, tables and photos. The content selection, editing style and layout are clear and scientific. The accurate recording of the scores, the precise overviews and the detailed explanations all comprehensively reflect the development and the current condition of the time-honored Quyi music.

There are 509 different kinds of Quyi music in the Han Ethnic Group alone. There are also more than 2,000 photos of various performing styles, representative figures and historical files. Twenty-four of the total 29 volumes have been published, with the rest scheduled for release by 2006. In total, the whole collection will boast 52.6 million characters.Collection of Chinese Folk Dances The chief editor is Wu Xiaobang and the vice editor is Sun Jingchen. The collection endeavors to precisely, scientifically and comprehensively record the folk dances of various ethnicities and different places. Not only are the gestures, music, logs, costumes and properties recorded, but also the prevailing areas, historical development, styles, features, relevant legends, documentary files, artists introductions, crafts and folk customs of the folk dances, as well as the relevant customs and religious ceremonies.

Each volume is edited in a unified style, basically composed of three parts: an overview, an investigation table and the most representative local dances. The collection records numerous folk dances with an abundance of photos as elaboration. All 30 volumes with 42.13 million characters have already been released.

  Records of Chinese Traditional Opera

The chief editor is Zhang Geng and the vice editors are Yu Cong and Xue Ruolin. The collection is the first professional opera history sponsored by the Chinese government, reflecting the histories and the current conditions of various local and national operas. Each volume is edited in a unified style, and is composed of four parts: an overview, a chronology and glossary, a section on history and biographies.

The collection contains 15,000 pictures, covering 394 different operas, 5,318 repertoires, 1,832 performance sites, 730 opera relics, 1,584 journals and 4,220 biographies. This gigantic work provides a panoramic view of Chinese opera culture with high degrees of accuracy and comprehensiveness. All 31 volumes with 32.34 million characters have already been released.

Collection of Chinese Folktales

With Zhong Jingwen as the chief editor, famous literati Li Kuili, Xu Yu and Zhang Zichen are the vice editors of the Chinese folktales collection, which comprehensively reflects the current condition of Chinese folk oral prose. The works in the collection are faithful records of the best stories passed down orally in various districts and ethnic groups.

All the works are characterized by distinctive ethnic and local flavors as well as literal, appreciative and scientific values. Various oral forms of folktales including mythology, legends, stories and jokes, accompanied with plenty of photos, are collected. Twenty-three of the total 30 volumes have been published, with the rest scheduled for publication by 2006, drawing an end to the total 40 million characters of collection.

  Collection of Chinese Ballads

Jia Zhi is the chief editor and Zhang Wen and Tao Jianji are the vice editors. This huge collection gathers folk ballads of various regions, ethnic groups and forms since the May 4th Movement in 1919. This large-scale collection mobilized more than 100,000 folk art workers across the country to investigate and gather the folk ballads in their local regions. Fifteen volumes, with a collection of 24,695 ballads, of the total 30 volumes have been published. The whole collection will boast 20 million characters.

  Collection of Chinese Proverbs

The chief editor is Ma Xueliang, and the vice editors are Tao Yang, Tao Li and Li Yaozong. With in-depth investigations and comprehensive soliciting, the collection compiles proverbs from various ethnic groups prevailing in different parts of the country ranging from ancient times to nowadays.

The collection is composed of ten categories accompanied with abundant photos and attaches great importance to the ethnic flavors, special usages, dialects and literary quotations, with special explanations included. Eighteen of the total 30 volumes have been published. The entire collection will boast 45 million characters and will be released by 2006.

  Records of Chinese Quyi

The chief editor is Luo Yang and vice editors are Wang Boyun and Zhou Liang. Each volume has a unified style of four different sections. In chronological order, the history part covers aspects such as Quyi genres and titles, music, performance, stage art, troupes, performing sites, performing customs, relics, publications, episodes, folklores and proverbs. It is accompanied by an abundance of pictures, demonstrating the panoramic view of Chinese Quyi art development before 1985. Fifteen of the total 29 volumes have already been released and the whole collection will have 20.3 million characters.

Author: Jeff

(Source: chinaculture.org)