The Meihua Dagu in Tianjin, China

Abstract

This dissertation focus on the Meihua Dagu in Tianjin, China. The research objectives were 1) To investigate the history and development of Meihua Dagu in Tianjin, China. 2) To analyze the music characteristics of Meihua Dagu in Tianjin, China. 3) To analyze the culture change of Meihua Dagu in Tianjin, China. Researcher use fieldwork and other methods to use questionnaires and interviews and other tools. 2 key informants, 2 casual informant, 2 Tianjin fork art workers were selected. The study results are as follows:

First of all, the development of Meihua Dagu has gone through four periods in total. Origin Period (1840-1949), Prosperity Period (1949-1966), Cessation Period (1966-1976), Continue to Develop Period (1976-2023). Meihua Dagu has different development situations in different periods.

Secondly, an analysis of Meihua Dagu's music. The researcher selected six Meihua Dagu songs from different periods for analysis. The analysis focuses on seven aspects: mode, melody, meter, note duration, tempo, the main idea of the lyrics, etc.

Third, examining Meihua Dagu's cultural change is a very complex process. Meihua Dagu's cultural changes are mainly in two aspects. One is in Meihua Dagu's singing, and the other is in Meihua Dagu's stage performance.

Meihua Dagu has gone through four distinct periods of development, each reflecting a unique evolution of this art form. A detailed analysis of Meihua Dagu music reveals its unique features in different periods. Meihua Dagu eventually developed into two singing characteristics, one is called Old Meihua Dagu and the other is called New Meihua Dagu. Meihua Dagu has three stage performance forms: Wu Yin Lian Tan, Han Deng Da Gu, and Shuang Ren Meihua Dagu.

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