When did the song "Good Jasmine Flower" appear?

Origin

"Jasmine" is a Jiangsu folk song. This is well known because Jiangsu's version is the earliest and most representative, but its origin is quite controversial. The current mainstream view is that "Jasmine" originated in Yangzhou.

In the 1990s, cities such as Nanjing and Yancheng in Jiangsu Province rushed to say that they were the birthplace of the folk song "Jasmine", and even published articles in some media to prove it. On October 16, 2000, two Yangzhou cultural figures published an article in the media ""Jasmine" originated from Yangzhou Qingqu". Since then, no other different voices have been heard. These two cultural figures are Zhu Xiangsheng, executive deputy director of Yangzhou Qingqu Research Institute, and Nie Feng, deputy director. Among them, Mr. Nie Feng also studied under Wang Wanqing, a modern master of Yangzhou Qing opera performance. The long-term accumulated knowledge of Qing opera convinced the two that "Jasmine" originated from Yangzhou Qing opera.

Yangzhou Qingqu is also called Yangzhou Xiaoqu and Yangzhou Xiaodiao. "Jasmine" originally belonged to Yangzhou's Yangge minor tune. Later, after continuous processing by Yangzhou Qing opera artists of all generations, it evolved into the famous flower tune of Yangzhou Qing opera. During the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, a collection of "Decoration of White Qiu", which was a collection of widely circulated local operas at that time, collected and published "Flower Flower Tune", with music scores and lyrics. Except for a few characters that are different from the current "Jasmine Flower", the lyrics are exactly the same. This is the earliest and most complete record of "Flower Flower Tune" found so far. This is enough to prove that "Jasmine" originated from Yangzhou Qingqu. The two cultural figures also listed various evidences from other aspects to support the origin of "Jasmine" and Yangzhou. After the article came out, the discord immediately disappeared. Later, many scholars and literati from other places began to gradually publish articles claiming that "Jasmine" came from Yangzhou.

This popular Yangzhou ditty spread throughout the country with the influence of Yangzhou at that time, and influenced operas and folk arts in many other places. 150 years ago, Yangzhou was the economic and cultural center of China and a world-famous city. The "Jasmine" it produced was a household name at the time and everyone could hum it. Decades later, when Puccini composed "Turandot", he chose "Jasmine", which not only represented the oriental charm but was also popular in China, as the theme music to set off the Chinese love story, which was both natural and inevitable.

Development and influence

Our country has a vast territory, a long history, and many ethnic groups, so there are also a large number of widely circulated folk songs and minor tunes. They are like the flowers in the garden in late spring in March, colorful, colorful and fragrant. Among them, there is a variety that is outstanding in appearance, has been cultivated for a long time, and is widely loved by the public. She is the familiar folk song "Jasmine".

"Jasmine" has been popular all over the country since ancient times and has various variations, but the one popular in the Jiangnan area is the most widely spread and the most representative. Her melody is euphemistic, with smooth fluctuations and delicate emotions. By praising jasmine, she implicitly expresses the simple and gentle feelings between men and women. As early as the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, its lyrics were published in the collection of opera scripts "Embellished with White Qiu", which shows that it has been around for a long time.

At the end of the 18th century, a foreigner wrote down her tunes, and the lyrics were expressed in free English and Chinese pinyin. Later, another British man named John Bello came to China and served as secretary to the first British ambassador to China. In 1804, he published his book "Travels in China". Perhaps in his eyes, "Jasmine Flower" is the representative of Chinese folk songs, so he deliberately published the score of "Jasmine Flower" in his book, and this song became the first Chinese folk song spread overseas in the form of publications. It began to spread in Europe and South America.

In 1924, the world-famous opera master and Italian composer Puccini died after completing the first draft of the opera "Turandot" while suffering from cancer. The play is set in the Yuan Dynasty of China and tells the fictional story of Turandot, a beautiful but cold princess. Puccini took the tune of "Jasmine" as one of the main musical materials of the play, adapted its original tune into a female chorus, and added that the characters in the play all wore Yuan Dynasty costumes, thus making a play entirely written and performed by foreigners. Chinese stories have Chinese colors and flavors.

In 1926, the play premiered in Italy and achieved great success. Since then, the fragrance of the Chinese folk song "Jasmine" has spread wider overseas with the spread of this opera classic.

According to media reports in recent years, "Jasmine" was originally called "Flower Tune". It originally had three lyrics, singing about jasmine, honeysuckle and roses in sequence. In 1942, musician He Fang went to the Niushan area of ??Liujin, Yizheng City, Jiangsu Province to collect folk songs. He collected this widely sung folk song from a well-known local folk artist and transferred her melody and lyrics to it. Recorded them one by one. In 1957, he adapted the original lyrics of the original song. The three lyrics all used the same melody. He changed the original song from singing about three kinds of flowers to singing about jasmine, and ended with a melodious drawl, which became what everyone is familiar with now. . The song was sung by the Frontline Song and Dance Troupe, and later released on a record by the China Record Company, which further spread it.

At the beginning of this century, Zhang Yimou used "Jasmine" as the background music in the promotional videos for his Olympic bid and World Expo bid. On August 3, 2003, the emblem of the 2008 Olympic Games - "China Seal. Dancing Beijing" was solemnly unveiled at the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest in Beijing's Temple of Heaven Park. When the famous athlete Deng Yaping and the famous movie star Jackie Chan slowly walked up to the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests holding the emblem, the orchestra played the melody of "Jasmine" again. The music of "Jasmine" you hear at this moment is euphemistic and vigorous, delicate and passionate, fluttering and firm. It seems to tell the world that ancient China, the hometown of "Jasmine", is striding forward. forward. With the broadcast of these TV films, I believe the fragrance of "Jasmine" will spread farther and wider.

Lyrics

What a jasmine flower, what a jasmine flower,

The garden is full of flowers and plants, but the fragrance cannot be compared to it;

I If I want to pick one and wear it, the people looking at the flowers will scold me.

What a jasmine flower, what a jasmine flower,

When the jasmine flower blooms, the snow cannot be as white as it;

I am willing to pick one and wear it,

I am also afraid of others laughing at me.

What a jasmine flower, what a jasmine flower,

The garden is full of flowers, but nothing can compare with it;

I am determined to pick one and wear it,

I am afraid that it will not germinate next year.