Class oppression and class resistance are important aspects of life in feudal and semi-feudal societies. Folk songs in northern Shaanxi reflect the miserable lives of the working people from all aspects, and express their anger and resistance to the ruling class. This is not because these authors mastered the theory of class struggle. At that time, the doctrine of Marxism-Leninism had just come out or had not yet come out. The farmers were concerned about this issue because it was related to their political and social status, and to each of them's food, clothing, housing and transportation. The famous "Getting Workers" is a representative work of this type. It clearly reveals the oppression and exploitation of classes, and sends out an angry cry and a torrent of emotion: "It's hard to get workers! Oh, it's hard to get workers!" Like a volcano erupting, spewing out. This is the common cry of the working people's hearts. This type of works occupies a certain number of folk songs in northern Shaanxi, such as "Working in December", "Ten Jobs", "Busy in December" and so on.
There are countless works reflecting the tragic life and fate of working people. Such as: "Selling Dolls", "Seventeen Years of the Republic of China", "Porter Tune", etc. Reading these works is miserable and sad. People seem to see the images of farmers in northern Shaanxi who shed tears and complain about their life experience, and hear the lamentations in the songs: "The rain that never stops falling and the wind that never stops blowing." , I send my brother on the journey; across the endless river and up the endless mountain, I can't bear to leave my brother, the laborer. "It's so tearful every word! In that evil old society, all the working people had unspeakable sufferings!
Northern Shaanxi folk songs also use a lot of space to accuse feudal ethics and the sins of prostitution and marriage, and sing about the pain and bitterness of working women's souls. Under the rule of feudal power, clan power, and divine power, they are also controlled by husband's power; they strongly hope to get rid of the shackles on them and live like a real "human being". listen! A poem written by Xintianyou about the heroine’s curse on her husband:
On the opposite side, I am pulling up mugwort from the ditch.
My man screamed like a wolf and was eaten!
Eat the body first and then the brain ①
① Nao, pronounced náo, is the name for the head in northern Shaanxi.
②Grandma, I read nie.
③ In the dark, that is, at night.
But I killed an old lady.
Eat it in the dark ground and bury it in the middle of the night,
Tou Akari ① make the next pair of sedan shoes!
① Tou Mingli, that is, when it is dawn.
② Long cap, a common name for women with long braids in northern Shaanxi.
The curse can be described as "vicious", but there is a strong sense of resistance within it.
The people's character of folk songs in northern Shaanxi has long been valued by many literary theorists. However, there are also some people who don't see it that way. They tend to focus only on the few folk songs of revolutionary history and works that reflect class struggle more sharply and strongly, so that they almost "forget" other types of works. In their view, it seems that only those works that directly reveal and reflect class contradictions and class struggles are popular and valuable. This is undoubtedly a prejudice. For example, those works that reflect the love life of men and women account for the majority of folk songs in northern Shaanxi. Love is an important part of social life and a very wonderful world. The love songs of northern Shaanxi folk songs reveal the conflict between democratic ideas and feudal concepts, and express the desire of young men and women for the liberation of love and marriage, not to mention this. Looking at this type of songs as a whole, they all permeate the simple, sincere and strong thoughts, feelings and virtues of the working people. For example: their pursuit of love is not limited to "white faces and shiny eyes", "slender bodies with long hats②", "glossy eyebrows and solid bodies" These external beauties (from an aesthetic point of view, external beauty is also the beauty of form, which also has aesthetic value and belongs to the category of people's "common beauty") pay more attention to the beauty of a person's soul. For example: "If I don't love your silver, I won't love your gold. I only love your good labor.", "Although you are poor and have a good heart, I love your good humanity.", "The curved sickle cuts leeks slowly." Taste your heart slowly" and so on. In the song "Sending Meals", the protagonist's thoughts and feelings are very valuable:
If you don't sleep at night, you get up late.
I still have to drink the boiled water when I get up.
The elder brother did not go to hoe the field in the morning, but the poor brother suffered.
The first paragraph is about my husband, the shopkeeper, and the second paragraph is about my beloved, the job hunter. Two paragraphs and four lines, the contrast is strong, the love and hatred of the lyric heroine are so clear, and the love is so simple and noble! This is undoubtedly a fearless rebellion against the feudal ethics of "if you marry a chicken, follow the chicken, if you marry a dog, follow the dog".
Many songs reflect the working people's loyalty to love. For example: "Call me brother and stop shaking, and we will fight two of our heads", "I'll beat you three times and two times, and I won't say anything to you until you die", "As long as you have a sister in your heart, you won't regret it even if you cut off your head with a guillotine." "Wait, how sincere and affectionate. The simple thoughts and feelings of the working people are more fully revealed in some songs: "Everyone says that we two have each other, but we have never touched each other until now", "You are there... ① I am in the ditch, I can't be greedy "I'm talking to you and waving my hand", "You are there by the side of the road② I am in the hospital, I can't bear to smile in person"...
① ....pan. In northern Shaanxi, the courtyard in front of the cave dwelling is called ....pan.
② Naopan, the common name for the roof and back of the cave dwelling.
Don't think that love songs are just about the love between men and women, and don't think that love is a trivial human nature. This "human nature" manifests itself in different classes and types of characters, and it takes on a completely different form: the nasty behavior of local tyrants and bullies. "Love"------"If you want to leave, go with your uncle. If you don't, you will die at the hands of your uncle" ("Uncle Carrying Nephew"); the brutal "love"------" of the reactionary warlords A soldier came along the road and trapped the slaves in the local area" ("Picking Beans"); the lingering "love" of the literate people--"Li Decai was very kind, and once he left, he never came back" ("Pick Beans") "Hitchhiking")... Among all kinds of "emotions", the feelings of the working people are simple, sincere, and the most noble, and have the potential to "stand out from the crowd."
Works that reflect production labor and depict natural scenery occupy a certain number of folk songs in northern Shaanxi. On the surface, the "labor chant" that keeps saying "Ah yo! Ah yo!" is indeed a bit monotonous; Stand up and take a bowl
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