Changhai Song: Union among Roaring

N: How has Changhai Song come into being?

L: Dalian is a city inf l uenced a lot by maritime culture. While fi shermen of Dalian are fi shing over the sea, the sea is broad, so they need to help each other. The small thing could be borrowing some groceries from others, while the big issues could be some serious urgencies. This kind of spirit of union has deeply penetrated the culture of Dalian.

When fi shermen work, they need work together. For example, they need a group of people working together to pull the boat to the pier；when the big boat raises the sail, they need to pull the sail together. When they work, they need to sing a song together to get their strength focused on the same thing at the same moment and in the same direction. Like doing tug of war, people shout “1-2-1”together.

N: What are the characteristics of Changhai Song?

L: There are different functions of songs according to different kinds of work. But all the songs have sonorous and forceful tunes. The song is started by one person and followed by others. The fi shermen need to roar out to hear from each other clearly. So when everyone roars together, it's very powerful. For now there are a lot of mechanical movements aboard the ship, Changhai song is today rarely heard, so it becomes gradually a kind of cultural symbol, kept and protected as a form of art. Two or three hundred people can sing a Changhai song, and we represent the hardship of work at that time through Changhai Song and tell our audience how our culture has formed and developed.