Chinese Haozi Generated together with Labor

Haozi was created with labor. It is the shouts naturally uttered to while exerting force in labor. It has the functions of commanding movements, adjusting energy,encouraging laboring emotions, and so on. It uses the most easily understandable "one singing responded by many,"reflecting the toughness and strength of physical labor using affirmative, heroic, free melodies and rhythm. The more strenuous the labor is, the shorter the rhythm,and the simpler the melody.

There is a large variety of traditional haozi,usually classified into porting haozi,engineering haozi,agricultural haozi,workshop haozi,fishing boat haozi, and so on, by the type of labor. "Porters don't mind bending biandan (a carrying pole)" is a porting haozi popular in northern Jiangsu Province.When porting cargo with carrying poles on the shoulder, the porters sing this haozi to the short and even rhythm on the go to keep energized.Da Hang Ge (Rammering Song)is an engineering haozi sung while building dams and roads.“Hang" is a stone rammer comprised of a heavy and bulky stone or round log hung under two parallel wooden rods or four rods in the shape of a number or pound sign, “#," lifted up by two or four people then pushed down with strength.Different places had different Da Hang Ge with different melodies,but they shared a common feature,that is clear strong and weak rhythm full of strength.

Fishing boat haozi was sung when boating and fishing in rivers, lakes and seas. Because of its complex laboring conditions and the intensity of labor,the music of fishing boat haozi is the most rich and abuindant. Most quintessential is Boating haozi on the Chuanjiang River. The natural conditions of the Chuanjiang River are complex, as the river winds along many sandbanks, and the water sometimes flows quickly and other times slowly. The haozi sung by the boatmen when floating on the Chuanjiang River varies with the factors of labor conditions and intensity,carrying a typical local flavor. It is comprised of eight different passages of haozi, including Pingshui haozi (flat water haozi), Jiantan haozi (shoal-seeing haozi), Shangtan haozi (going up the sandbank haozi), Xiatan haozi (going down the sandbank haozi), and so on. Pingshui haozi was sung when the water was still and the boat has just started the voyage. It is melodious, and its rhythm stable and free. Jiantan haozi is sung by the lead singer when passing by a dangerous sandbank to warn his fellow boatmen.Therefore its rhythm is tight and compact, using very short sentences, reflecting the tense atmosphere. The whole song of Boating haozi on the Chuanjiang River is rich in changes,fully reflecting the scene when the boatmen go along the river.