WA and LAHU SONGS IN YUNNAN CHINA

The WA are one of the few ethnic groups in China who speak a Mon-Khmer language, an austro-asiatic language, they are 400 000 people living in southern Lincang prefecture in southern Yunnan at the boarder with Myanmar.the WA call themselves P REY

in NANXIE village :
1,2 oldman song about the hardship of ancient times and the improvements of today s life
3 2 oldmen songs about fraternity
4 old woman song and oldman song + flute

in NANJIN 2 village MENLIN :
5,6,7,8 CHEN GUI YING 38 years old and CHEN HUA MEI 48 years old women song referring to the migrations of the villagers to other parts of China for limited time then return home.

RECORDED BY LAURENT JEANNEAU with HUANG PEISHAN and OLIVIER SCHNEIDER SHUANGJIANG district, LINCANG prefecture, YUNNAN province, CHINA in october 2011

The LAHU who call themselves LAGU, are 700 000 people spread trough Yunnan China ( where they are 450 000 ), Myanmar, Laos and Thailand, belonging to the tibeto burmese linguistic family.

9,10 HULUSHEN ( a 6 bamboo tubes mouth organ mounted on a gurd ) performed by a man.
11 song performed by a man
12 song by a woman
13 song by 2 women

RECORDED BY LAURENT JEANNEAU with SHI TANDING
SHUANGJIANG district, LINCANG prefecture, YUNNAN province, CHINA in April 2010

The LAHU are divided in many subgroups, the yellow Lahu live in the western part of southern prefecture of Xishuangbanna in Yunnan, The people in Huigong village have been moved from the mountains to this village in 1980, near Menghai town. A 3 stringed lute called XIAN ZE in Lahu language is used, performed by 2 oldmen YANG ZANG DA 81 years old and TIN DA 64 years old.

14 SI TIE CHING, song describing each activity of the 12 months of the year, and the role of the matchmaker to get people married, sung by YANG ZANG DA and lute played by TIN DA
15 song of old people advices to young people sung by YANG ZANG DA
16 song when a young person leaves the village performed by TIN DA

RECORDED BY LAURENT JEANNEAU in HUIGONG LAOZHAI a village outside of Menghai, Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, China in november 2012