The Eight-Tone Sitting Singing Performance of the Bouyei people

Also known as the Bouyei Octet, Eight-Tone Sitting Singing is a charming art form combining the storytelling and singing of the Bouyei people, who mainly inhabit Southwest China’s Guizhou, Yunnan, and Sichuan provinces. It developed from ancient royal court music which was mainly performed by wind and percussion instruments.

Originally, the art form only presented pure instrumental music. It now features a band of eight vocal performers, each of whom plays a different instrument, including bowed and plucked ones, bamboo drums, flutes, small cymbals and gongs. One can play several roles during a performance with different body languages. The male performers usually sing one octave higher than the original tone to make a sharp contrast with the female voices, creating distinctive charm. The repertoire of the Bouyei Octet includes The Bouyei Marriage Customs, The Legend of Wang Yulian and Butterfly Lovers.

The Bouyei Octet reached its heyday during the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368-1911) and many institutions teaching the art were established at that time in the Bouyei inhabited area of the Panjiang River basin in Guizhou.