Wu Song Kills the Tiger: Transcription and Translation of a Cantonese Narrative Song from a Live Performance, with an Introduction

Abstract:A Cantonese version of the episode "Wu Song Kills the Tiger" (Wu Song dahu 武松打虎) from Shuihu zhuan was performed by the blind singer Dou Wun 杜焕 (1910–1979) to a live audience of customers in the Fu Long Teahouse in Hong Kong in 1975. He performed it in the style of nanyin 南音, the once most popular Cantonese narrative genre with sung portions in verse and spoken portions in prose. Nanyin was important as entertainment before the mid-twentieth century, particularly in brothels, opium dens, and teahouses throughout the Cantonese spoken region in the Pearl River Delta; but it is no longer performed in those contexts. Dou Wun was the last surviving professional singer at the time of the recording, a few years before he died. This paper introduces Dou's life, the circumstances of his performance and the recording, and the basic structure and style of nanyin performance, and presents a transcription into written Cantonese and its English translation. It includes a brief discussion of Dou's artistry, particularly his use of padding zi (chenzi 襯字) to elaborate on the basic text and music.