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15 July 2015

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[Music] Rammer’s Work Chant in Lizhou

Rammer’s work chant in Lizhou, also known as the chant of a ramming stone or Wo chant in Chinese, is prevalent in Liyang plain and its surrounding areas. Its history can be traced back to the ramming age 6,000 years ago in the ancient town Chengtoushan. In the 21st century, ramming, as a construction technique, only exists in certain remote villages, yet the rammer’s work chant, as a form of folk music, is still sung by the masses. Rich in content, the rammer’s work chant includes both narrative forms based on script of traditional operas and lyric forms which allows impromptu and free expression of thoughts and feelings. Various in its forms, the chant is mainly passed on in an oral fashion without other musical instruments but the rammers. With simple but graceful melodies, it is catchy and easy to learn. As such work chant is generated from labor, its sole instrument, i.e., the ramming tool, differs with time and the labor scale. The ramming tools are largely divided into wooden rammers and stone rammers (called “Wo” in Chinese), the former of which are made of strong and heavy timbers such as tea wood, jujube wood and fraxinus wood.

Chinese source: hunan.gov.cn