The main musical instruments of storytelling in northern Shaanxi

Nine times out of ten, the earliest storytellers in northern Shaanxi were blind or semi-blind, commonly known as teachers or booksellers. Storytelling is their means of making a living and is regarded as a cheap business. People with discerning eyes don't talk about books, and storytelling has become the patent of the blind for a long time. In order to support their families, they not only tell stories, but also engage in some activities with feudal superstition, such as fortune telling, seeing a doctor, calming the nerves, thanking the earth and locking dolls. For a long time, the disabled or beggars dragged the blind and walked from village to village all the year round to make a living by telling stories. With the changes of the times, people with vision have joined the ranks of blind storytellers, injecting new blood and vitality into the ancient storytelling in northern Shaanxi. The form of storytelling in northern Shaanxi has also undergone great changes, from the original one-person rap to two-person duet or multi-person singing. The musical instruments used are no longer a single pipa or sanxian, but also erhu, banhu, flute and dulcimer. The changes in quantity and musical instruments have further broadened the expression forms of storytelling in northern Shaanxi. At the same time, it also plays an important role in depicting the characters, rendering the environment and atmosphere in the book. Storytelling in northern Shaanxi can be divided into three types: single storytelling, double storytelling and multi-person storytelling. There are also nine-cavity and eighteen-tone storytelling tunes, mainly flat tunes, supplemented by happy tunes, bitter tunes and martial tunes. The change of their musical tunes is particularly important in the whole story-telling process, and the story is plot-oriented.