介绍:
(ambience, street traffic to office typing)
It was ten years ago, a common workday in south China's Guangzhou City, several designers were brainstorming about a new cartoon image. It only took them 15 minutes to decide it would be a story of a flock of happy sheep. No one realized these sheep became the very star of the whole country for the next decade. Growing from the original 40 episodes to more than 1,000, it has swept all TV stations, toyshops and amusement parks nationwide.
(voxpop)
"Xi-yangyang"
"Xi-yangyang"
"Don't think me as a sheep."
(music, Don't think me as sheep)
What becomes popular at the same time is the theme song "Don't think of me as a sheep." The lyrics go like this: "Don't think of me as a sheep. I'm not as meek as that. No matter what challenge comes up, I deal with it with a pleasant heart. Even if the wolves come, I consider it as a chasing game."
Wu Chun, media officer of Guangzhou Creative Power Entertainment, the birthplace of the Happy Sheep, says the theme song and the series assist each other to become popular.
(act1, Wu, male in Chinese)
"I like the song very much. It's unique, easy to remember. And it tells a truth, which is, never look down upon anyone. They can be stronger and more powerful than you can imagine."
Equally popular is the English lullaby "Mary had a little lamb." Its score is widely used in primary music books for Chinese children to practice their dexterity on the keyboard.
(music-Mary had a little lamb)
Gao Yi, Chief Editor of the Classic Music Channel of the National Center for the Performing Arts, explains.
(act2, Gao Yi, male in Chinese)
"It's a very simple tune, with just the first three notes on the scale. The lyrics are simple, too, reminding people of some beautiful feeling, loving pets, childhood memories, etc."
(music-Xi Yangyang ensemble music)
In Chinese tradition, people use homophonic words to showcase good wishes, especially during festival time. In that sense, goat, sheep or lamb are all lucky animals, as their pronunciation "yang" resembles another character, which means the sun. That's why you can see drawings of children holding three sheep, and reads "San Yang Kai Tai," calling for a peaceful year.
Chinese word Xi Yangyang, which means happiness, happens to be the title of a very often-played ensemble music, featuring a Chinese fiddle. Actually if you stay in a Chinese culture circle during any festive time, weddings, or celebrations, there's a chance you will hear this tune. It's exactly where the name of the cartoon star Happy Sheep, or Xi-Yangyang, derives from.
Gao Yi elaborates.
(act3, Gao Yi, male in Chinese)
"It's more of the northern China style, festive and joyful. Although it features Chinese fiddle, it's actually representing the richness of different melodic tones in Chinese ensemble music."
(music, In a faraway place)
Besides traditional Chinese melodies, the ethnic minorities contribute diverse flavors to Chinese music, too. The nomadic Kazakh people are one of them. During the 1930s, Wang Luobin, the King of the northwest China's folk music, created "In a faraway place" based on a Kazakh song. It became an all time classic.
Gao Yi says "In a Faraway Place" has been adapted into several hundred versions, but most people focus their attention on the beautiful heroin. Few would notice there's a lamb's image in it.
(act4, Gao Yi, male in Chinese)
"In the lyrics, it seems odd that the singer confesses willingness to become a lamb beside his beloved girl. Actually there's a story behind it. Wang Luobin met this beautiful girl when he was shooting a film in northwest China. And the girl touched the singer with her whip to flirt with him. Apparently they had feelings for each other. But they couldn't get together for some reason. Actually you can hear the sadness in both the tune and the lyrics itself."
As western music gaining momentum in China, more and more Chinese are forming the habit of enjoying some classical symphonic music during festival times.
Gao Yi says, in the year of goat, German composer Richard Strauss is a must try.
(act5, Gao Yi, male in Chinese)
"It's about the time to celebrate the 150th birthday of German composer Richard Strauss. In his work Don Quixote, the hero mistakenly attacks a flock of sheep as his enemy. You can witness how a symphony orchestra imitates the sheep, the shepherd's flute, and the poor donkey. It's very vivid and interesting."
Very rich musical connotations there! But remember, in ancient Greek stories, the god of shepherds and flocks, Pan, has the horns of a goat. And he is also the god of rustic music, as he invented pipes, and expressed his feelings to a goddess through it. So in this sense, as long as the music you appreciate contains pipes in it, you're celebrating the year of Goat.
For Studio Plus, this is Liu Xiangwei.
