Chinese Literature

New Poems

“Ashma,” the Oldest Shani Ballad

Kueishan District of Lunan County, a remote region in Yunnan Province, is the home of the Shani folk—a branch of the Yi people, one of China’s fraternal nationalities. A brave, hard-working people with high ideals, who have their own written and spoken language, they are a race of singers. All Shani lads know how to make a simple musical instrument out of bamboo, called a mosheen, by blowing on which they can produce beautiful melodies to express their love and longing. In this district which abounds in singers, -one of the oldest songs and that most widely known is Ashma.

Ashma is a narrative poem of over four thousand lines. Through the portrayal of Ashma and Ahay, the true son and daughter of the toiling people, this ballad extols labour, courage, freedom and love, expressing the indomitable resistance to oppression, the passionate longing for freedom and happiness, and the optimism and confidence of the Shani people. It is not yet possible to state with certainty the exact date at which this poem took shape: all we know is that old folk who are seventy or eighty today heard this song when they were young from their elders. Ashma is, without doubt, a product of actual life. It probably started as a legend which, in the course of time, was set to music and sung, growing richer from generation to generation like a tinkling stream which finally becomes a mighty river. Today Ashma can be heard everywhere, whether on the hillsides where the peasants work or in the communal hostels* where the young folk make love. It is especially moving at a wedding to watch an old man squat on a stool to sing Ashma while the young folk listen quietly, sharing Ashma’s sorrow and joy. Thus young women say: “Ashma’s sorrow is the sorrow of all us Shani girls.” For Ashma is a song from the heart of the Shani people.

The story of this long poem is a simple one. In Ajdee where the

*From the age of twelve till the time of their marriage, Shani lads and lasses usually sleep away from home with friends of their own age. There are separate hostels or camps for girls and boys where they can go in the evening to sing, play the flute and some stringed instruments, and enjoy themselves as they please. These hostels are also the scenes of courtship.

181