Mudong County is located on the southern bank of Changjiang River, where the inland navigation is developed. According to “Research on river in Sichuan Province” in Qing Dynasty, there were eight straits from Chaotianmen to Wanxian County and 239 shoals. In order to sail, the steersman need to control the direction and the crews must unite rowwing the boat. What is used to control the frequency of rowwing? The answer is howling of Haozi.
The Haozi is mainly divided into Shangshui Haozi, which includes Chenghao Haozi, Banrao Haozi, Qifan Haozi, Laxian Haozi, Shouxian Haozi and Xiashui Haozi, including Qichuan ?Haozi ,Pingshui ?Haozi ,Jiantan ?Haozi , Chongtan ?Haozi, Chongtan? Haozi and etc . When singing these Haozis, there is a leader, who must have loud voice and rich navigation experience. He must know to sing what kind of Haozi in different areas to stimulate crew’s passion. Otherwise, the boat may strike a reef. Haozi is a production in special geography and working environment.
Mudong County is mountain area and terraced fields are everywhere. Farming in these fields, people need to sing songs to relieve tiredness and rouse one’s enthusiasm. In pulling out weeds season, dozens of people work together, whose work is divided into seven parts in a day and have five times of rest. Before sunrising, they come to work. After breakfast, they work for three periods in morning and the same in the afternoon. They begin to have a competition of singing Mudong Mountain Songs from the first period in the morning, when the theme of competition is how many tones can you sing. In the second period, the theme is competing the loudness of voice and music feeling. In the third period, it is the competition of singing Huahelai. In the afternoon, the theme of first period is singing historical songs and Saihua songs; the second period is Pange songs, which is the peak of whole day’s competition; and the last period is Shenge songs if the winner is definite, else the invitation of competition in next time.
In past farming seasons, Mudong Mountain Songs shows the enthusiasm and happiness of working. It’s the production of special working environment. According to historical records in Yuan Dynasty, the Bayu people were honest and simple, who strictly inherit traditonal customs from their ancestors. For example, they sang different mountain songs according to different festivals. The most famous representative is about marriage. For engagement, there are Jumei songs, Kaijian songs, Shangshu songs, Zuotang songs and etc; for marriage, there are Hanli songs, Jiegaitou songs, Jiaobeijiu songs, Hexi songs, Xieke songs, Shuoxi songs, Zhujiu songs and etc. Before entering bridal chamber, there are Puchuang songs and Anjiaju songs; while after entering, there are Naofang songs, Lianxiao songs, Songke songs and goodbye songs. In funeral, there are E’hao songs, Ruguan songs, Qiling songs, Diaoyan songs, Songzang songs, Raofo songs, Shilonggan songs and etc. These folk cultures laid basic foundation for the formation of Mudong Mountain Songs.
Mudong Mountain Songs are the representative of Bayu folk culture, which come froms farming life. It has its own style and characters, not only relieve tiredness, but also transfer mode and expressions. For example, Mudong Mountain Songs are used to show love by youth. One piece of songs is “My brother is a dragon in the sky and I am a flower in the garden. It doesn’t rain if the dragon hangs down its head, and the flower is not blooming without rains.” The images and symbols in Mudong Mountain Songs are the representatives of natural environment of Mudong area.