1.The unique literary value

The Poya folksong collection is a collection of Zhuang nationality folksongs.Compared with Chinese classics Liu San Jie and A Shi Ma,its uniqueness lies first in the recording and preserving of the songs by means of picture symbols,secondly,in the fact that the songs are composed and sung in the Zhuang language rather than in Chinese,and thirdly,in that the songs are continuing to be sung in a living cultural context,rather than being archaic cultural relics.From the perspective of form,its style is similar to the songs in the Book of Songs(Shi Jing)and its rhythm is close to Songs of the South(also known as Songs of Chu,and Chu Ci).For example,the fourth Poya song,entitled“Mandarin Ducks”,uses the image of two mandarin ducks.The man sings:

A pair of green-headed Mandarin ducks

Drinking water from the spring,

Stretching to sip the spring water,

Well-adorned,they swim down the river.

Like them,you and I walk together,

Sharing every aspect of our lives.

Ten springs converge to make a pond;

One hundred springs feed a reservoir,

A reservoir whose strong earthen walls will not leak.

One hundred years lead up to this month;

The love in our hearts can never change!

In the fifth Poya song,entitled“The Partridge”,the woman replies:

Where is that clucking partridge?

Where does the golden pheasant play?

Where is that crowing wild chicken?

Where did that young lad go?

Who is that singing out there?

He makes my calm heart to race!

My heart is as hot as boiling oil!

My heart is as tumultuous as floating debris in a flood!

My heart is as unsettled as grasses swept away by the current!

My heart hangs by a thread,like a bird’s nest in a tree!

My heart is as restless as a hive of bees!

I would give my life for you!

From mandarin ducks to a partridge,these two“love birds”(birds which represent romantic love throughout Chinese cultural literature)meet.The poems employ more symbolic devices and vivid metaphors than do the poems of the Book of Songs(Shi Jing).The tenth and eleventh Poya poems are about maple leaves.These two poems complement each other with the man singing first and the woman responding.First,the young man sings:

The maple tree sends out shoots in the first month;

The maple leaves turn green in the second month.

Who will sew my bachelor’s clothes?

Who will shovel the rice paddy walls?

Who will transplant the young rice seedlings?

Who will get up early in the morning?

Who will clean the mortar and pestle?

Who will lay the fire?

Who will be my home’s hostess?

The young woman responds:

The maple tree sends out shoots in the first month;

The maple leaves turn green in the second month.

I will sew your bachelor’s clothes!

I will shovel the rice paddy walls!

I will transplant the young rice seedlings!

I will get up early in the morning!

I will clean the mortar and the pestle!

I will lay your fire!

I will be the hostess of your home!

These two songs depict a scene that describes Zhuang people’s daily work and life.Spring is coming and life is full of hope and imagined love.The song chooses the actions of sewing blue clothing,shoveling rice paddy walls,transplanting young rice seedlings,cooking,getting up in the morning to lay the fire to represent the culture in which men work in the fields and women sew the clothing.The manner in which the song describes the emotions of the man and the woman fits the Zhuang cultural characteristics of being“smooth as silk”,tactful and subtle in expressing emotion.All the songs in the collection display this mode of expression.