Erliu (Xipi Metre)
A medium-fast xipi metre in 2/4, sitting between yuanban and liushui
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Erliu is an xipi metre in one ban and one yan, usually 2/4, at a speed between yuanban and liushui. Tighter than yuanban but less pressed than liushui, it suits unhurried narration, question and answer, or persuasion; Zhuge Liang's scene on the city wall in "The Empty City Stratagem" is xipi erliu.
In traditional Peking opera, erliu belongs to xipi; erhuang has no such metre, though modern works have created an "erhuang erliu", and the "erliuban" of bangzi traditions is a different usage under a similar name. Erliu is not a 2/6 time signature; it remains a regular one-ban-one-yan metre.
Read deeper → xipi
Sources
- 西皮二六一板一眼、中快速度及与原板、流水的相对位置，参《中国音乐词典》与 The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, "China" 相关条目；本文为原创表述
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