Bearer's Song of Ba Mountain

　　In northeastern Sichuan Province, long-distance bearers are called "bei'er ge" meaning "brother bearer". The Bearer's Song of Ba Mountain is what they would sing on work breaks to cheer themselves up.

　　The history of the Bearer's Song of Ba Mountain can be traced back 3,000 years. During the Qin (248-206 B.C.) and Han (206 B.C.-220 A.D.) dynasties, the main food supply came from Sichuan, but because of the difficult terrain, no vehicles were able to transport goods between Chang'an -- the capital of the two dynasties in today's Shaanxi Province -- and Sichuan Province. Most of the goods were carried by people.

　　To comfort each other on the hard journey, bearers sung songs to relax. They sung what they saw and what they felt, hence the lyrics were simple, humorous and improvisational and mainly followed the "Qiyan" pattern, or: seven words a sentence.

　　In for thousands of years, the Ba people carried food, weapons, or daily essentials on the way between Sichuan Province and Shaanxi Province to make exchanges. Today, as the traffic conditions are improving, the numbers of bearers is decreasing rapidly, and the Bearer's Song of Ba Mountain is fading away.