About Chaozhou music

Chaozhou music is a kind of folk music, which is mainly popular in Chaoshan area. It is also popular in southern Fujian, Hongkong, Macau, Taiwan Province Province and Southeast Asian countries. Chaozhou music used to be an art of folk entertainment, but now it has also been put on the stage, performed on the official stage, and gone abroad to the world.

Chaozhou music is characterized by simplicity, elegance and beautiful lyricism. Its main musical instruments are erhu, erhu, dulcimer and percussion instruments such as gongs and drums. Chaozhou music has retained a large number of ancient rhymes of Nanyin, which has attracted more and more attention from the world.

There are many kinds of Chaozhou music, which can be divided into five categories according to the combination of instrumental music: gongs and drums, silk strings, flutes, fine music and temple music. The music of gongs and drums can be divided into Chaozhou big gongs and drums, small gongs and drums, Su gongs and drums and lanterns and drums. "Thrushcross Jump", which is often played and widely circulated now.

Picture frames, butterfly picking flowers, etc. are all excellent works of Chaozhou Xiao Gong and Drum. Xiansi music, also called Shixian music, is a kind of music played by many people. This kind of music is light and lyrical, harmonious and melodious, and has the charm of southern music. It is the most popular and popular music in Chaoshan countryside. Paixiao music can be divided into Paixiao gongs and drums and Paixiao music, which is a solemn and simple court music. Chaozhou Fine Music is a variant of Chaozhou Xiansi Music, which is a kind of music with Sanxian, Pipa and Guzheng as its main instruments. It is fresh and delicate, and has a very lyrical charm. Temple music is a kind of music played in Buddhist activities, melodious and elegant, and it is this kind of music played in temples now. Therefore, Chaozhou music is a huge and complete music system.

Chaozhou music has a long history and rich repertoire. It was formed in the Tang and Song Dynasties and developed in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. At first, it was a kind of folk music that combined the music of the Central Plains and the indigenous music. However, since the Southern Opera was introduced into Chaozhou in the Song and Yuan Dynasties, traditional opera music and folk music have interacted with each other and gradually formed their own musical factions. By the end of Qing dynasty, it had become an independent and complete music system; Chaozhou music has a rich repertoire. Although each of the five categories has its own famous songs, the most famous one is Ten Episodes of Chaole. It is a masterpiece of Chaozhou music, and the titles of these ten sets of songs are Zhao Jun Complain, Western Western jackdaw Playing in the Water, Small Peach Red, Pingsha Wild Goose, Feng Qiu Yellow, Yueergao, Jade Chain, Huangli Ci, Osaka Board and icing on the cake. These ten sets are mostly ancient songs, with rigorous structure, clear paragraphs and simple and beautiful melodies, which completely retain the classical charm.

After the founding of New China, Chaozhou music has been sorted out, adapted and innovated, and its repertoire has become richer and its performance level has been continuously improved, which has been widely praised by all walks of life. As early as 1957, the Chaozhou gongs and drums "Fishing with a Net" performed at the 6th World Youth Student Festival won the gold medal. Radio stations all over the world have also chosen Chaozhou music. Chaozhou music is also cherished by the world. It is said that Zhao Yuzhai, a famous guzheng player in China, visited Sweden in 1950s. When the king met him, he took out his treasured records and played them, saying that they were presented by Premier Zhou Enlai. When Zhao Yuzhai heard it, it turned out to be a Chaozhou musical: Zhao Yuzhai was very excited. He didn't expect Chaozhou music to be so respected abroad. Chaozhou music retained some special patterns in ancient times, such as lively five-tune, which was highly valued, and experts and scholars came to Chaoshan to collect folk songs.

This shows that the more local things are, the more national things are, and the more cosmopolitan things are. Chaozhou music, on the basis of inheriting the tradition, will surely get further development and attract more attention and praise in the world music scene through the joint efforts of everyone.