Folk Music of Answering Drums

The folk music of Xiamen has a long history and a wide range of themes. There are depictions of daily life, pouring out love between men and women, reproducing the labor scene, spreading knowledge and anecdotes, singing the praises of ancient heroes and so on, but basically there is no written record. After the liberation of Xiamen, opera workers created a large number of works, began to have written records. There are many kinds of folk music circulating in Xiamen.

As a kind of ancient music, Nanqu has a close relationship with the music of Tang, Song, Yuan and Ming dynasties. For example, one of the main instruments of Nanqu, the pipa, called Nan Pa, is played in a horizontal hold. Like Nan Pa this playing position, only from ancient paintings and excavated figurines of the Tang Dynasty can be seen. Nanqu's song still retains the name of the ancient Tang and Song dynasty songs such as "Han Palace Autumn" and "Santai Order", and it can be inferred that it has a history of more than a thousand years. During the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty, Nanqu was once famous for its excellent folk music. Five young Fangxian Beijing Palace to play the southern song, Kangxi gave five young for the "Imperial Qing guest", so the southern song is called "the Imperial Qing song", the southern song sung under the umbrella, was started at that time.

Xiamen's Nanqu activities, rumor has it that it began in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. To the Qing dynasty during the Daoguang period, Jinhua Pavilion, such as the Museum has been established. Xiamen is a southern Fujian foreign trade ports, for overseas Chinese in and out of the necessary place, so the South Song with the overseas Chinese into the Southeast Asia. In the 1920s, Xiamen's southern music sector produced by the southern music records, spread to the United Kingdom, by the "Britannica" as the "Pearl of the Orient". Music theorist Zhou Chuanbao cited a study conducted by the University of Washington and said, "Nan Yin can be said to be the oldest traditional music in the world". Musician Zhao Bambu called it "a living fossil of music," and overseas compatriots called it "the root of Chinese music" and "the flower of oriental music.

Nanqu is prevalent in Quanzhou, Xiamen, all over southern Fujian, spread in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macao and Min Chinese settlement, the Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Myanmar and other countries have a lot of Nanqu social organizations. Gezai Opera. Born in the Yilan area of Taiwan, it is one of the main types of opera in southern Fujian and Taiwan. 300 years ago, Zheng Chenggong recaptured Taiwan, and a large number of officials and soldiers living in their families. They brought with them folk music from southern Fujian, such as Jin Ge and Che Drum, which enriched the local music of Taiwan. Taiwan's folk festivals to welcome the gods will often organize folk songs and ballads, brocade songs, car drums, parade performances, commonly known as the "song Chai array". the late 19th century, by the impact of chaotic bombing, Siping, the Beijing Opera into the country, according to the storyline, dress up the role of the singing, and often in the square to pull a circle performances, is known as the "landing broom". 20 years ago, Zheng Chenggong recovered Taiwan, a large number of government and military dependents settled in the area. At the beginning of the 20th century, Ou Lai-suk of Yilan County created the "Seven Character Tune", which was so popular that he used it as the main musical score and organized troupes to perform it, naming it "Gezai Opera". Yilan County became the cradle of opera.

In the early 20th century, the development of Gezai Opera was boosted by competing performances in Taipei and other cities, and in the 1920s, Gezai Opera entered Xiamen, where, in 1926, the Shuangzhufeng, a pear orchard troupe that had originally been based in Xiamen, switched to Gezai Opera and became the first Gezai Opera troupe in southern Fujian.

Soon after the birth of the opera was repeatedly destroyed. In Taiwan, the Japanese invaders first stifled, and then tried to assimilate; in southern Fujian, the authorities were framed as a "national tune", and was banned. Zhangzhou artists such as Shao Jianghai created the "broken tune", and used some of the folk tunes of southern Fujian, collectively known as the improved tune, instead of the original song Chai tune, song Chai opera was also renamed "improved opera", to continue to survive.

After the founding of New China, Gezai Opera carried out institutional and artistic reforms, and became one of the main types of opera in southern Fujian Province. 1954 to participate in the first East China Opera Observatory, Xiamen and Zhangzhou joint team, named "Xiang Opera Team". 1980 Xiamen Xiang Opera Troupe resumed the original name of Gezai Opera, and renamed as "Xiamen City Gezai Opera Troupe. "Xiamen Xiang Opera Troupe".

Gaojia opera. Also known as the Gaojia opera, Jiujiao opera, also known as Daban, drum class, one of the main types of drama for southern Fujian. It has been passed down for more than 200 years. It was introduced to Xiamen about 150 years ago.

Gaojia opera was originally a kind of masquerade performance. In the coastal villages of southern Fujian, people like to dress up as Liangshan heroes, arrange themselves into teams, and perform impromptu to the accompaniment of strong rhythmic folk music, which was then called "Songjiang Formation", and later developed into a professional theater troupe. Because Song Jiang's plays were the most numerous, they were called "Song Jiang Opera". Song Jiang opera performances emphasized martial arts, and the content of the plot was relatively simple, and then absorbed the repertoire and performing arts of Liyuan opera and puppetry, and gradually developed into the "Heping Opera" with both literature and martial arts. By the end of the Qing Dynasty, it had absorbed the performing arts of Anhui Opera, Jiangxi Yiyang Opera and Beijing Opera, gradually forming a unique style of local theater called "Gaojia Opera".

Li Yuan Opera. Formed at the end of the Song Dynasty, it was popular in the area of Quanzhou. In the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, it was introduced to Xiamen. Xue Qifeng "Lujiang Zhi" recorded that "the folk custom, on the Yuan, Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, the streets and lanes are set up to perform or January and a half months". At that time, Xiamen has not been introduced to other types of theater, the performance is Liyuan opera. Zhou Kai "Xiamen Zhi" recorded: "Min in the earth theater, called the seven children class, Xiamen, before the "Ly mirror pass", acted in the spring people Chen San induced Chao female Huang Wu Niang elopement ...... viewers like a blockade." Here said the seven classes is the Pearland theater alias, "Lai mirror pass" is the Pearland theater repertoire. 20 s Gezai opera came to Xiamen, Xiamen, there is still a "double bead phoenix" and other Pearland theater classes. Around the 40s, until the early 50s, Xiamen city and countryside still have Liyuan opera performance.

July 16, 1961, Xiamen, the first batch of Liyuan opera students in the People's Theatre held its first public performance, the performance of the traditional drama "Chen San Wu Niang". Later, Xiamen no longer built the Liyuan Opera Troupe, the students were incorporated into the Fujian Provincial Liyuan Opera Troupe.

Answer the mouth drum. Is circulating in southern Fujian, Taiwan around the varieties of music and art, in southern Fujian dialect performance, has a strong local flavor. It takes rhyming dialogues as its main form, and its artistic approach is humorous, funny and witty, making it one of the popular forms of folk music and art among the people of Fujian and Taiwan.

Xiamen folk performing arts also include lion dance, stilt walking, centipede pavilion, car drums and jin songs, which are lively and colorful.