What are folk songs? What are the three categories? What are the characteristics of each category? Give 5 examples of each category (song titles)

Folk songs (FOLK) originally refers to the traditional songs of each ethnic group, the ancestors of each ethnic group have their own songs from ancient times, the vast majority of these songs do not know who is the author, and the oral transmission, one by one, one by ten, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one, one by one. However, what we call folk songs (FOLK) today mostly refers to the folk songs of the pop era (FOLK), which refers to the kind of songs that are sung in a natural and frank way, mainly with a wooden guitar as an accompaniment, and which expresses the feelings of a pure and simple life of the people.

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Categorization of Chinese Folk Songs:

Chinese folk songs are categorized in many ways. According to the form of genre, it can be roughly divided into three categories: bugle (including porter's bugle, boatman's bugle, workshop bugle, etc.), mountain song (including general mountain song, grazing mountain song, rice-planting mountain song, etc.), and ditty (including ballad, seasonal tune, custom and ritual song, and dance song, etc.). In some scholars' treatises, folk songs are subdivided into bugles, mountain songs, herding songs, rice-planting songs, boat songs, nursery rhymes, ditties, and custom and ritual songs. The classification of genres helps to recognize and study the relationship between folk songs and people's lives, the social functions of folk songs, and the methods and characteristics of musical expression.

Classification according to the stylistic colors of nationalities and regions. There are 56 nationalities in China, and due to the differences in their historical traditions, linguistic characteristics, and living customs, the styles and colors of folk songs of different nationalities are far apart. Some of the ethnic groups that are more numerous and live in a wider area, such as the Han, Mongolian, Tibetan, Zhuang, Uyghur and other ethnic groups, can also be divided into a number of color zones according to the musical characteristics of their folk songs in different areas. For example, Han folk songs can be roughly divided into Northwest China, North China, Northeast China, Southwest China, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong, Taiwan, Hunan, Hubei, Jiangsu and Huaihua 8 color areas, of which the first 3 areas belong to the northern slice, the 4th to 6th belong to the southern slice, the 7th and 8th belong to the north-south transition area. There are also the southern piece and the transition area is divided into Yun Gui Qian, Sichuan, Xiang E, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong, Taiwan and other four regions. Divided into different ways, each has its own basis.

The classification of style and color helps to understand and study the style and color of folk songs and the relationship between music and folklore. Classification according to the content of the theme helps to recognize and study the relationship between the content and form of folk songs and other issues. In addition, there are also categorized according to the historical development period, or special classification for the need of a particular topic of study.

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Based on different ethnic and cultural backgrounds as well as different stylistic colors of folk songs, Chinese folk songs can be roughly divided into six different stylistic color zones.

1. the northern grassland culture folk song area;

2. the western Xinjiang folk song area influenced by Islamic culture;

3. the western Tibetan folk song area influenced by Buddhist culture;

4. the multi-ethnic ancient primitive culture folk song area in the southwestern plateau;

5. the northeastern shamanistic hunting culture folk song area;

6. the northwestern plateau multi-ethnic semi-agricultural folk song area;

7. the northwestern plateau multi-ethnic semi-agricultural folk song area;

8. the northwestern plateau multi-ethnic semi-agricultural folk song area.

7. The Han folk song area with ancient traditional culture in the Central Plains and the eastern coast.

As for the classification of folk songs in each folk song area. Due to the different ethnic groups, each has its own traditional division, it is impossible to draw a line, but only the differences.

1. Northern grassland culture folk song area

This folk song area is mainly in the current Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, represented by Mongolian folk songs. The Mongolian people have always been known as the "music nation" and the "poetry nation". Folk songs can be divided into two categories: "long tune" and "short tune". "Long tune" folk songs are mainly popular in the eastern pastoral area and the area north of Yinshan Mountain, characterized by fewer words, longer cadences, rich ornamentation, loud and melodious tones, and free rhythms. They are characterized by few words and long cadences, rich in ornamentation, loud and clear, and free rhythm, reflecting the momentum of the vast grasslands and the broad-mindedness of the herdsmen. Most of the pastoral songs, homesickness songs and hymns belong to long tunes. Famous tunes include "Vast Grassland" and "Pastoral Song". The "short tune" is mainly popular in the western and southern semi-agricultural and semi-pastoral areas, which is characterized by its short structure and regular rhythm, and many narrative songs, love songs and wedding songs belong to the "short tune". Famous short tune folk songs are "Sen Ji De Ma", "small yellow horse" and so on. The ****ness of the grassland culture folk songs is to show the simple, bright, enthusiastic and bold emotion and character of the grassland herdsmen. In addition, in Simon there is a kind of "Meng-Han tune" (barbarian-Han tune), which is the product of mutual absorption and exchange of the musical cultures of the two nationalities of Mongolia and Han. Popular in the Hetao area of the "climbing tone" is also Mongolia, the Han nationality **** with the favorite song types.

2. Xinjiang folk song area influenced by Islamic culture in the west

This folk song area is located in Xinjiang, represented by Uighur and Kazakh folk songs, which have been influenced by Islamic traditional culture from Central Asia, and have certain links with Arab music and culture. Uyghur is a people who can sing and dance well, and its art of singing and dancing is famous for its "Twelve Mukams". There are four categories of folk songs: love songs, labor songs, historical songs, and songs of life customs. Uyghur folk songs include Chinese, Arabian and European music systems in terms of tone, and it is one of the most prominent sources of tonal diversity in Chinese folk songs. Many folk songs are combined with dances and have a lively and fun tone. Folk songs famous in China and abroad include "Alabenhan", "Half Moon Climbing Up", "Darban City", "Send Me a Rose", and so on. The Kazakhs live mainly in the northern frontier and are engaged in pastoralism. Folk songs can be divided into three main categories: (l) folk songs with fixed lyrics (including pastoral songs, hunting songs, love songs, religious songs, etc.); (2) folk songs with improvised lyrics (including mountain songs, fishermen's songs, riddle songs, etc.); and (3) customary songs (including wedding songs, weeping marriage songs, marriage delivery songs, etc.). Among them, love songs are the most numerous, mostly expressing the pain and blessing of lovers' parting. There are two systems of Kazakh folk songs: Chinese music and European music. The Chinese music system is characterized by the Gong and Yu modes. The nationally famous ones are "Mayra" and "Wait for me till morning".

3. Tibetan Folk Songs in the West Influenced by Buddhist Culture

This folk song area includes the Tibet Autonomous Region and some Tibetan areas in Qinghai and Sichuan. Folk songs include five categories: mountain songs (pastoral songs), labor songs, love songs, phoenix folk songs, and chanting songs. Most of the folk songs are sung in connection with Buddhist festivals, and many of the folk songs are combined with dances, such as "Nangma", "Piles of Xie", "Fruit Xie", "Potshuang" and other varieties of songs and dances. The music belongs to the Chinese music system, and the folk songs are generally characterized by enthusiasm, cheerfulness, sincerity, moving, rich in plateau characteristics, and strong rhythmic movement. Famous folk songs include "On the Golden Mountain of Beijing". Beijing's Golden Mountain" was originally an arrow song (i.e., a hunting song), which was first circulated in the forested areas of southeastern Tibet. Now it has become a new folk song circulating throughout the country.

4. Southwest Plateau Multi-ethnic Ancient Primitive Culture Folk Song Area

This folk song area includes the ethnic minority areas of Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi and other places. There are more than twenty different ethnic groups living here. The folk songs in this area have different levels of ancient cultural characteristics, with special social functions, most of the folk songs are "poetry, song, dance" combined with the form of singing, the content is complex and varied, and at the same time there are different historical stages of the folk songs. As many ethnic groups do not have writing, folk songs have become an important means of recording history, spreading knowledge and socializing, and have become an indispensable part of daily life. All these reflect a special, multi-layered cultural phenomenon. The representative folk songs of this region are polyphonic folk songs. Most ethnic groups have two- and three-part folk songs. Folk songs are categorized into "big songs" and "small songs". The big songs of the Dong, Buyi, Zhuang and other ethnic groups are the most famous, and the big songs are divided into male, female and children's voices, and the big songs in male voices are generally more rhythmic, with bright and fast tunes. The rhythm of female-voiced songs is freer, and the melody is delicate and soft. In addition to the two-voice folk songs, there are also single-voice folk songs. The content of the love-oriented, generally young men and women in the room with a small voice singing. In addition, there are ancient songs, and the ancient songs of the Miao people have the longest history. The content describes the formation of heaven and earth, the origin of mankind. They describe the formation of heaven and earth, the origin of mankind, and the reasons for traveling. The tunes are rich in chanting, and most of the singers are old people. The Dong Song became famous nationwide in the 1950s, and other folk songs such as "Gui Hua Open Gui Ren Come" and "A Fine Jumping Moon Song" are also representative of the repertoire.

5. Hunting Culture Folk Song Area Influenced by Shamanism in the Northeast

This folk song area mainly includes the northeast of the big and small Hinggan Mountains, represented by Oroqen folk songs (including Ewenke, Hezhe, Daur, Manchu chips), Oroqen retained a lot of traces of primitive society before 1949. This is a people who love songs and dances, used to make a living by hunting, and whenever they return from hunting, or national festivals, they will have songs and dances. Their folk songs can be divided into three categories: (l) mountain songs, (2) songs and dances, (3) shaman tunes. Mountain songs and divided into "long tune," "short tune", "long tune" high-pitched robust, free beat; "short tune" tune is smooth, rhythmic regularity. Most of the songs and dances are in the form of a leader and a crowd. Shaman tune is for inviting the gods, jumping gods, ancestor worship, funeral songs, tune chanting type, mostly for the leader and. Oroqen folk songs are in pentatonic scale. Most of them are in Gong and Fei tunes. Their favorite folk songs are "Ehulan? De Hulan", which is a song to praise the nature. Besides, "Oroqen Minor Song" is also famous in the country.

6. Northwest Plateau Multi-ethnic Semi-Agricultural and Semi-Animal Husbandry Culture Folk Song Area

This folk song area includes the upper reaches of the Yellow River in Gansu, Qinghai, and Ningxia, and there are areas inhabited by the Han, Hui, Tujia, Sala, Bao'an, Dongxiang, Tibetans, and Yugu ethnic groups. Since ancient times, it has belonged to the category of semi-agricultural and semi-pastoral culture. Historically, it used to be the "Silk Road" must pass through the place, the east and west cultural exchanges earlier, because of the long-term multi-ethnicization and fusion, produced eight nationalities and have the song species - "flowers". The folk songs of this area can be divided into two categories: "family songs" and "wild songs", "family songs" include all kinds of wine songs, banquet songs, small words, rice-planting songs, etc.; "wild songs" include "flowers", "flowers", "flowers", "flowers", "flowers", "flowers", "flowers", "flowers", "flowers", "flowers", "flowers" and "flowers". The "wild songs" include all kinds of mountain songs and pastoral songs, including "flower children". Wild songs can only be sung outdoors. "Hua'er" is a representative song, with a long and high melody, a deep and melodious tone, and a coarse and simple temperament. No matter which ethnic groups are sung in Chinese, and each ethnic group has its own liner notes, Chinese and foreign well-known repertoire of "up high mountains looking at the plains".

7. The Central Plains and the eastern seaboard has an ancient traditional culture of the Han folk song area

Han folk song area in the six districts belongs to the largest one, from the cold north to the subtropical south, from the northwestern plateau, southwestern plateau to the eastern seaboard plains, geographic conditions, customs and habits, life, and a variety of modes of production. Although the language is the same as Chinese, the dialects are different from place to place. There are great differences between the east, west, south and north, and the style and characteristics of folk songs also show a variety of features. On the other hand, the Han people have more than ten million people in the northern grassland folk song area, the northwestern semi-agricultural and semi-pastoral folk song area, and the multi-ethnic folk song area in the southwestern plateau, so the phenomenon of partial overlap of the folk song area also exists, based on the above, the Han people's folk song area can be further divided into ten branches and one special area.

(l) Northeastern Du Plain Folk Song Sub-region;

(2) Northwestern Plateau Folk Song Sub-region;

(3) Jianghuai Folk Song Sub-region;

(4) Jiangzhe Plain Folk Song Sub-region;

(5) Min and Taiwan Folk Song Sub-region;

(6) Yue Folk Song Sub-region;

(7) Jianghan Plain Folk Song Sub-region; <

(8) Xiang Folk Song Sub-region;

(9) Gan Folk Song Sub-region;

(10) Southwest Plateau Folk Song Sub-region,

(11) Hakka Folk Song Special Region.

There are many varieties of Han folk songs, which can be divided into ten major categories only for their different social functions: labor calls, mountain songs, ditties, field songs, fishing songs, tea songs, rice-planting songs (including lamp songs), custom songs, children's songs, and shaking children's songs.

(1) Northeastern Plains Folk Song Branch

This area includes the lower reaches of the Yellow River in Shandong, Hebei, northeastern Henan, and northern Suzhou, as well as the three provinces of Liaoning, Jilin, and Heilongjiang, which is basically a coastal plain. Since ancient times the lower reaches of the Yellow River belonged to a culturally more developed area than the school. According to minor differences in style, the district can be further divided into two neighborhoods, Shandong, Hebei and part of Hebei and northern Suzhou as the first neighborhood; Liao, Jilin and Hei as the second neighborhood. The second neighborhood is actually the immigrant area of the first neighborhood. Therefore, the folk songs are of the same approximate style. The entire region uses the eastern northern dialect. The folk songs here are mainly ditties, followed by rice-planting songs and trumpets, and very few mountain songs. The representative folk songs include "Little Cabbage", "Painting the Fan Face", "Yimeng Mountain Ditty", "Little Watching Theater" and so on.

(2) Northwestern Plateau Folk Song Branch

This area includes Shanxi, most of Shaanxi, northwestern Henan, the Inner Mongolia Loop, as well as Gan, Qing, and Ning Han-dominated areas. The east is separated from the northeastern folk song area by the Taihang Mountains, and the north and south are each south of the Yinshan Mountains and north of the Qinling Mountains, belonging to the middle and upper reaches of the Yellow River. In the past, the transportation is not convenient, folk music is less with the foreign exchanges, the use of the Northwest are northern dialect. Folk songs are most prominent in mountain songs. They include "Albatross", "Mountain Song", "Mountain Climbing Song" and "Flower Children". The second is rice-planting songs and ditties. The nationally known songs include "Going to the West", "Catching Livestock", "Orchid Blossom", "Pushing Fried Noodles", "Brother Wu Raising Sheep", "Plowing Taro", "Embroidered Gold Plaque", and so on.

(3) Jianghuai Folk Song Branch

This area includes the northern part of Suzhou, Anhui and the southeastern part of Henan in the Huaihe River Basin, and is bounded on the west by the Dabie Mountains and the Jianghan Folk Song Area. The area is between the Yellow River and Yangtze River Basin, and the music culture is characterized by a transitional nature with the integration of southern and northern factors. The northern dialect is used. Folk songs are prominent in field songs and ditties, followed by rice-planting songs and mountain songs. Famous songs include "Fengyang Flower Drums", "Wang Sanjia Catching up with the Market", "Playing the Wheat Song", "Peggy's Reed Flower", and so on.

(4) Jiangsu and Zhejiang Plain Folk Song Branch

This area includes Nandu, Jiangsu, Shanghai, and most of Zhejiang, which is located in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, and was the ancient land of Wu and Yue. Culture is more developed, people's life is more affluent, has always been known as the south of the fishing and rice township. The dialect spoken is Wu. Folk songs are mainly in small tunes, and famous tunes include "Purple Bamboo Tune", "Wuxi Scene", "Jasmine Flower", "Crying Chichi", "Pair of Birds", and so on.

(5) Min and Taiwan Folk Song Branch

The area includes most of Fujian, most of Taiwan and the Chaoshan area of Guangdong. Fujian and Taiwan have had a cultural relationship since ancient times, and the local Han Chinese in Taiwan have always used the Minnan language; in addition, there are some ****same local operas and rap music in the two places. Folk songs are highlighted by mountain songs, plow field poems, and ditties, and famous tunes include "Picking Tea and Puffing Butterflies", "Tea Boys' Songs", and "Tianwuwu".

(6) Yue folk song branch

The area includes the Pearl River Basin of Guangdong Metropolis, Guang You southeast, as well as part of Hainan, north of the South Ridge as a boundary with the Gan Folk Song District neighboring. Here is located in the subtropics, the Pearl River crosses the east and west, culture and overseas exchanges earlier, using Cantonese dialect. In the past, the vast number of fishermen became an important social class in the district. Folk songs are most prominent in fishing songs - salty water songs. Famous tunes include "Falling Water Sky", "Spring Cow Tune" and "Li Li Mei".

(7) Jianghan Plain Folk Song Sub-region

This region includes Hubei, southwestern Henan, and parts of northern Hunan, the center of ancient Chu culture. The southwestern dialect is used. The ancient culture is relatively developed and the folk art has a long history, and still retains its ancient local characteristics in many aspects. Folk songs are most prominent in field songs, followed by lamp songs, ditties, custom songs and mountain songs. Famous tunes include "Huang Si Sister" and "Honghu Fishing Song".

(8) Xiang Folk Song Branch

This area includes Hunan and several counties on the northeast corner of Guangxi. Located on the south bank of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, it is also the ancient land of Chu. The people Shang Chu style, the land attack Chu customs, it and the Jianghan folk song area has a thousand inextricable links, but the use of the dialect is different, the district general Xiang dialect. The most representative folk songs are mountain songs and field songs. Famous repertoire includes "Masang Village Children Playing Lampstand", "A Pond of Lotus Flowers and Lotus Ponds", and "Going up to Sichuan".

(9) Gan Folk Song Branch

This area takes the middle, north and east of Jiangxi as its basic range, and uses the Gan dialect. Located between the ancient Wu and Chu, the Wu and Chu cultures have had a certain impact on it, with the nature of the transition zone of cultural exchanges between the east and west of the Yangtze River Basin, and the folk songs are highly intermingled. Tea songs are the most characteristic, followed by ditties and lamp songs. Field songs in the "drumming song" is also very prominent. Famous songs include "Azalea Blossom", "Picking Tea Seeds" and "Send a Man to the Red Army".

(10) Southwest Plateau Folk Song Branch

This area includes Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, southern Shaanxi and part of northwest Guangxi. It is bounded by the Qinling Mountains in the north and generalizes the Southwest dialect. The representative folk songs are mountain songs, followed by lamp songs. In addition the Sichuan River Boatman's Horn is also very distinctive. Famous tunes include "The Little River Flows", "Catching Horses", "When Will the Sophora Blossom Bloom", "I Live in Guiyangfu, Guizhou" and so on.

(11) Hakka Folk Song Special Zone

The Hakka people are widely distributed, with a population of more than 80 million nationwide, and the Min'ou Special Zone mainly refers to the border zone of three provinces, including northeastern Guangdong, southwestern Fujian and southeastern Jiangxi. Here the Hakka people are more concentrated, the Hakka is an ancient war by the northern central plains of the immigrants, retained the ancient heritage, the use of Hakka dialect. Folk songs are mainly mountain songs, famous repertoire of "lamp red song", "wind blowing bamboo leaves" and so on.

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The development trajectory of Chinese folk songs:

Since folk songs are the songs of the working people, the working people in the feudal society and semi-feudal semi-feudal and semi-colonial old China were looked down upon, their songs suffered the same fate. Even in the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, it was repeatedly banned by imperial decree. There are few written records about its history. From the unearthed artifacts, more about the ancient musical instruments, and less about singing activities. Qinghai datong county unearthed that have song and dance images of pottery basin is very valuable, it shows the matriarchal society six thousand years ago totem worship song and dance activities. In the primitive period of song and dance are combined together. Until today, the ancient tradition of song and dance is still maintained in many minority areas. Ancient written records of the book, "Huainanzi", mentioned that the ancients sang labor horns when lifting wood, so it can be seen that the early folk songs and labor are closely linked. From the viewpoint of brotherly ethnic groups, such as the images of songs and dances on the rock paintings of Yinshan Mountain, the Song of Pan Wang of Yao nationality, the Ancient Song of Miao nationality, and the Shaman Tune of Manchu nationality, etc., it can be seen again that the primitive folk songs are related to the primitive religious activities such as witchcraft.

Relating to the ancient folk songs, the actual sound has been impossible to reproduce, only its lyrics, from the ancient literary works can be seen in some. As for the sheet music is not available, because the folk songs have always been sung orally, that is, after the notation method, the working people do not use it. It was not until the end of the 19th century that a folklorist recorded a few folk songs with a staff score. Comprehensive and planned collection, arrangement, recording and publication of folk songs became a reality only in New China. Historically, folk songs have been called by many different names, such as Xiao Qu, Slang Qu, Xiao Ling, Common Song, Time Words, as well as the Ming and Qing Dynasties, which often referred to all kinds of folk songs in general as mountain songs.

The Book of Songs is one of the earliest collections of folk songs in China, and it gathers the folk songs of fifteen vassal states popular in the northern Yellow River valley during the five hundred years from the Western Zhou Dynasty to the middle of the Spring and Autumn Period (11th century B.C.--6th century B.C.), and its distinctive feature is that it utilizes the artistic technique of realism to truly reflect the social life, class conflicts, and the labor situation at that time. The distinctive feature of the folk songs was that they used realistic artistic methods to truly reflect the social life, class conflicts, and the various aspects of the working people's lives at that time. In terms of the neatness of the form and language, it is not difficult to see that they were selected, processed and organized. In the fourth century B.C., there appeared another collection of folk songs from the Yangtze River Valley, Chu Shi, a collection of lyrics based on ancient witch songs from the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, which was organized and processed by the great poet Qu Yuan. Its outstanding feature is that it is full of ancient myths and legends, rich in imagination, and it began to use romanticism as a means of expression, and developed the four-character folk songs of the Book of Songs into a kind of "Sao" songs with free syntax and varied rhymes, and it has a strong local color. By the time of the Six Dynasties of the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.-420 A.D.), most of the folk songs were preserved in the Lefu, which was actually a compilation of folk songs from all over the Huaihe River valley, the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, and the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River. By this time, there were already story songs, such as "Southeast Flight of the Peacock" and "Ben Lan's Retreat from the Army," most of whose contents reflected the hardships brought to the people by war and the tragedy of the family under the feudal rites. Such stories have been passed down from the beginning of AD to the present day and are almost a household name. Not only were they sung in the form of folk songs, but they also became famous repertoire of operas, which shows the depth of their influence. The outstanding feature of the Lefu folk songs is that not only the textual part has been organized, but also the musical aspect has been processed by Li Yannian, a famous musician of the Han Dynasty at that time, and accompanied by silk and bamboo instruments, which are called Xianghe songs.

From the folk songs of the Book of Songs to the folk songs of Han Lefu, which can be said to be the early ancient period of Chinese folk songs, the richness of its content and the intensity of its expressive power have been quite perfect, and it can be imagined that before that, there was still a long primitive era of folk songs. In the primitive era, there was no professional music culture to speak of, and it was only in the slave society, when the slave owners had music slaves dedicated to their enjoyment, that there began to be a division. Really divided into two categories of professional music and folk music or to the feudal society, there are for the emperor, aristocrats of the rituals, ceremonies, banquets, entertainment, etc., playing, singing personnel, especially with the notation and professional composers, and only gradually formed a clear boundary between Wen Ye. In China, from the Han Dynasty, there was a distinction between professional and folk music, and after the Han Dynasty, there were few collections of folk songs compiled by official organizations. It is difficult to confirm whether the tones of the early folk songs still exist today, but I am afraid that the tones of the Dragon Boat Songs (including Oar Rising, Swimming in the River, and Race to the Ferry) and the ancient Boat Songs of the Yellow River Basin and the Yangtze River Basin (including Sculling Horns and Slender Pulling Horns, etc.), which have been circulating at Zigui County in Hubei Province in commemoration of Qu Yuan, are all over 1,000 years old! Perhaps they are the thousand-year-old legacy tones.

From the Han Dynasty to the Sui and Tang dynasties, there is a period of the North and South Dynasties (A.D. 420 - 589), which is a period of great integration of the various ethnic groups in our country, the folk songs are clearly divided into the South Dynasty folk songs (southern folk songs) and the North Dynasty folk songs (northern folk songs) in the two major parts. The distinctive feature of folk songs in this period was the exchange and fusion of multi-ethnic music and culture. Whether it is the roughness and boldness of the northern folk songs; or the freshness and liveliness of the southern folk songs, it is not a single ethnic style color. This different styles of folk songs from the north and the south can still be discerned in today's existing folk songs from the north and the south with their far-reaching influence.

The Tang Dynasty (A.D. 615-967) and the Song Dynasty (A.D. 960-1279) were periods of cultural prosperity during the feudal era of China, and especially during the flourishing Tang Dynasty, when the songs and dances of the frontier peoples were imported into the Central Plains in large numbers, which had a significant impact on the music of the Central Plains. This had a significant impact on the music of the Central Plains, and it is obvious that internal and external cultural exchanges played a role in promoting the development of music, and the professional music of the Tang Dynasty had a high level of achievement. The raps and operas in the folk music of the Tang and Song dynasties were formed in Zhejiang by Zhejiang. Regarding the folk songs of the Tang Dynasty, we can find some of them in the tunes collected in Dunhuang, such as "Five Nights Warble" and so on. Another circulating from the time of the "Bamboo Branch Song" can also understand a, two, bamboo branch song is emerging in the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River, Bayu area of a free chanting lyrical songs, the famous Tang Dynasty poet Liu Yuxi, Bai Juyi have absorbed the factors of this folk song, wrote some of the literati creation of the "Bamboo Branch Song". Until today, traces of the structure of the Bamboo Branch Song can still be found in the field songs of western Hubei and eastern Sichuan. In the Song Dynasty, the "qu lyrics" were very popular, which was a new form of singing from the folk. The Yuan Dynasty (1221-1368 AD) was famous for its "Xiao Ling", a kind of folk song, which is still sung in the northwest of China. The "Xiao Ling" is a kind of folk song, and there are still some folk songs in the northwest region named after the word "Ling". Yuan dynasty small order has been passed on to future generations of very few, the Yuan dynasty rulers of the folk with dissatisfaction and satirize current events for the content of the folk songs, as a flood of fierce beasts, strictly prohibited the singing.

The Ming Dynasty (A.D. 1368--1684) and the Qing Dynasty (A.D. 1641--1911) were the end of feudal society, when the emerging capitalist economy began to sprout, and the civic classes of small and medium-sized towns sprang up. The class conflicts and national conflicts were very sharp, in this historical background the people's thinking was exceptionally active, the folk songs were especially prosperous, the number of its people is unprecedented. At this time there were semi-professional artists singing folk songs. In the late Qing Dynasty (after 1848), China entered a semi-feudal and semi-colonial society. The theme of anti-feudalism and resistance to foreign invasion became the characteristic of modern folk songs. During this period, there appeared many collections of folk song lyrics collected and edited by literary scholars, such as Huang Zunxian's Hakka Mountain Songs, Feng Menglong's Wu Songs, Li Tiaoyuan's Cantonese Acoustic Songs, and Hua Guangsheng's The Remains of the White Snow. Due to personal favoritism, most of these folk song collections favored folk lyric folk songs in terms of variety. Many of these folk songs are still being sung in folklore today. What is more worth mentioning is the famous folklorist Pu Songling's Liaozhai Slang Songs of the Qing Dynasty, which selected more than fifty kinds of folk songs popularized by the folk in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. Some of them have been sung by folk artists up to now, enabling us to hear the precious folk song tunes that are three to four hundred years old.

Since the 20th century, after the 1911 Xinhai Revolution, 1919 "May Fourth" New Culture Movement, folk songs entered a new stage, anti-imperialist, anti-feudal folk songs reached a climax. 1921, after the founding of the Communist Party of China, along with the vast number of farmers and herdsmen's awakening, the folk songs have been revitalized. The remarkable sign of folk songs in this period was that a large number of new folk songs from the mainland were spreading to the eastern coastal areas, and some folk songs of the border brotherly ethnic groups were also spreading to the central plains, and the new folk songs reflecting the themes of the people's revolution and unity in resisting foreign invasions were flourishing as never before. In addition, there were many folk songs about freedom of marriage, equality of women, and opposition to tobacco and drugs. Around May 4, Li Jiarui compiled the "Collection of Popular Songs of Beiping", which was released, and there were already sheet music records of folk songs. More noteworthy is that the movement to learn from folk music that emerged in Yan'an after 1942 played an epoch-making role and opened a new page in the history of modern music.

After the founding of New China in 1949, the working people were really respected, and Chinese folk songs entered a brand-new period, reflecting the new life of the people as a large number of spring-like emergence, not only the novelty of the subject matter, but also the tone of the music is more lively, enthusiastic, cheerful, bright, full of upward passion and optimism, due to the past socio-economic and cultural development of the various ethnic groups, many ethnic groups and even the spirit of optimism. Due to the imbalance of the past socio-economic and cultural development of various ethnic groups, many ethnic groups do not even have words yet, folk songs are still their main art form and an indispensable part of daily life, and most of them retain the combination of "poetry, song and dance". In contrast, due to the rapid development of opera and rap, the Han Chinese are not as active in singing folk songs as their brothers, and there are not as many folk songs sung in the coastal areas as in the inland areas. This is also a significant feature of the new historical period of folk songs.