What is Fujian Nanyin Music

Fujian Nanyin music is simple, elegant, calm and harmonious with a long history. From frescos dating back to the Tang Dynasty, there were musical instruments of the same type, for example, the Nanyin pipa, vertical flute, and clappers, and some instruments sharing the same performance gestures. The tune names of Nanyin are closely related to music from the Tang dynasty. It was widely spread in Fujian during the Qing Dynasty, and now is popular in some countries in Southeast Asia.

The performance forms of Fujian Nanyin fall into two categories, shangsiguan and xiasiguan. The instruments included in the shangsiguan are the vertical flute, erxian, pipa, sanxian, and clappers, mainly played indoors; the instruments included in the xiasiguan include mediant suona, pipa, sanxian, erxian, and some small percussion instruments, which are mostly played outdoors. Nanyin consists of three components, namely, zhi, pu, and qu. Zhi means suites of fingering, also called large divertimento music. Each set of divertimento music includes a libretto, score, and pipa performance with a story plot. Pu means suites of instrumental music, so they are instrumental divertimento music. For instrumental divertimento music, each divertimento includes a gong-chi music score and pipa performance. The most widely spread ones focus on the description of natural landscapes, flowers, birds, and insects. Representative works include Four Seasons, Plums, Eight Galloping Horses, and Birds Returning to Their Nests. Qu refers to sanqu, and it is an independent form of vocal music. There are such representative pieces as Dagun, Zhong Gun, Da Bei, and Zhong Bei.