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chinese folk music

Chinese Folk Music

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Description

Chinese folk music refers to the orally transmitted song, dance, and instrumental traditions of the many peoples living within China. It encompasses the Han majority as well as a vast range of ethnic minorities, resulting in exceptional regional variety in language, timbre, rhythm, and repertoire.

Core musical traits include pentatonic (five-note) modal systems (gong, shang, jue, zhi, yu), flexible and speech-like rhythms, and heterophonic textures in which multiple performers ornament the same melody differently at the same time. Typical instruments include plucked zithers and lutes (guzheng, pipa, ruan), bowed fiddles (erhu and regional huqin), flutes and double reeds (dizi, xiao, suona), free-reed mouth organs (sheng), and an array of gongs, drums, and clappers.

Vocal styles range from unaccompanied mountain songs (shan'ge) and work songs to narrative ballads and festival pieces. Themes often celebrate nature, courtship, migration, labor, local history, and ritual life, with performance contexts spanning marketplaces, weddings, harvests, temple fairs, and staged folk ensembles.

History

How to make a track in this genre

Main artists

Influenced by

Taoist Ritual Music

Taoist ritual music is the liturgical sound-world of Daoist (Taoist) religion, accompanying rites of invocation, purification, offering, exorcism, and thanksgiving. It combines vocal chant, intoned scripture, and heterophonic instrumental ensembles to shape sacred time and space within temples and processions. Core timbres come from the sheng (mouth organ), guanzi (double-reed), dizi (flute), and occasional suona (shawm) for outdoor or processional moments, supported by a ritual percussion battery: frame and barrel drums, hand gongs, cymbals, clappers, the wooden fish (muyu), and stone or bronze chimes (qing/zhong). Melodies draw on Chinese pentatonic and heptatonic modal practice, are transmitted in gongche (solmization) notation and oral lineage, and are organized into suites that align with the stages of the liturgy.

Central Asian Music

Central Asian music is a broad family of traditions shared across the Silk Road heartlands—today’s Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkmenistan, with strong ties to Uyghur, Pamiri, and other regional cultures. It blends Turkic nomadic song and epic recitation with Persianate courtly repertoire and Islamic modal theory, producing rich vocal melismas, intricate modal (maqom/maqam) systems, and cyclical rhythms (usul). Instrumentation centers on long‑necked lutes (dutar, tanbur, komuz, dombra), bowed fiddles (ghijak/kamancheh, qobyz), frame drums (doira/doyra), reed and woodwind instruments (surnay, nai), and zither or harp relatives (chang). Stylistically, it spans refined urban suites such as Shashmaqam to nomadic epic performance (akyn/jyrau/manaschi), wedding dance music driven by doira patterns, and intimate lyrical songs. Its timbral palette favors resonant plucked strings, bright double‑reed leads, and expressive, ornamented vocals.

Mongolian Music

Mongolian music encompasses the traditional vocal and instrumental practices of the Mongolian steppe, centered on the morin khuur (horsehead fiddle), long song (urtyn duu), short song (bogino duu), epic song (tuuli), and the overtone-rich vocal art of khöömii (throat singing). Its melodic language is largely pentatonic, with expansive, arching phrases that evoke open landscapes, horses, and nomadic life. Textures range from solo voice with a sustained drone to heterophonic ensemble playing, and rhythms move fluidly between free, rubato narrative delivery and lively dance meters for bielgee (seated dance) and festive pieces. Ritual and religious strands—especially Buddhist chant and older shamanic practices—intertwine with courtly and folk repertories shaped during and after the Mongol Empire, yielding a music that is at once intimate, contemplative, and epic in scale.

Tibetan music encompasses the ritual sounds of Tibetan Buddhism, secular folk repertoires from the plateau, and theatrical forms such as lhamo (Tibetan opera). It is marked by powerful long-horn fanfares (dungchen), piercing double-reed calls (gyaling), metallic cymbal textures (rolmo), frame and hand drums (damaru, nga), and deep multiphonic monastery chant. Melodically, many secular songs are pentatonic with graceful ornaments and narrow ambitus suited to high-altitude vocal production, while liturgical chant emphasizes sustained drones, modal centricity, and mantra recitation rather than functional harmony. Core genres include devotional chant, the urban salon styles nangma and toeshey of Lhasa, pastoral folk songs, and ceremonial dance music (cham) accompanying masked rituals. Texts are often in Tibetan and center on devotion, moral teachings, nature, and epic-historical themes. The sound world ranges from thunderous, epic temple ensembles to intimate, contemplative singing with dranyen (Tibetan lute) and piwang (spike fiddle).

Uyghur music is the traditional and contemporary music of the Uyghur people of Xinjiang (historically, East Turkestan) in western China. It is best known for its grand suite tradition, the Twelve Muqam, which combines instrumental preludes, ornate vocal solos, choral refrains, dance songs, and narrative episodes. Its sound world is shaped by plucked lutes such as dutar, rawap (rewap), tambur, and satar, bowed ghijak, frame drums (dap), and end-blown flutes (nay), often performed in heterophonic textures. Modal systems related to the broader maqām/maqāmic world underpin melody and improvisation, while rhythmic cycles range from measured grooves in 2/4, 6/8, and 9/8 to flexible, recitative-like sections. Beyond the courtly muqam heritage, village dance repertoires (e.g., meshrep), epic singing, and contemporary folk-pop reveal rich regional styles from Kashgar and Yarkand to the Dolan oases, reflecting centuries of cultural exchange along the Silk Road.

East Asian Folk Music

East Asian folk music is an umbrella term for the traditional, community-rooted musics of China, Japan, Korea, Mongolia, and related cultures in the region. While the practices themselves are ancient, the category coalesced in the 1900s as folklorists, broadcasters, and state ensembles began documenting, standardizing, and reviving rural and ritual repertoires. Typical features include pentatonic-based melodies, flexible rhythm and meter, and heterophonic textures in which multiple performers ornament the same tune simultaneously. Vocal styles range from narrative epics and work songs to lyrical art-folk ballads, often delivered with regional timbres and rich ornamentation. Signature instruments include the Chinese erhu, pipa, dizi, and guzheng; the Japanese shamisen, shakuhachi, and koto; the Korean gayageum, haegeum, piri, and janggu; and Mongolian morin khuur and tovshuur, alongside various frame drums and gongs. Beyond village and ritual contexts, East Asian folk music today thrives on stage and in media, influencing popular genres and fusions that retain traditional scales, storytelling, and timbral aesthetics.

Has influenced

Beijing opera (Jingju) is China’s most prominent xiqu (traditional Chinese opera) form, fusing sung arias, stylized speech, dance, mime, martial arts, and acrobatics into a highly codified theatrical language. It features four main role types—sheng (male roles), dan (female roles), jing (painted-face roles), and chou (clown)—each with distinct vocal delivery, movement vocabulary, and costume/makeup conventions. Musically, it is built on the shengqiang system, dominated by the xipi and erhuang melodic types, and the banqiang (aria) rhythm-frameworks such as yuanban, manban, and kuaiban. The ensemble is led by the jinghu (a high-pitched two-string fiddle) with yueqin, sanxian, and occasional suona, supported by a vibrant percussion battery centered on the bangu with gongs and cymbals. Stories often draw from classical literature, history, and legend, presented through symbolic staging, minimal sets, and richly coded gesture, costuming, and coloration.

Chinese opera (xiqu) is a family of traditional Chinese sung-drama forms that merge music, poetic text, stylized speech, dance, mime, and acrobatics into a total theatre. Musically, it is built on pentatonic-centered melodies, heterophonic textures, and a flexible "banqiang" system of tune-types and meter that adapts melodic formulae to changing text and dramatic situations. A small melodic ensemble led by the high-pitched jinghu (or regional equivalents) accompanies the voices, while a percussion battery (bangu drum, gongs, and cymbals) functions as both timekeeper and dramatic cue-giver. Performance is highly codified: role categories (sheng, dan, jing, chou), emblematic makeup and costumes, and conventionalized gesture and movement communicate character, mood, and plot. Staging is minimal and symbolic, placing emphasis on vocal delivery, timing, and physical vocabulary. The tradition encompasses hundreds of regional styles—among them Kunqu, Beijing (Peking) opera, Yue (Shaoxing) opera, Sichuan opera, and Qinqiang—each with distinctive vocal timbres, tune systems, dialects, and orchestration, yet sharing the overarching xiqu aesthetics.

Jiangnan sizhu (literally “silk-and-bamboo” from the Jiangnan region of China) is a refined chamber tradition centered on string (silk) and flute (bamboo) instruments. Typical ensembles feature dizi (transverse bamboo flute), erhu and other huqin fiddles, pipa (pear-shaped lute), sanxian (three-string lute), yangqin (hammered dulcimer), and sometimes sheng (mouth organ). The music is heterophonic: all players render the same qupai (fixed tune) simultaneously while decorating it with individualized ornaments, resulting in a shimmering, interwoven texture. Performances often unfold in an arch of tempo—from slow, spacious introductions to fluid moderate sections and lively climaxes—suited to intimate venues like teahouses and guild halls. The melodic language is largely pentatonic within traditional Chinese modal systems and cyclical rhythms.

Sizhu (literally “silk and bamboo”) is a refined Chinese chamber tradition for string (silk) and wind (bamboo) instruments. It is typically performed in intimate settings such as teahouses and music clubs, featuring small ensembles that share a single core melody while each player ornaments it in their own way (heterophony). The repertoire is organized around cyclical, beat-patterned frameworks (ban) and named melodic models (qupai), and favors pentatonic modes with elegant, flowing ornamentation. Regional streams exist (most famously Jiangnan sizhu around Shanghai and Suzhou, and related southern styles), but all emphasize light timbre, supple rhythm, and social music-making.

Guoyue (literally “national music”) is a modern umbrella for Chinese traditional instrumental music and its 20th‑century orchestral reinvention. It centers on indigenous instruments—such as erhu, pipa, dizi, guzheng, yangqin, suona and sheng—organized into standardized sections (bowed strings, plucked strings, winds and percussion) to form the Chinese orchestra. Stylistically, guoyue draws on pentatonic modal systems (gong, shang, jue, zhi, yu), heterophonic textures, flexible tempi and ornate timbral inflections (glissandi, portamenti, grace‑note ornaments, vibrato types). Since the mid‑20th century it has also absorbed Western techniques—symphonic forms, counterpoint, functional harmony and programmatic writing—while retaining unmistakable Chinese melodic contours, idiomatic ornamentation and characteristic instrumentation. Today, guoyue encompasses solo and chamber traditions, large Chinese orchestras, and new concert works. It also informs film/TV scoring and crossover projects, and inspires pop idioms branded as “zhongguo feng,” in which traditional colors meet contemporary production.

Shidaiqu (时代曲, literally “songs of the era”) is the first modern Chinese popular music style, emerging in cosmopolitan Shanghai during the late 1920s. It fuses Western dance-band idioms—especially jazz, swing, tango, and other Latin rhythms—with Chinese pentatonic melody, Mandarin lyrics, and the refined vocalism of Chinese opera and folk song. Arrangements typically feature small jazz combos or studio orchestras with strings and horns, supporting clear, lyrical vocals that favor sentimental themes about urban life, romance, and modernity. Shidaiqu flourished in 1930s–40s Shanghai film musicals and dance halls, before being suppressed as “yellow music” on the mainland after 1949; its artists and sound then migrated to Hong Kong and later Taiwan, laying the groundwork for Mandopop and subsequent Sinophone pop traditions.

C-pop (Chinese popular music) is an umbrella term for contemporary popular music sung primarily in Chinese languages, especially Mandarin and Cantonese, and produced across Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and the wider Chinese diaspora. It encompasses well-known streams such as Mandopop and Cantopop while also including works in Hokkien and other Sinitic varieties. Stylistically, C-pop blends Western pop, R&B, hip hop, rock, and electronic production with Chinese melodic sensibilities and traditional timbres. Hallmarks include memorable vocal-centric hooks, lyric-driven ballads, polished dance-pop, and frequent incorporation of pentatonic flavors and traditional instruments alongside modern synths and drums. C-pop is culturally influential across East and Southeast Asia, with stars whose appeal rests on both musical craft and multimedia presence (film/TV, variety shows, social platforms).

Mandopop (Mandarin popular music) is the Mandarin-language branch of Chinese popular music, built on songcraft that blends Western pop forms with Chinese melodic aesthetics and lyric sensibilities. It favors strong vocal melodies, polished production, and emotionally direct lyrics, ranging from lush romantic ballads to sleek R&B, dance-pop, and band-driven pop-rock. Because Mandarin is a tonal language, phrasing and melodic contour are crafted to respect word tones while remaining singable and memorable. Historically centered in Shanghai’s pre-war Shidaiqu era, Mandopop later flourished in Taiwan and Hong Kong and now thrives across Mainland China, Singapore, Malaysia, and the global Chinese diaspora. It is both a mass-market mainstream and a platform for singer-songwriters who continually fuse local idioms with global pop trends.

Cantopop (Cantonese pop) is a Hong Kong–born branch of Chinese-language popular music sung primarily in Cantonese. It blends Western pop songwriting and production with local lyrical sensibilities, drawing early inspiration from shidaiqu, film/TV themes, disco, soft rock, synth-pop, and later R&B and hip hop. Stylistically, it favors hook-forward melodies, polished arrangements, emotive ballads, and mid‑ to uptempo dance tracks. Lyrics often center on romance, urban life, and identity, typically crafted with careful attention to the tones and rhythms of spoken Cantonese. The genre enjoyed a regional golden age in the 1980s–1990s and continues to evolve through contemporary pop, indie, and crossover influences.

Zhongguo feng (中国风, literally “Chinese style”) is a Mandopop subgenre that fuses traditional Chinese musical idioms with contemporary pop, R&B, and hip‑hop production. Signature traits include pentatonic melodies, ornamented vocal lines that reference opera and folk singing, and the use of iconic timbres such as guzheng, erhu, dizi, and pipa. Lyrics often invoke classical poetry, historical imagery, and landscape aesthetics, while modern drum programming, harmony, and song forms keep the music aligned with mainstream pop. Popularized in the early 2000s by Taiwanese Mandopop, the style became a recognizable aesthetic that bridges heritage and modernity across Greater China and the global Chinese diaspora.

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