Puxian Shiyin Bayue music, also known as "Shifan Bayue", is a traditional folk vocal and instrumental music genre from the Putian region, Fujian province.
"Shiyin" or "Shifan" is a composite art form combining instrumental music, vocal performance, and theatrical elements, named after the ensemble of 10 instruments. It is divided into two styles: "Wen Shifan" (Civil Shifan) and "Wu Shifan" (Martial Shifan). Among them, Wen Shifan is a folk music style prevalent in Hanjiang district and surrounding areas of Putian, characterized by its serene and slow-paced melodies.
There are currently 44 surviving tunes in the Wen Shifan repertoire, performed in an ancient and elegant style, with two forms of performance: standing and sitting. The accompanying singers perform with flower stems in their mouths, a highly challenging and particularly unique practice.
During the Emperor Wanli of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), Yao Lu from Hanjiang, Putian, wrote the Lu Shu, which provides a textual introduction to the primary instrument "qin" in the Wen Shifan repertoire. This indicates that by the Ming Dynasty at the latest, Wen Shifan had already become popular in the Hanjiang area, and it has been passed down through generations via master-disciple transmission to the present day.
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