Is Quanzhou known as a living fossil in the music history of China?

Quanzhou is known as a living fossil in the music history of China.

Nanyin, also known as "Xianguan" and "Quanzhou Nanyin", is a traditional music in southern Fujian Province and one of the masterpieces of UNESCO's intangible cultural heritage of mankind. Nanyin, known as "the living fossil in the music history of China", originated in Quanzhou, Fujian, and was sung in Minnan dialect, which is the Han music with a long history in China. During the Han, Jin, Tang and Song Dynasties, immigrants from the Central Plains brought music culture into southern Fujian with Quanzhou as the center, and merged with local folk music, forming a cultural expression with the charm of ancient music in the Central Plains.

Nanyin originated in the Tang Dynasty and was formed in the Song Dynasty. Nanyin's singing method retains the traditional and ancient national singing method before the Tang Dynasty, and the second creation of singers and performers is very casual, while Nanguan's performance also maintains the characteristics of the Tang and Song Dynasties. Its music mainly consists of three categories: "finger", "score" and "song", which is a rich and complete category of music in ancient China.

The basic characteristics of Nanyin:

Quanzhou Nanyin plays and sings in the form of right pipa, three strings, left hole flute and two strings, with clappers in the middle, which conforms to the expression of harmony songs of "silk and bamboo are more harmonious and festival performers sing" in Han Dynasty. Its Miyachi notation is a system of its own, which is the remains of ancient music notation. Curved neck pipa, ten-eye nine-section flute, two-stringed and three-stringed bangzi, etc. Hengqin is also inherited from ancient musical instruments.

Nanyin has more than 2,000 pieces of instrumental music and harmony music, including commercial music in the Jin and Qing Dynasties, Daqu, Faqu, Yanle and Buddhist music in the Tang Dynasty, and lyric music and opera music since the Song, Yuan and Ming Dynasties. Nanyin is sung in the standard Quanzhou dialect archaism, and its pronunciation retains the phonology of ancient Chinese in the Central Plains. Pay attention to articulation when singing, and echo the sound. Nanqu is beautiful in tune, slow in rhythm, simple and elegant, euphemistic and affectionate.