What is the living fossil of China's music?

The living fossil of China's music is Nanyin.

Nanyin is the oldest traditional ancient music in existence. It originated in the Tang Dynasty and was formed in the Song Dynasty. Thousands of years ago, immigrants from the Central Plains came to southern Fujian, bringing music culture, from which this beautiful and ancient music was born.

The main musical instruments of Nanyin are the upper four pipes and the lower four pipes: the upper four pipes commonly use pipa and sanxian, and the lower four pipes commonly use alto suona and peace drum, which still continues the playing style of the Tang Dynasty. The system of Nanyin consists of three parts, namely "finger", "score" and "song", with rich and varied themes, some singing the scenery of the four seasons and galloping horses, and some interpreting Tang poetry and Song poetry and legendary stories.

The Historical Origin of Nanyin

When Nanyin originated is not clearly recorded in the literature. There are many folk legends, some of which say that court music such as "Break" and "Ci" in the Daqu of the Tang Dynasty was introduced into Fujian, and it merged with local folk music. According to legend, it was brought to Fujian by Wang Brothers of Fujian at the end of Tang Dynasty. Experts and scholars have made textual research on Nanyin's qupai, musical instruments and terms. It is generally believed that Nanyin was formed in the Song Dynasty and developed in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

Nanyin has a certain relationship with the music before and after the Tang Dynasty. Nanyin retains the names before the Tang Dynasty, including midnight songs, Qingping music, backyard flowers, autumn Yangguan songs in Han Palace and so on. Nanyin has the same name as Tang Daqu, including three Lingliangzhou Qu and Ganzhou Qu.

In the Song Dynasty, as the imperial clan moved south, Quanzhou, as the capital, prospered its commercial economy, and at the same time, its culture and art were exchanged and developed. According to records, there were more than a thousand musicians in Quanzhou at that time, ranging from three to five in each family. The grand occasion can be seen. Since the Song and Yuan Dynasties, the Southern Opera, which was popular in Zhejiang and Fujian, also had a certain influence on Nanyin. Nanyin kept such plays as Chai Jing's Story, White Rabbit's Story, Yue Bai's Story, Dog Killing Story and Pipa Story.

Reference to the above content: Baidu Encyclopedia-Nanyin