Nanyin

Introduction

Quanzhou's string-and-wind ensemble of pipa, dongxiao and clappers

Nanyin, also called nanguan or xianguan, is the string-and-wind music of the Minnan region centred on Quanzhou. Its repertoire has three parts: pu, instrumental suites without words, and zhi and qu, suites and single pieces with texts that are sung. The pipa and sanxian sit on the right, the dongxiao and erxian on the left, and the clapper player in the centre; the pipa is held horizontally. The earliest surviving books are three Ming anthologies printed at Zhangzhou and Haicheng around 1604, and the Wenhuantang zhipu of 1857 is the earliest printed collection of zhi and pu. Players honour Meng Chang as the god of music in spring and autumn rites, and UNESCO inscribed nanyin in 2009.

Timeline

1. 1604OriginAround 1604 three xianguan anthologies, including the Mantianchun, were printed at Haicheng and Zhangzhou; they are the earliest surviving nanyin books and have been held at Cambridge University Library since 1715.
2. 1857EvolutionIn 1857 Zhang Huan printed the Wenhuantang zhipu with 36 zhi suites, the earliest printed nanyin score collection.
3. 1921EvolutionLin Hong's Quannan zhipu chongbian, begun in 1912 and completed in 1921, collects 45 zhi suites with its characters regularised to literati standards.
4. 2009ImpactListed in the first national batch in 2006 (II-71) and inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List in 2009.

Heritage Listings

1. 2006National List of Representative Items of Intangible Cultural Heritage1st batch · II-71 Nanyin · no. 102 · nominated by Xiamen and Quanzhou · Fujian
2. 2009UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity4.COM · Nanyin