MUZI MUZIChinese Matrix

Cantonese Music

Rain on banana leaves, dragon boats racing for the prize

Introduction

Silk-and-bamboo ensemble music of the Pearl River Delta, led by gaohu, yangqin and qinqin

Cantonese music, or yueyue, is the silk-and-bamboo ensemble music of the Cantonese-speaking Pearl River Delta, centred on Guangzhou, Panyu and Taishan. It took shape in the late Qing, and Shawan in Panyu is regarded as one of its birthplaces. Early bands used the 'five pieces' of erxian, tiqin fiddle, sanxian, yueqin and transverse flute, known as the hard-bow ensemble; from about 1926 Lü Wencheng led with the gaohu, a high-pitched erhu, in a trio with yangqin and qinqin that grew into the soft-bow ensemble. The repertoire is mostly short programmatic pieces, over five hundred known by title and score, among them Rain Beating on Banana Leaves, Thunder in Drought, Winning the Dragon Boat Race and Autumn Moon on a Calm Lake. It entered the first national ICH list in 2006.

Representative works

  1. Rain Beating on Banana LeavesFirst printed in Qiu Hechou's Xiange Bidu of 1916, where it is listed among the old tunes.
  2. Thunder in DroughtYan Laolie's yangqin reworking of Sanji Lang, the second tune of the old suite Sanbao Fo.
  3. Autumn Moon over the Calm LakeWritten by Lü Wencheng after a visit to West Lake and recorded in Shanghai by 1930.
  4. Lovers' SorrowRecorded on the Gelin label by 1931; it opens in the plaintive yifan mode and ends in a fast liushui section.
  5. Stepping Higher and HigherLü Wencheng's gaohu classic, whose score appeared in the Qinxian Yuepu in 1938.
  6. Merriment in a Time of PeaceA signature piece by the Taishan musician Qiu Hechou, known for its brevity and buoyant mood.
  7. Dragon Boat RaceDrafted by He Bozhong and revised four times by his grandson He Liutang into a dragon-boat race piece.

Timeline

Late Qing to present
1880 · OriginIn the late Qing, bayin bands and musicians of the Pearl River Delta formed an independent silk-and-bamboo ensemble music; Shawan in Panyu, home of musicians such as He Bozhong (born 1833), is regarded as one of its birthplaces.1926 · EvolutionAround 1926 Lü Wencheng, raised in Shanghai, adapted the erhu into the gaohu and made it the lead instrument, in a trio with yangqin and qinqin that replaced the hard-bow 'five pieces' led by erxian and tiqin.2006 · ImpactIn 2006 Cantonese music entered the first national ICH list as II-49, nominated by Guangzhou and Taishan, where more than 120 groups still play it.
  1. 1880OriginIn the late Qing, bayin bands and musicians of the Pearl River Delta formed an independent silk-and-bamboo ensemble music; Shawan in Panyu, home of musicians such as He Bozhong (born 1833), is regarded as one of its birthplaces.
  2. 1926EvolutionAround 1926 Lü Wencheng, raised in Shanghai, adapted the erhu into the gaohu and made it the lead instrument, in a trio with yangqin and qinqin that replaced the hard-bow 'five pieces' led by erxian and tiqin.
  3. 2006ImpactIn 2006 Cantonese music entered the first national ICH list as II-49, nominated by Guangzhou and Taishan, where more than 120 groups still play it.

Heritage Listings

  1. 2006National List of Representative Items of Intangible Cultural Heritage1st batch · II-49 Cantonese music · no. 80 · nominated by Guangzhou and Taishan · Guangdong