Sanliu

Introduction

A Qing-era prelude to Suzhou tanhuang singing, printed in 1895 under the borrowed title Meihua Sannong.

Sanliu is one of the Eight Great Pieces of Jiangnan sizhu, the silk-and-bamboo ensemble music of southern Jiangsu, western Zhejiang and Shanghai. According to the sizhu master Jin Zuli, it is a suite strung together from several short tunes and already served under the Qing as the prelude to seated Suzhou tanhuang singing. Li Fangyuan's pipa collection of 1895 printed it under the borrowed ancient title Meihua Sannong. Players derived ornamented and slowed variants such as Hua Sanliu and Man Sanliu, the latter being Sanliu played slower with added ornaments. In the 1930s Ren Huichu arranged it as a yangqin solo and recorded it.