Chapter 106 ditty

Xiaoqu is a popular singing form that emerged in the Ming Dynasty. It was developed on the basis of folk songs from various places. Authentic folk songs are art for the lower classes to sing about life and express their emotions, especially various labor songs.These things actually existed in ancient times, such as "Ouge Song" and "Cailian" in the Yuefu folk songs of the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the boat songs sung by "Long Nian" and "Three Old Men" (boatmen) heard by Du Fu in the Three Gorges in the Tang Dynasty, Liu Yuxi The "Jiatian Song" heard in Lianzhou (in today's Junlian County, Sichuan Province), the "Ai Nai Song" sung by fishermen, and the "Folk Song" heard by Su Shi in Song Dynasty in Huangzhou, etc.However, most of these folk songs have not been preserved, and most of what we can see today are imitations of literati.However, a large number of folk songs in the Ming and Qing dynasties have been preserved because of the collection and arrangement of literati such as Feng Menglong.

The little song became popular in the countryside, and later entered the city. It was added with an introduction and an ending, accompanied by instruments such as pipa, sanxian, yueqin, and sandalwood board, and was sung in singing halls and restaurants.Its lyrics are collected in "Guangzhier", "Folk Songs" (Ming Feng Menglong collection), "Cantonese Wind" (Qing Li Tiaoyuan collection), "Singing in the Cloud Hall" (Tsinghua Wenbin collection), "Bai Xue's Voice" (Tsinghua Guangsheng series), "Lingxing Xiaowu Pu" (Qing Zhu Zaiyu series) and other books.Some scores of Xiaoqu have also been preserved, and some are even sung to this day.