Folk Culture of Langya Mountain
Folk Instrumental Music
Local folk instrumental music falls into four categories: wind music, wind-and-percussion music, gong-and-drum music, and bowed string music (now lost to time). Its performing styles split distinctly between the southern and northern regions of Chuzhou.
The four southern counties and urban areas — Chuzhou, Lai’an, Quanjiao and Tianchang — feature soft, gentle, light and smooth melodies.
The three northern counties and urban areas — Dingyuan, Fengyang and Mingguang — deliver bold, unrestrained, resonant and lively performances with versatile playing techniques.
A total of 109 folk instrumental tunes have been collected so far, including 88 wind pieces, 10 wind-and-percussion pieces and 10 religious music pieces.
Suona (Chinese Horn)
Suona ensembles are organized into three types: family troupes, master-apprentice troupes, and monk-Taoist troupes, commonly nicknamed "wind players" or "sound musicians". Accompanying instruments include sheng, guanzi, bamboo flute, small gong, small cymbal, hand bells, wooden fish, hall drum and more.
There are dozens of traditional musical modes such as Grand Opening, Minor Opening, and Hundred Birds Pay Homage to the Phoenix. Performers adapt the rhythm and mood for different occasions, playing cheerful and lively melodies, mournful weeping tunes, or playful lighthearted pieces as required.
Gong and Drum Performances
Gong and drum shows are mainly staged during festivals, temple fairs, lantern festivals, god worship ceremonies and prayer rituals; they are also performed as evening entertainment.
Most groups are informal with no fixed troupe membership. Musicians gather voluntarily for performances, ranging from five or six participants up to dozens. Each plays their instrument together, producing resounding sounds that can be heard miles away.
Folk Dances of Chuzhou
Major local folk dances include Lion Lantern Dance, Yangge Lantern Dance, Flower Drum Lantern Dance, Double-Stick Drum Dance and others.
Starting in the late 1980s, literary and art workers went deep into grassroots communities to excavate, sort out and document folk dances. Twelve distinctive dances were selected, with records made of their poses, costumes, props, accompanying scores, movements and stage layouts, then compiled into a complete volume.
The twelve dances are listed below:
- Meteor Chasing the Moon from Mingguang City
- Hand Lion Dance from Quanjiao County
- Incense-Worshipping Stool Dance, Double Happiness Lantern Dance, Yangge Dance, Mother-and-Child Lantern Dance, Rain Prayer Ritual Dance, Lion Lantern Dance from Lai’an County
- Couple Duet Dance from Tianchang City
- Double-Stick Drum Dance from Fengyang County
- Orchid Lantern Dance from Dingyuan County
- Nine Lions Roaring from downtown Chuzhou
Folk Fine Arts
Chuzhou boasts a long-standing tradition of folk fine arts, including Fengyang Phoenix Paintings, cloth paintings, embroidery, woodcut prints and more. Among them, Phoenix Painting is a unique art form exclusive to China.
Fengyang Phoenix Paintings
Named after its birthplace Fengyang County, this art has a history of over 600 years. According to folk legends, the embryonic form of Phoenix Painting emerged in the late Yuan Dynasty. After Zhu Yuanzhang ascended the throne, Fengyang was hailed as the "Hometown of Dragons and Phoenixes". Phoenix Paintings, symbols of good fortune and bliss, flourished thereafter. Painters from all across the country flocked to Fengyang to create such works, laying a solid foundation for this distinctive craft.
Phoenix Paintings feature unique shapes and exquisite brushwork. The classic phoenix figure follows a fixed formula: "snake’s head, tortoise’s back, nine tails and eighteen wings; eagle’s beak, chicken claws, and a ruyi-shaped crown".
Dozens of classic compositions exist, including Red Phoenix Facing the Rising Sun, Phoenixes with Young Offspring Attending Court, Hundred Birds Pay Homage to the Phoenix, Phoenix Playing with Peonies, Five Phoenix Tower, Sun Rising in the East, Five Phoenixes Soaring Together, and many more.
There are two primary artistic styles:
- Ink-wash phoenix paintings: outlined with single black lines and shaded with ink washes.
- Polychrome phoenix paintings: traced with ink lines and filled with rich mineral pigments.
Dominant pigments include cinnabar, vermilion, rattan yellow, azurite blue and malachite green, embellished with gilded paint. The finished paintings are brilliantly colorful, highly decorative and brimming with authentic folk charm
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