Nanguan is an ancient style of music that is still played even today in southern Fujian Province. According to popular legend, China's ancient court music was first brought to southern Fujian by Wang Shenzhi, a marquis who ruled over the region during the late Tang dynasty and was fond of throwing banquets where court music was played. The origins of nanguan are difficult to trace, but modern nanguan musicians hold the pipa (a type of Chinese lute) horizontally in a manner similar to the way that drawings dating back to the Tang dynasty show it being played by female court musicians over a millennium ago. Furthermore, the nanguan repertoire features many titles that are quite similar to ones mentioned in Tang-dynasty records. These facts lead most to surmise that nanguan was brought to southern Fujian along with court music, which is why it is often called a "living fossil from China's musical past."
Nanguan is most popular in Quanzhou, Xiamen, and the Minnan-speaking region in general. There is an elegant simplicity about it, and a hint of reserve. Its songs are soft, beautiful, and expressive, and contrast sharply with the brash, bold northern music often heard at weddings, funerals, and other such functions. Both types of music are very popular in southern Fujian and Taiwan.
Nanguan performances include, separately or in combination, instrumental music, vocal music, and theater. As the southern Fujianese migrated over the past few centuries to Taiwan and southeast Asia, they took nanguan wherever they went, and it has been known by various names, including xianguan, nanyin, and nanyue. Because the god of music is named Mengfu Langjun, nanguan is also known in some places as langjun yue or langjun chang. There are four principal instruments-the pipa, dongxiao, sanxian, and erxian. Occasionally an additional four instruments, the xiangzhan, sikuai, jiaoluo, and shuangzhong, are included in a performance, and when a particularly big group has been assembled one may also see musicians playing the aizai and pinxiao. These ten-part ensembles can get quite boisterous, which is rather unusual for nanguan.
The musical notation system used in nanguan has been around since the late 6th century, and is thus far older than the one worked out in Europe in the 16th century. There are three kinds of nanguan works-zhi, qu, and pu. A zhi , just like a symphony, comprises several different songs. These works have both vocal and instrumental parts. Today there are 48 known zhi works in the nanguan repertoire. A qu only involves singing. There are more than 3,000 qu works, but only about 70 are performed with any frequency. A pu (also known as a qingzou pu) is an instrumental piece.
It is said that government officials played nanguan music for the emperor Kangxi on his 60th birthday in the early 18th century, and the emperor's effusive praise propelled nanguan to an exalted status. As a result, even though it has long been sung by people of every age and walk of life anyplace where Minnan is spoken, there has always been a certain elitism in the inner circles that has made it difficult for just anyone to join a langjun society and study the music seriously. Membership in langjun societies is off limits, for example, to barbers, stage performers, or geisha entertainers. The atmosphere at performances is quite formal, and most nanguan performers in Taiwan are gentlemanly sorts who would not think of appearing in anything but their "Sunday best," be it a suit and tie or a full-length Chinese tunic.
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Meng Chang, ruler of the 10-century kingdom of the Later Shu, was an excellent musician and composer. Nanguan performers have always worshipped him as Mengfu Langjun, god of music.
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Nanguan features four principal instruments-the pipa, dongxiao, sanxian, and erxian. During performances the musicians split up left and right while the vocalists take center stage to sing while clapping out time.
Nanguan features four principal instruments--the pipa, dongxiao, sanxian, and erxian. During performances the musicians split up left and right while the vocalists take center stage to sing while clapping out time.
