Maoming City (formerly Maoming Area), known as the hometown of singing and dancing, has a rich stock of traditional culture such as folk music and dance. Before the founding of the People's Republic of China (that is, during the First Civil Revolutionary War), there was a major change, that is, some new music and dance elements were added to the original folk music and dance, forming the so-called new folk songs. and new folk dances; after the founding of the People's Republic of China, through two "literary and artistic collections" until 1978, the original folk songs and folk dances have undergone changes in the process of being preserved and protected. Purely original folk music and dances are rare. Instead, a number of music and dance programs are created based on the original folk music and dance materials.

Maoming folk music and dance

Maoming folk songs can be roughly divided into several categories: revolutionary historical folk songs, new folk songs, chants, folk songs, field songs, minor tunes, etc.; Maoming folk dances were developed in the 1980s. At the time of the census, there were more than 80 dance types, more than 120 performance forms, more than 400 traditional programs, and more than 3,350 performance troupes, accounting for more than 1/3 of the province's dance performance troupes. Famous Maoming folk songs include "Osmanthus flowers bloom everywhere in August", "Send off the man to be a Red Army", "Sedan Arrives at the Door", "Song of Cars and Water", etc. Famous Maoming folk dances include flower picks, flower fans, flower umbrellas, fire damask, lion dance, spring cow dance, bamboo horse dance, land boats, dragon lanterns, etc. His representative works "Harvest Music", "An Umbrella", "Mountain Fisherman's Song", "Gongs and Drums Making Rice Plants", etc. have won awards in national performances and performance competitions. In addition, there are some music performance forms and programs in Maoming traditional culture; such as "Huangchuan Gongs and Drums", "Shangcheng Silk Strings", etc.

Maoming Folk Houses

Traditional Maoming folk houses can be roughly divided into two categories. The first type is represented by the original Maoming County (including the entire urban area) and Xixian County and has obvious characteristics of northern folk houses. Generally, it has a relatively spacious courtyard, with the main door located in the middle of the courtyard, without a screen wall, and there are wing rooms on both sides of the door. The first type belongs to the Hui style folk houses, with white walls and blue tiles, "#" in the courtyard, surrounded by corridors, and wing rooms on both sides of the gate. Large families also have corridor theaters. The most complete ones now include "Dingliwan Houses in Xin County" ", "Baique Garden Ming and Qing Street" in Guangshan County, etc.

"Dingli Bay" is located in Bali Township, Xin County. The house took shape in the mid-Jiaqing period. It is 700 meters long from east to west and has 180 houses. It has nine front and rear floors, and each building has a different architectural style. Among them, there are wooden pavilions, wooden pavilions, garden gates with brackets, and column carvings and paintings, forming a garden architectural pattern. It is a rare residential building complex in southern Henan. At present, the courtyard and wood carvings in the residential garden are still relatively intact.

"Baique Garden Ming and Qing Street" is located in Baique Town, Guangshan County. It is about 500 meters long and is in the shape of a strip. It extends from south to north along the west bank of Bailu River. There are more than 500 houses, mostly Architecture from the Ming and Qing Dynasties. At that time, Baique Garden was home to a large number of merchants and had convenient water and land transportation. The ancient city gate from the waterway pier into the city is still intact today.

Maoming Zao Opera is a unique folk music genre in Maoming. Its singing style is similar to the singing style of "Zao Shu" sung to worship the god Duan Gong, so it is nicknamed "Singing Zao". It was first popular among carpenters in rural areas such as Luoji, Fenshui, Jiangji and Changliu in Dongxiang and Beixiang of Gushi. It has a history of about 150 years and its representative song is "Guo Dingxiang". During the heyday of the activity, from the late Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China, it spread in some areas such as Shangcheng County, Huangchuan County, and Huaibin County adjacent to Gushi County. In the 1950s, Zao Opera was still performed in rural areas. Since then, it has gradually declined with the changes in production, lifestyle and cultural life. Nowadays, except for artists over 70 years old and people over 60 years old, who understand its vocal music, performance forms, and main repertoire, there are very few people in the middle and younger generation who know it.

As a form of folk art spread among the people, Zao Opera is difficult to perform and inherit. According to the compilation of word-of-mouth information, Zao Opera was produced during the Xianfeng period of the Qing Dynasty more than 140 years ago. More than 10 repertoires have been formed, but the performances and audiences are narrow, and the music is mainly passed down through heart-to-heart or oral teaching. Group audiences are also limited.

Haizi Opera

It is spread throughout Maoming, with Huangchuan and Gushi counties being the most representative. It is also known as "Flower Basket Opera" and so on. Huangchuan Haizi Opera evolved from the original Huangchuan folk song and dance drama "Dandeng". The singing uses dialects and slang, and has the characteristics of a combination of "singing, helping and beating".

Introduction to Maoming folk dance "Hua Tiao"

The adaptation of "Hua Tiao Dance" began in 1956, during the first national literary and artistic collection period. During the Hua Tiao performance, men and women mixed , with a certain plot.

The second adaptation began in 1958, and the third adaptation in 1983. This time all young actors were replaced, and the costumes, props, dance moves, and music were adapted and re-created, basically forming the current group dance model. In 1983, he participated in the first national folk music and dance performance (competition) and won the third prize. There was a 5-7 second flashback shot in the CCTV News Broadcast column that night.

Maoming Paper-cutting

Maoming Paper-cutting art activity has a long history. In paper art, it has both the north and south paper art styles, focusing on the contrast between light and dark, density and density. The six-meter-long scroll "Beautiful Scenery of the Red Mansions" created by Maoming paper-cut artist Xu Xu won the "Mountain Flower Award", the country's highest folk art award. !