The living fossil in the history of Chinese music is Nanyin.

Nanyin has a history of at least 800 years. It is the musical performance form closest to the original appearance that can be verified to this day. It retains the legacy of ancient music from the Central Plains during the Han, Jin, Tang and Song Dynasties. It is praised by experts as " "Living Fossil of Chinese Music History".

In the 1980s, the School of Ethnographic Music of the University of Washington in the United States collected folk music from all over the world for comparative research. The conclusion was: "Chinese music is the oldest music in the world, and among Chinese music, Nanyin is the oldest."

In 2009, it was listed as a "Masterpiece of Human Non-verbal and Intangible Cultural Heritage" by UNESCO. It is one of the most important and oldest art forms in Quanzhou and even China. . Nanyin is a relatively rich and complete type of music in ancient my country. It embodies the essence of elegant music in the Central Plains since the prosperous Tang Dynasty.

The origin and development history of Nanyin:

Nanyin is also called "Xianguan" and "Quanzhou Nanyin". It is the traditional music of the Minnan region of Fujian Province and is a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. One of the masterpieces.

Nanyin is known as "the living fossil in the history of Chinese music". It originated in Quanzhou, Fujian and is sung in the Hokkien language. It is a Han music with a long history in China. Immigrants from the Central Plains during the Han, Jin, Tang, Song and other dynasties brought music culture to the southern Fujian region centered on Quanzhou, and integrated it with local folk music to form a cultural expression with the legacy of ancient music from the Central Plains.

Nanyin originated in the Tang Dynasty and was formed in the Song Dynasty. The singing method of Nanyin retains the traditional and ancient national singing method before the Tang Dynasty. The second creation of the singers and players is extremely random, and the performance of Nanyin also maintains the Characteristics of the Tang and Song Dynasties. Its music mainly consists of three categories: "finger", "notation" and "qu". It is a relatively rich and complete music genre in ancient Chinese music system.

"Southern music" refers to the area where it spreads. "Xianguan" refers to wind music with silk and bamboo flutes as the main instruments. In ancient times, it was mostly called "Xianguan"; "Langjun music" and "Langjun singing" It refers to the fact that Nanguan musicians worship Langjun of Meng Mansion as the god of music. It is also called "Jinqu", "Five Tones", etc.

On May 20, 2006, it was approved by the State Council to be included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage lists, numbered II-71. On September 30, 2009, it was listed in the UNESCO Intergovernmental Organization At the conference, Nanyin was officially included in the representative list of human intangible cultural heritage.

Reference for the above content: Baidu Encyclopedia-Nanyin