Wenzhou Drum Ci is one of the two main types of folk music in Zhejiang. It has always been said that "Tanci in northern Zhejiang and Drum Ci in southern Zhejiang". This kind of folk art with local characteristics is also called blind lyrics and blind lyrics because it is mostly practiced by blind people. Because drum lyrics are mainly sung, people also call singing Wenzhou drum lyrics "singing lyrics"; It is related to the folk belief of Chen Jinggu (commonly known as "Chen Shisi Niangniang"). Artists often go to the Niangniang Temple to sing big words, so it is also called "Niangniang Ci".

There are three main types of Wenzhou Drum Ci: Niangniang Ci, Ping Ci, and Mentou Ci. Among them, Niangniang Ci is the most important type and is the "big Ci" in Wenzhou Drum Ci. Because of its long circulation and wide influence, it is called "Ci Niang" by artists. In Wenzhou, people respect the Niang Niang Ci singers very much. Artists who generally sing lyrics are called "lyricists", while only artists who sing Niang Niang Ci are called "Mr." The top artists who sing Niang Niang Ci are respectfully called "Mr. Da".

At various times of the year, various temples and palaces in Wenzhou invite artists to sing drum lyrics; in normal times, drum singing activities are also held when clans complete their genealogy, birthdays, housewarmings, and funerals of the elderly. It can take as little as one night, or as many as several days. Streets, lanes, and villages can all be used as singing venues. Therefore, on both sides of the Oujiang River and the Nanxi River, the beautiful, simple and charming tunes of Wenzhou Drum Ci can be heard from time to time. Where the piano and drums are playing, men, women, old and young compete to listen and sing. When Wenzhou drum poetry was at its most prosperous, there were more than 200 professional artists and more than 300 folk artists. There were more than 80 calligraphy venues in urban and rural areas, with up to 30,000 drum poetry listeners every day.

There are two theories about the origin time of Wenzhou Drum Ci. A belief began in the Song Dynasty. Lu You, a great poet who had been to Wenzhou and Ruian, wrote this poem: "In the ancient willow village of Zhaojiazhuang in the setting sun, a blind old man with a drum is working. After death, who can care about the right and wrong? The whole village is listening to Cai Zhonglang." It can be seen that in the Southern Song Dynasty, Cai Zhonglang was singing. At that time, Lu You had witnessed the grand performance of drum lyrics singing. Another theory is that Wenzhou Drum Ci began in the Ming Dynasty and was formed by merging the music and lyrics of Pingyang Lane. It later inherited the mantle of ancient music and gradually developed by absorbing folk tunes. But in any case, Wenzhou drum lyrics must have been nurtured from local folk songs in southern Zhejiang, and they have been continuously developed and improved by absorbing folk tunes. Therefore, the sound has the local flavor of Wenzhou and the customs of Yanshan Oushui.

Wenzhou drum lyrics are sung in dialect, and the Ruian dialect has always been used as the standard pronunciation, with narration and narration, so Ruian is known as the "hometown of drum lyrics" in Wenzhou. For the locals, the drum lyrics sung in the Ruian dialect are not only easy to understand, but also the lyrics are smooth, rhyming and catchy. It can not only narrate twists and turns and bizarre stories, but also adapt to the needs of the plot, express joy, anger, sorrow, and joy. Sometimes it can be passionate and loud, sometimes it can be low and sad, and it can be suppressed, elevated, paused, frustrated, light, heavy, fast, and slow. It can be used freely. The music is delicate, bold and eclectic, pleasing to the ear and heart-warming.

The accompaniment of Wenzhou drum lyrics is unique. There are drums, cow-tendon qin (which only appeared during the Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty), three-grain boards (made of three mahogany or boxwood boards), Xiaobaoyue (made of hollowed-out boxwood, evergreen or camphor trees, about four inches), etc. When singing, the artist sits upright on a chair, holding a drum and arrow in his left hand and a three-piece board in his right hand. He uses the drum and arrow to hit the drum and beef tendons and sing in harmony. When singing Niang Niang Ci, gongs and drums are added. A drummer can play four to six instruments. He holds the board in his left hand to control the changes in rhythm and speed, and plays the piano with bamboo chopsticks (drum arrows) in his right hand. This drum arrow also plays flat drums, large gongs and large drums.

In the early days, because the singing venue was not fixed, drum lyrics were mostly sung from house to house along the village, so the drums used for singing were small and light, making them easy to carry. Later, this kind of drum gradually developed into a flat drum about one and a half inches high and seven inches in diameter. By the end of the Qing Dynasty, the instruments used to sing Wenzhou drum lyrics had undergone major changes: the "Niujin Qin" was the main instrument, and the flat drum took a back seat.

The Niujin Qin is a native product of Wenzhou. In the late Qing Dynasty, Ruian artists were inspired by the tinkling sound made by cotton-playing masters when they struck the tendon strings on cotton bows. They tried to use three or five pieces of beef tendon to temporarily wrap around the legs of a small table to play simple scales. Accompaniment, this is the prototype of the beef tendon qin. Later, local Ruian artist Peng Ayuan fixed the beef tendon on a wooden board and hung it on the table to play while singing. It was convenient and the scales were accurate, so he officially created the beef tendon qin. Because of the pleasant and fresh sound of the ox-tend qin, artists imitated it and gradually improved it, increasing it to five or seven strings. After liberation, the instrument continued to be improved, with seventeen strings, turbines and worm rods installed. It was easy to adjust and had a wide range of sounds. It was also divided into a treble instrument and a bass instrument. As a result, the cow-tendon instrument became a unique accompaniment to Wenzhou drum lyrics. device.

The content of Wenzhou Drum Ci exudes a strong folk flavor. The early Wenzhou drum lyrics did not have a written basis, and relied only on the master's oral transmission. According to the "Biography of Zhao Lianqin": "This biography ("Nanjing Biography") has more than 20,000 sentences, and the master passed it down orally. "Nao Ji." Starting from singing short folk stories, Wenzhou Drum Ci has gradually developed into a full text, and the content is still mainly based on familiar folk legends. The earliest long drum poem is "Twelve Reds", and there are also "Gaoji and Wu Sanchun" and "Wang Shipeng" based on Wenzhou folk tales. In the middle of the Qing Dynasty, as drum lyrics flowed into cities, literati also participated and adapted some drum lyrics based on Pingtan tunes. Representative works include "Japanese Pao" and "Jade Dragonfly". But the one that has the greatest influence among Wenzhou folk is the "Niangniang Ci" "Nourishment to the South" which narrates the story of Chen Jinggu.