Jiangnan sizhu

Jiangnan sizhu performers from Taicang, a county-level city of Suzhou, Jiangsu province play at a special show for the 2010 Shanghai World Expo. [Photo by Zhang Da/chinanews.com]

Jiangnan sizhu is a popular folk instrumental music played with Chinese traditional string (si) and woodwind (zhu) instruments in Jiangnan--the southern region of the Yangtze River.

As the instrument strings are traditionally made from silk and the flutes are made from bamboo, Sizhu (silk and bamboo) refers to traditional Chinese chamber music ensembles made up of stringed and wind instruments.

Sizhu music is found throughout China. Jiangnan sizhu developed in southern Jiangsu province, Shanghai and northern Zhejiang province, and is one of the most influential variants.

Usually performed by a team of two to eight artists, Jiangnan sizhu has two main instruments, namely erhu, a two-string vertical fiddle, and dizi, a transverse bamboo flute. Other typical instruments include pipa (a pear-shaped lute with four strings), yangqing (a hammered dulcimer), and sheng (a free-reed mouth organ).

Jiangnan sizhu dates back to musician Wei Liangfu, who created works for Kunqu opera in the Ming Dynasty during the reign of Emperor Jialong (1802-1819) in what is today's Taicang, a county-level city in Suzhou.

In the early 1900s, many sizhu enthusiasts gathered in Shanghai and established some Jiangnan sizhu clubs, propelling the popularity of the music.

With joint application efforts from Taicang and Shanghai, Jiangnan sizhu was included in the first group of national intangible cultural heritages on May 20, 2006 by the State Council. It has more than 100 traditional compositions, which have been widely adapted and altered; all versions are played today.

Xue Xiaoci, a sizhu music master, selected eight pieces of sizhu music for participants to play during a show in Shanghai's New World amusement park in 1939, which later became the famous Eight Great Pieces of Jiangnan sizhu -- Ornamented 'Three Six'", "Song of Joy", "Slow 'Six Beats'", "Three Six", "Four Together as You Wish", "Street Procession", "Cloud Celebration", and "Moderately Ornamented 'Six Beats'".

To protect the declining traditional music, Jiangsu Literature and Art Publishing House in Nanjing spent nearly two years compiling the 2,200,000-word Jiangnan Sizhu-music Collection and published it in December, 2003.

Many famous musical genres in the area south of the Yangtze River are influenced by sizhu music, including the famous erhu piece The Moon Reflected on the Er-quan Spring, created by Wuxi native Hua Yanjun.

Spring Blossoms on a Moonlit River, another piece of classic folk music, also enjoyed popularity on the world stage and was much favored overseas, especially after it was played in the Golden Hall of Vienna in 1998.