Cart-horse-lantern Dance

Originated in the middle of the Qing Dynasty, the 170 year-old rustic "cart-horse-lantern", is a traditional folk dance arranged by Chen Kaipeng in the Qing Dynasty revolving around the historical tale of "Emperor Li Dan Fleeing from Capital Gate" in the Tang Dynasty. The whole performance composed of 10 dancers mainly displays changeable formations like circling, clockwise plum- blossom, anticlockwise plum-blossom or 8-type walking, shuttling lanterns and more, supplemented by singing and spoken lines. The accompaniment music of group dance diffuses fervent, vibrant and festive atmosphere, while that of singing and spoken lines, decent flavor of Gannan Tea Picking Opera. Pleasant words of praise sound auspicious, like "fair weather, bumper harvest, a bed of roses, all the best", so that the affective life style finds an echo in the hearts of folk farmers.

Jiulong Mountain Tea Picking Opera

Tea Picking Opera is evolved from the tea picking song and dance "Tea Basket Lantern” prevailing in Jiulong Mountain. Tracing back to the Ming Dynasty, the tea growing in this region of Anyuan, "refreshing, emerald and mellow", won a high reputation far and near, reaching its prime as a tribute during the reign of Emperors Kangxi and Yongzheng of the Qing Dynasty. The then Jiulong Mountain of Anyuan was well known as one of the main tea regions in the south of the Yangtze River. Early in spring, when tea merchants from Jiangxi, Guangdong, Fujian and beyond flocked here, farming maids would sing in unison "tea picking song in December" while picking tea. However, influenced by local folk light dances such as barn lantern and dragon lantern, they added props like tea baskets, paper fans and more into their tea picking singing, which developed into a folk dance of singing and dancing, tea-picking lantern, also called "tea basket lantern".

With the performance across a couple of folk artistic generations, "Tea Basket Lantern" has been converted into a "Tea Picking Little Opera" with simple story lines and characters, typically with two Dan and one Chou performers, namely, 2 female and 1 male roles in the play, therefore nicknamed "trio theatrical troupe", the earliest drama mode of Jiulong Mountain tea picking opera. Shifting from uphill to downhill, from simple to complex, "trio theatrical troupe" has been burgeoning into a localized opera at present - Jiulong Mountain tea picking opera.

Over hundreds of years, dedicated Hakka group have vividly transformed the language of labor into Jiulong Mountain tea picking opera. The tea-inspired unique singing and dancing, joyful and melodious, is widely popular among Hakka locals as of now.

Nan Xiang Hall Music

Nan Xiang, here referred to as southern towns of Anyuan County, its hall music possesses enchanting cultural background and artistic charm, evolved across folk production and life, principally for ceremonious events like wedding, funeral, birthday celebration, plaque-hanging ritual and others. Kongtian Town, cradle of Nan Xiang hall music, has Donglin Temple built in the present-day Shangzhai village in 1168 A.D., according to chronicle. At one time the temple accommodating a dozen monks, complete with a couple of trumpeters, greeted a fleet of pilgrims from far and near. The year 1952 happened to see a large fire devastate the temple of Donglin, burnt into ruins. The band of Buddhist monks were obliged to go into exile, sending buglers back home for farming as well. Afterwards, some folk farmers managed to solicit trumpeters home to play Buddhist music in case of marriage or mourning. In this way, Nan Xiang hall music of Anyuan gradually comes into being, thanks to several generations of inheritance and development in the hands of folk artists.

Somewhat different from other instrumental music in terms of tune name(qu pai), performed music and performing mode, Nan Xiang hall music is directed by suona, accompanied by erhu, flute, houguan(bamboo trumpet), Yangqin(Chinese stringed instrument) and others, yet without percussion instruments in attendance. Its performance is off-the-cuff, with suona playing the main melody, and others accompanying impromptu repeatedly in high or low melody of varied-hitch tuned-up keys. Moreover, the flute plays some keynotes with ornaments, erhu and other instruments set the mood in the performance of ornaments, which not only highlights strong points of various instruments, but also displays the individual performing skill and style of the artists. Suona, the main instrument, differs slightly from those in other areas, due to its whistle made of a cocoon of a certain insect on the tung - oil tree. The unique whistle removed in winter, stands long-term preservation, still capable of playing a cheerful, light and melodious tone, literally an original creation of Anyuan folk performers. In June 2007, Nan Xiang hall music was recognized into the 2nd group of intangible cultural heritage of folk music category across Jiangxi.