The period of more than one hundred years from the decline of the Eastern Jin (317-420) to the foundation of the Sui Dynasty (581-618) was in the confrontation between two powers, one in the north and the other in the south. This period is known in Chinese history as the Northern and Southern Dynasties (420-589).
Folk Songs of the Northern and Southern Dynasties were created orally by people in the wake of Yuefu songs. Folk songs of the Southern dynasies are mostly love songs which reflect the sincere and pure love life of people. Most of them were sung by women with refreshing and touching appeal. Ode to Xizhou can be regarded as the representative work of them.
Ode to Xizhou
When they gather lotus at Nantang in autumn,
The lotus blooms are higher than their heads;
They stoop to pick lotus seeds,
Seeds as translucent as water….
The water is beyond the scope of eyesight,
You are lovesick,me either….
The south wind knows my mood;
It blows my dream to Xizhou.
The connotation of those lines is as follows: The heroin’s lover hadn’t come back home, so she went to gather lotus to divert herself from loneliness and boredom. At a distance from the lake, both of them were lovesick apart. Finally, she begged the wind to bring her dream to Xizhou where her lover was staying.
Most of folk songs of the Southern dynasties belong to the 4-line poems with 5 characters in each line, whose language is refreshing and natural, which possibly has a direct relation with the beautiful environment and rich condition of the south. Moreover, pun was often used in folk songs. Currently, there remain about 500 such songs.
Folk songs of the Northern Dynasties were mostly created by ethnic groups and reflected the society and their lives from every profile. As the Northern Dynasties were often at wars, the content of most folk songs had connection with wars. The long narrative poem Mulan Ci is the best-known work of that period.
Mulan Ci
Munan Ci figures the heroine Mulan who was brave, smart and high-minded. In the poem, disguised as a man, Hua Mulan joined the army on behalf of her father to fight against the enemies. As for a feudal society in which women were universally regarded to be inferior to men, this poem had its special significance. The story about Hua Mulan’s enlistment has maintained its great popularity among people and has been adapted for the screen and the stage so that it can comedown till today.
Besides the theme concerning warfare, most folk songs of the Northern dynasties describe scenery of the north and the people’s life of nomadism thus manifesting straightforward complexion of Northerners which has a clear contrast with those of the Southern Dynasties. Chile Song and Song of the Breaking of the Willow are the elaborate works of folk songs of the Northern Dynasties.
Folk song of the Northern and Southern Dynasties had great influences on poets of the Tang Dynasty (618-907)
Author: AmoyTrip.com--Folk Songs of the Northern and Southern Dynasties
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