Folk songs circulated in Yunfu City, Guangdong Province, are known as the "living fossils" of Nanjiang cultural changes. Liantan, known as the "hometown of folk songs", is a famous town in Yunfu City, Yunfu City, western Guangdong. Because there are many people living in Hong Kong, Macao, the United States and Canada, it is also known as the "hometown of overseas Chinese". People here like to sing folk songs. Introduction Folk songs are named "Liantan folk songs" because they originated from Liantan Town. Because they are the artistic crystallization and historical product of the people in the Nanjiang area in their long-term production and life, and carry many important local historical and cultural information, they are known as the "living fossils" of Nanjiang culture. Liantan folk songs originated in the Ming Dynasty and were popular in Yunan, Luoding, Yunfu, Deqing and Cangwu and Cenxi counties in Guangxi. It is an oral literature created by the working people. Liantan folk songs were originally four-sentence syllables. In the Qing Dynasty, they developed into multi-sentence syllables, and their characteristics are that each sentence has the same flat rhyme. The melody and mode are basically fixed, and when singing, different contents are applied. The content of the singing includes current affairs, love, marriage, life, historical stories, etc. Most of them are impromptu singing, and they sing songs inspired by their hearts. Some of these folk songs praise touching love, some reflect something that happens in life, some sing about labor and production scenes, and some are entertainment for guessing riddles, etc. Liantan folk songs are deeply loved by the masses. Folk singers not only sing for their own enjoyment after work, but are also hired to sing at the host's house to add a joyful atmosphere to festive activities such as weddings, birthdays, childbirth, and housewarming. There are also gatherings for singing, which are locally called folk song arena. One male and one female singer are the pillars of the stage. The male is called the song master and the female is called the song sister. They sit in the middle of the crowd and accept challenges from singers from all directions, answering songs with songs. The singers not only express their personal feelings about society and the world through the scene, and express the voice of the people, but also often gather in one place to compete in singing, which is called folk song arena. These folk songs are like "living fossils", reflecting the cultural changes in the Nanjiang River Basin, and they still exist today. It is said that every year in the first month of the lunar year, Liantan has a grand retro folk song festival, which attracts spontaneous and enthusiastic participation from Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi, Hunan and neighbors near and far. Content and singing method Liantan folk songs are all sung in local dialects, with rich content, lively form, and blend of scenes. They often use metaphors to express personal emotions, reflect major social events, express love between men and women, tell the misfortunes of marriage in the old society, sing about labor and production scenes, move into a new house, celebrate birthdays, sing about flowers, birds, insects and fish, guess riddles, etc. The performance forms mainly include solo, duet, and group singing (challenge). The folk song arena is the most lively scene and is also the development of the duet form. Liantan folk songs are generally sung during festivals, happy events (including marriage, marriage, birthday celebrations, entering a house, adding a child, etc.), good years, gatherings, and labor. For example, "The wedding tea song" "Tea is set up in front of the hall to honor the new father-in-law, and the new aunt is respected; the son and daughter-in-law are virtuous and respectful, and they remember the upbringing and dare to report their merits." Liantan folk songs have many performance techniques, such as reduplicated words, riddles, split words, entangled songs, and big talk (exaggeration) songs. The so-called "reduplicated words" folk songs are a traditional technique of Liantan folk songs. Reduplicated words folk songs include reduplicated words and reduplicated words. In a folk song, at least one sentence must repeat the same word or phrase to express different event contents or deepen the same content. Reduplicated words songs require relatively high artistic skills. For example, "New building, new room, the bride and groom smile; new quilt, new mat, new bed board, new things, new wedding, new ceremony", a four-line folk song has ten new words. The so-called "guessing riddle folk song" is derived from riddles. It can guess words and objects. "Guessing riddle" folk songs are also the favorite of young and old. They are interesting and bring entertainment to people and a harmonious atmosphere. For example: "Thousands of soldiers and horses are from the same family, with the same ancestors and the same words; wait until noon to go out and play, no champion or third place." The answer is bee. Riddle folk songs can be performed with the answer first and then the riddle is sung, or with the riddle first and then the answer is guessed. What's more interesting is that the riddle and the answer are all in the form of folk songs. Sing "The car is coming over the bridge, the water is hard to cross the river; today the art world is blooming, let's talk and sing folk songs." Guess the answer and sing "The two words of Liantan are correct, let's talk and sing poetry; the word car is connected across the bridge, and the three waters are hard to cross the river" to answer the riddle with folk songs. The "big talk (exaggerated) songs" in folk songs are exaggerated as much as possible when singing about people, things, and objects, such as: "Talking and laughing about ancient songs for no reason, dragon boats are rowing on the top of the cloud and fog; garlic is planted on the top of the mast, and the flowers cover the five counties." And "Stones float on the surface and play in the river, thrushes give birth to spring eggs bigger than baskets; mice drag cats across the beams, and carp drags otters across the river." It often makes people laugh. Among the people, this technique is often used to sing to test their wits, compare their wisdom, and make people laugh, thereby adding knowledge and entertainment. According to reports, in addition to the local people singing Liantan folk songs at different times and occasions, a group of singers specializing in folk songs have also emerged. The first generation of inheritors include Cai Shi (female) and others; the second generation includes Zeng Jian (female), Cheng Jiang (female) and others; the third generation includes Zheng Quan, Chen Qiong (female), Jiang Kou San (female), Wu Fengying (female) and others; the third generation includes Cai Meiying (female), Liu Shimei (female), Guan Rongsen and others; the fifth generation includes Mo Chiying (female), Tao Cai, Mo Xuezhen (female), Xie Shuilian (female) and others. These folk singers have been engaged in folk song singing for decades, and are often active in urban and rural music circles, and have a wide influence in neighboring areas. The long history and diverse culture make the ancient Liantan folk songs extremely precious in the face of the impact of modern pop songs and modern multiculturalism. In November 2006, "Liantan folk songs" were listed in the first batch of county-level intangible cultural heritage representative works of Yunan County; in February and June 2007, they were listed in the first batch of city-level intangible cultural heritage representative works of Yunfu City and the second batch of intangible cultural heritage representative works of Guangdong Province. Now, more and more people in the Liantan area have become professional folk singers, and their footprints are all over Yunan, Luoding, Yunfu, Deqing and Wuzhou, Cangwu and other counties and cities in Guangxi. They appear in various festive occasions and cultural and entertainment venues.