Folksongs and Papercuts of Northern Shaanxi

Northern Shaanxi is not only a brilliant base of Chinese revolutions,but also a tender cradle of folksongs and papercuts.
Folksongs of northern Shaanxi have been passed down and sung by people through hundreds of years in an area where ,for historical reasons along with its special geographical locations,many kinds of cultures have collided and mixed to create a rich cultural legacy.
By the early 20th century,folksongs were florishing at a time when people lived an extremely hard life in northern Shaanxi.
The themes of Shaanxi folksongs were social inequality,the cruelty of war,love, revolution,etc.

Links of Eminent Folksongs

1. Lan Huahua which depicts an orphan named Lan Huahua who eloped with her lover Yang Wuwa before a forced marriage with a landlord surnamed Zhou.This song shows Lan's bravery of defeating the injustice of the feudal society.
2. Driving the Mules which depicts a girl waiting for her lover on a slope who drove mules for a living .
3. Sanshilipu Village which depicts love bewteen Wang Fengying and Hao Zengxi.Wang was compelled to marry another man by her parents,while Hao joined the army.

Lan Huahua:http://d-life.whcgch.com/music/兰花花.mp3

Driving the Mules:http://www.ansai.net/video/sbmg/gllabao.rm

Sanshilipu Village:http://www.jbxw.gov.cn/sbmg_new/70.rm

Papercut

Papercut was first mentioned in Record of the Historian written in Han Dynasty(206BC-AD220)by Sima Qian,which relates how Ji Song,Emperor Cheng wang of the Zhou Dynasty,cut a leaf of a phoenix tree into the shape of a tapering tablet and give it to his younger brother Ji Yu as a symbol o f the title conferred on him of Duke of Tang.

My Feeling

The legacy of the rich culture demonstrates the wisdom of the laboring people of northern Shaanxi,which gives me a flow of pride.I am sure the future of Shaanxi will be brighter than before in every aspect.

Reference:Folksongs And Papercuts,baidu.