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Arts & Communication

REVIEW ARTICLE
An analysis of hybrid music and ethnicity in

Quangang Beiguan

Jin Song*
Department of Musicology, Central Conservatory of Music, Beijing, China

Abstract

Quangang Beiguan, widespread in Quangang District, Quanzhou, also spreads to
Hui’an County, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, and elsewhere. In 2006, it was included
in the first batch of representative protection projects inscribed in the National List
of Intangible Cultural Heritage of China. Taking this paper as a unique showcase
for Chinese traditional culture, the translator sticks to the vernacular names with
English translations and/or romanization beside. Beiguan consists of two parts:
one is qu (“songs”) featuring lyrics, the other pu (“notation”) characterized by purely
instrumental music, with a total of more than 200 pieces remaining. Relative to
Nanguan (Nanyin, literally meaning “southern pipes”), “Bei” in Beiguan, which means
“north” in English, refers to the north of southern Fujian, especially the Jianghuai area.
Beiguan’s tunes and many of its musical instruments come from the north, and they
are sung in Mandarin Chinese. This is quite strange given that the people of Minnan
in Southern Fujian Province only love to speak their own local dialects. Mandarin
with a Hokkien accent, coupled with the characteristic local musical instruments
in the Minnan region, Beiguan has formed part of local music genres. Beiguan is a
near-relative hybrid music mixing the music cultures of adjacent areas within the
Han ethnic group.
*Corresponding author:
Jin Song
(sjin@ccom.edu.cn)
Keywords: Beiguan; Thirteen Tones; Hybrid Music; Dialect; Neutralization
Citation: Song J, 2023, An
analysis of hybrid music and
ethnicity in Quangang Beiguan.
Arts & Communication, 1(1): 419.
https://doi.org/10.36922/ac.419 1. The historical formation of Quangang Beiguan
Received: April 17, 2023 Quangang is situated in the north of Hui’an, on the south coast of Meizhou Bay. At
Accepted: April 19, 2023 the junction of Quanzhou and Putian, Quangang consists of part of Hui’an County
of Quanzhou and part of Xianyou County of Putian. Historical evidence reveals that
Published Online: May 15, 2023
Part of Xianyou County was incorporated into Hui’an during the Wanli period of
Copyright: © 2023 Author(s). the Ming Dynasty (1573 – 1619). At that time, Li Kai, who served as the Surveillance
This is an Open Access article
distributed under the terms of the Vice Commissioner of the Huguang region, was a native of Hui’an. He proposed that
Creative Commons Attribution the villages, formerly belonging to Xianyou County, be added on to Hui’an for the
License, permitting distribution, convenience of jurisdiction. In 2000, these parts together with part of Huibei were
and reproduction in any medium,
provided the original work is separated from Hui’an and renamed Quangang District, with the approval of the State
properly cited. Council of the People’s Republic of China. The district governs seven towns including
Publisher’s Note: AccScience Shanyao, Houlong, Nanpu, Tuling, Qianhuang, Fengwei, and Jieshan. Therefore, due to
Publishing remains neutral with historical reasons, Quangang District finds itself at the crossroads of the Minnan and
regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional Putian language families. Thus, it can also be divided into three areas using the languages
affiliations. spoken by its residents. The southern part of Quangang, namely, Shanyao, Tuling and

Volume 1 Issue 1 (2023) 1 https://doi.org/10.36922/ac.419