Nanguan (music)

Nanguan (music)

Nanguan (Chinese: 南管; pinyin: nánguǎn; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: lâm-im; literally "southern pipes", also called nanyin (南音), nanyue (南樂), or nanqu (南曲)) is a style of Chinese classical music originating in the southern Chinese province of Fujian (福建), and is also now highly popular in Taiwan, particularly Lukang.

Fujian is a mountainous coastal province of China. Its provincial capital is Fuzhou, while Quanzhou was a major port in the 7th century CE, the period between the Sui and Tang eras. Situated upon an important maritime trade route, it was a conduit for elements of distant cultures. The result was what is now known as nanguan music, which today preserves many archaic features.

It is a genre strongly associated with male-only community amateur musical associations (quguan or "song-clubs"), each formerly generally linked to a particular temple, and is viewed as a polite accomplishment and a worthy social service, distinct from the world of professional entertainers. It is typically slow, gentle, delicate and melodic, heterophonic and employing four basic scales.