China News Service, Yangzhou, June 13 (Xu Shanshan Li Zhongyong) On June 13, the 2026 Cultural and Natural Heritage Day, a unique lawn concert was held on the bank of Slender West Lake in Yangzhou. "The Rhythm of Qingyin Music·The Fragrance of the Half Pond" Yangzhou Qingqu Music Concert uses the sky as the curtain and the earth as the platform, bringing the thousand-year elegance of this historical and cultural city into the ears and hearts of young students and citizens.
On the evening of June 13, the Yangzhou Qingqu concert "Qingyinquyun·Bantangliufang" was held at the Slender West Lake in Yangzhou. Photo courtesy of Yangzhou Folk Art Research Institute
Yangzhou Qing Opera is known as the "living fossil of folk music in the Ming and Qing Dynasties", and together with Yangzhou Pinghua and Yangzhou Tanci, it is also known as the "Three Flowers of Yangzhou Folk Art". It was conceived in the Yuan Dynasty, formed in the Ming Dynasty, and flourished in the Qing Dynasty. It has a history of seven hundred years. It was once a voiceless voice in the garden of salt merchants, and also the voice of the common people in ordinary alleys. It is not high-pitched and passionate like Northern Song, but as clear and graceful as the city of Yangzhou.
At the concert, many actors from Yangzhou Folk Art Research Institute took turns on stage, presenting an elegant and exquisite audio-visual feast to young students. Young actor Zhao Songyan took the lead in singing the classic Manjiang tune "Banqing Pavilion". The tune is simple and elegant, and the tone is melancholy and far-reaching, showing the beauty of subtle melancholy. Subsequently, Liu Peijun, winner of the "Newcomer Award" of the Peony Award for Chinese Folk Art, performed the eternal Southern tune "On the Green Lotus Leaf". This song ranks among the "Five Great Palace Songs" of Qing Dynasty and originated from Feng Menglong's "Hanging Branches" in the Ming Dynasty. The famous Bo Yang tune "A Bright Moon" sung by young actor Shen Yuhong describes the tranquility and lingering feeling of a moonlit night in the south of the Yangtze River.
The concert's finale was Huang Lili, the representative inheritor of the provincial intangible cultural heritage of Yangzhou Qingqu. The "Nine Tunes and Eighteen Tunes" she brought is known as the "living fossil" of the art of Qing opera. It is composed of eighteen tunes in a row. The nine modulations are natural and seamless. It shows the gentleness of Guangling with every word and tune, and the beauty of Jiangnan is hidden in every word. It won bursts of applause from the audience.
"We listened to an elegant rhyme that traveled through time and space." A student from Yangzhou University said at the scene, "I didn't know much about Yangzhou Qing opera before. Sitting on the lawn today listening to these ancient tunes, I suddenly felt that I was very close to history. I look forward to such intangible cultural heritage concerts being held on a regular basis."
This event was hosted by the Yangzhou Folk Art Institute and the School of Liberal Arts of Yangzhou University. It aimed to introduce national intangible cultural heritage representative projects to the campus, allowing the younger generation to experience the unique charm of Yangzhou Qingqu up close in an immersive outdoor music experience.
"When Yangzhou Qingqu comes to campus, it is not only a wonderful performance of intangible cultural heritage art, but also a youth dialogue with cultural roots." Ma Wei, director of the Yangzhou Folk Art Research Institute, said that creating a campus cultural brand with both academic temperament and youthful atmosphere to inspire the cultural identity and inheritance consciousness of young people is an important path for the living inheritance of intangible cultural heritage. (over)
