Northern Shaanxi folk music base opens in Yulin

Photo: VCG

A new base that focuses on the production and performance of Northern Shaanxi folk music was recently founded in the city of Yulin, a treasure house of intangible cultural heritage, in Northwest China's Shaanxi Province.

Launched by China's time-honored China Oriental Performing Arts Group (COPAG), the new base is included in the country's first museum dedicated to the singing arts of Yulin.

Xiong Gang, a Chinese folk culture expert, told the Global Times that the city is one of the birthplaces of Northern Shaanxi folk songs, which is not only a singing performance, but also "an epitome of Chinese people's 'worker spirit' resilience that also carries the spirit of Chinese Red Culture." 

Jing Xiaoyong, the head of COPAG, said that the new base endeavors to integrate traditional Chinese cultural legacies with the country's Red Culture history. 

A series of events dedicated to promoting Northern Shaanxi folk songs was also introduced at the celebration.  

Gao Ge (lit: singing out loud), a folk musical, will be introduced as a star program of 2023. Taking the Loess Plateau as its creative background, the musical features Northern Shaanxi folk music's distinct bright and melodic aesthetics. 

Jing told the Global Times that the musical tells the development history of the Communist Party of China through figures such as Chinese art workers, dancers and literati. 

COPAG was originally known as the Oriental Song and Dance Troupe, which was established back in 1962. 

Appointed by then Chinese premier Zhou Enlai, the art group has played a pivotal role in Chinese cultural exchanges with Western countries. To acknowledging that effort, in December 2022 Chinese President Xi Jinping sent a reply letter to 10 artist representatives from COPAG. 

In Xi's letter, he used the term "cultural envoy" to describe the group and encouraged artists to "stick to high moral standards, improve their artistic skills, uphold fundamental principles while breaking new ground, carrying forward the underlying values of the new era, and promoting the ethos of the Chinese people."