In hopes of revitalizing traditional folk songs, Chinese musicians are trying to convert more young people into fans of the old form of music by adding modern rhythm to it.

At the five-day Nanning International Folk Song Festival, which concluded Tuesday, the audience of the opening ceremony of the annual event were entertained not only with the original, earthy singing of folk singers but also with new versions of folk songs that incorporated elements of pop music, rap and even rock-and-roll.

Nanning is the capital of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, a place dubbed "ocean of songs" and famous for legendary folk singer Sister Liu Sanjie.

Liu Zhen, a reformer of folk songs and general director of the opening ceremony performance, said that the musical event has helped traditional folk music win the hearts of young people.

Considering the challenge from modern pop music, which seems to be more attractive to young people, Liu said that only by way of keeping up with the development of modern music, can folk songs win fans and survive in modern society. 

Gu Chunyu, a composer and also general secretary of the Chinese Association of Musicians, said that the first step for the survival and development of folk songs is to attract an audience.

The festival, broadcast live by China Central Television, has changed some young people's stereotypical beliefs about folk songs, Gu said.

"Only after seeing the performances of the folk song festival did I realize Chinese folk songs sounded so nice," an anonymous young female clerk in Nanning said.

Musical research and educational institutions in the country have made great efforts to promote folk songs in recent years, Gu said.

Musical training programs of folk singers were provided in Guangxi and Yunnan and Guizhou provinces, three major habitats of minority ethnic groups in the country.

The Beijing-based Central Conservatory and other higher learning institutions of music across the country all opened programs of folk song composing and singing.

However, the reform of folk songs has also triggered criticism.

"I had an inexpressible feeling when I heard the folk songs accompanied by modern music," said a 54-year-old man surnamed Li, a fan of folk songs from Beijing, at the musical event.

"I felt pop music sounded even more clamorous than folk songs at the festival," Li said.

Li visited adjacent rural areas in Nanning, trying to find a taste of the original singing of folk singers, but regretfully found that few young people could sing them.

"Only the generation of our fathers still sing at a festive occasion," some young people Li met answered.

So the folk song fan expressed his worry about the loss of heritage in folk music.

"As folk music serves as a symbol of a nation's culture, we should not sit and watch the loss of the tradition that was nurtured through thousands of years' development," Li said.

But reformers like Liu Zhen said that only sticking to the traditional style would not work for the survival of folk songs, "We need take in elements of pop music."
 
(Xinhua News Agency November 13, 2003)