Qinglian Xiaodiao is a traditional music item in the fifth batch of representative items of municipal intangible cultural heritage in Huai'an. Historical evolution and distribution Qinglian Xiaodiao is another name for folk Xiaodiao in northern Jiangsu in Lianshui and surrounding areas. It is also called Xiaoqu or folk Xiaodiao. It is a kind of folk song tune, which is soft and smooth, with simple and neat structure and popular and vivid lyrics. Qinglian Xiaodiao is popular in Baotan, Nanji, Shihu, Tangji, Jiang'an, Xiaoliji and other towns and surrounding areas in Lianshui County, and has a history of more than 170 years. Qinglian Xiaodiao originally originated from folk rap such as Mentanci. Legend has it that during the Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty (1875-1908), during the famine years, the local refugees in Lianshui followed the boys and wizards to learn some tunes closely related to folk ghost and god beliefs, and combined them with the social situation at that time to compose door sighs and sing them from village to village to make a living. Before liberation, Qinglian Xiaodiao was widely circulated among the people as a means of making a living. After the founding of New China, Xiaodiao received attention from the Party and the government, was put on the stage, achieved great development, and was promoted and used as a propaganda art. Basic content and artistic characteristics The performance of Qinglian Xiaodiao is mainly singing and speaking, with a solo, duet and several people singing on the same stage. It is usually a mix of men and women, with women singing and men speaking, and later developed into duets. The performance content of Qinglian Xiaodiao has been changing with the development of the times. In the early days, Qinglian Xiaodiao was a means of making a living, and the performance content was mainly vulgar minor tunes such as "Eighteen Touches", "Twelve Months Visiting Sisters", and "Wang Ma Matchmaking", mainly for the purpose of being attractive. Later, "Meng Jiangnu Crying at the Great Wall", "Holding the Railing and Sighing Ten Times", "Five-hour Tune", "Ten Persuading Husbands", "Thirty-headed", and "Dressing Table" were added, which were widely circulated in rural and urban areas. After liberation, Qinglian Xiaodiao continued to be widely circulated among the people, and gradually developed into the main tune for folk dragon boat dances and flower boats. In the 1950s, with the main theme of praising the Communist Party and Chairman Mao, a number of works such as "Bachelor Turns Over", "Hometown Has Changed", and "Chinese Sons and Daughters Have High Ambition" appeared. After the 1970s, the main content was to promote Mao Zedong Thought and the Party's family planning policy. Folk artists used their intelligence and wisdom to compile lyrics and compose tunes to reflect the social reality, and performed them in the form of folk minor tunes, which were quite popular among the masses. The tune of Qinglian Xiaodiao has developed and changed with the continuous updating of its expression form and content, and gradually absorbed some tunes such as Wuxi's "Meng Jiangnu", Yunnan's "Embroidering Purse", Northeast China's "Sending Lover", and Northwest China's "Going West". The accompaniment instruments of Xiaodiao mainly include erhu, sanxian, yangqin, flute, suona, flat drum, Su Luo, cymbals, and hall drum. Like other folk arts, Qinglian Xiaodiao has been impacted by the accelerated development of urbanization and urgently needs to be protected and inherited. In order to better protect Qinglian Xiaodiao, Lianshui Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Center collected and sorted out the specific information of the project and formulated a practical protection plan. On the one hand, it further carried out extensive investigations, recorded and sorted out the audio-visual materials that were about to be lost, and minimized the loss of valuable materials; on the other hand, the Baotan Cultural Station organized the Qinglian Xiaodiao Singing Group to cooperate with the local government to carry out activities such as the creation, performance, training, and inheritance of Qinglian Xiaodiao, and promote the preservation, protection, and inheritance of Qinglian Xiaodiao. Qinglian Xiaodiao is a folk art form created by folk artists. Its form and content are a record of the development of social culture in different historical periods, and it is of invaluable value for studying the development of local social and humanities. (No pictures yet, welcome to provide.) (No pictures yet, welcome to provide.)