Yanling Hakka folk songs are folk songs composed and sung by the Yanling Hakka people in their unique dialect. They are a rare art category in Chinese folk songs. The unique Hakka language, extremely delicate emotional colors, gentle and tactful lyrics, and high-pitched and unrestrained rhymes complement each other in Hakka folk songs. In 2008, Yanling Hakka folk songs were identified as the second batch of intangible cultural heritage list items in Hunan Province. Yanling County is located in the southeastern border of Hunan Province. It is the resting place of Emperor Yan Shennong, the ancestor of the Chinese nation. The area has green mountains and clear waters, beautiful scenery, fertile land, abundant products, comfortable climate, and simple folk customs, thus accumulating rich cultural resources and humanistic heritage. In the long course of history, the Hakka folk songs, which are derived from the integration of the "Hakka people" (a unique ethnic group among the Han people, who migrated from the vast Heluo Yellow River and Luoshui area in the Central Plains during the Song Dynasty and are now spread all over the towns and villages of the county, accounting for 70% of the county's population) and the original residents of Yanling, have not only retained the ancient Central Plains Chinese phonology with a long history, but also continuously absorbed and integrated the essence of the local advanced historical culture, and finally formed the distinctive, rich and unique "Yanling Hakka folk songs". Like other folk songs, Hakka folk songs were produced orally, spread among the people, and gradually formed their own style. The Hakka folk songs that originated in the hinterland of the Central Plains, formed in Guangdong and Jiangxi (most of the Hakka people now scattered in Yanling County are descendants of Hakka people in Guangdong, Jiangxi and other places), and developed in Yanling, also came from the working people and reflected all aspects of the lives of the Hakka people. Whether in the spare time of working in the fields and forests, or on the way home after a day's work, the Hakka people use the form of singing folk songs to express their emotions and joy. At the same time, Hakka folk songs are also Hakka love songs, which reflect every stage of Hakka people's love life. For example, Hakka women express their bitterness and desire for love by singing folk songs. From Hakka folk songs, we can see the feelings and personality of Hakka people. Hakka folk songs are not only a form of folk music, but also a form of oral language literature of Hakka people, which is very characteristic of Hakka people. Its Hakka language, also known as "Hakka dialect", is one of the eight major language families of Chinese. The Hakka people have become an independent ethnic group of the Han nationality, which is inseparable from Hakka dialect (Hakka dialect). Although Hakka people have not formed and left behind written words, their language has significant characteristics. First, Hakka dialect is based on Zhou language and developed on the basis of Zhongchuan ancient language, and it obviously has the basic characteristics of Tang and Song ancient language. Second, in the process of development, because it has continuously absorbed certain elements from the local minority languages, it has formed a slightly regional Hakka dialect. Third, the Hakka dialect is elegant and long, soft and lingering, very magnetic, and retains the complete level, oblique, rising, falling and entering tones. In addition, some older words in the Hakka vocabulary are no longer found in Mandarin and other dialects, but are still preserved in the spoken Hakka language. Hakka folk songs are known for their metaphors and puns, with extreme literary talent and diverse forms. The main form of Hakka folk songs is an important form of Hakka folk songs, and most of them belong to this form. There is also a kind of folk song sung in a free rhythm, with no particular syntax, which can be long or short. The shortest sentence has only two words, and the longest sentence can reach dozens of words. This kind of folk song is also called a folk song. In addition, there are many forms such as overlapping folk songs, overlapping folk songs, tail-to-tail folk songs, question-and-answer folk songs, and breathless folk songs. Yanling Hakka folk songs are even more inherited from the remaining style of "The Book of Songs and National Winds", and developed in parallel with Tang poetry, Song lyrics, and Yuan opera. It was very popular in the Ming Dynasty and still retains the ancient Central Plains Chinese phonetics. It is a kind of folk ballad that can be recited and sung. It is more like seven-character quatrain and bamboo-branch poem, with gentle and mellow mood and emphasis on lyricism. For thousands of years, Hakka people have formed their own unique style in the impromptu singing of "carrying loads on shoulders and backs all day long at the end of the hill and the end of the stream". The content of Yanling Hakka folk songs is very rich, with special emphasis on the folk customs of Hakka people. It has a strong flavor of rural life and the vivid color of Yanling Mountain area, showing a perfect fusion of "Hakka nature" and "mountain nature". There are many types of Yanling Hakka folk songs, which can be divided into bitter songs, love songs, persuasive songs, pan songs, folk songs, festival songs, nursery rhymes, etc. according to content; and high-pitched, flat-pitched, low-pitched, etc. according to style. "Bixing" and "pun" are the basic means of expression of Yanling Hakka folk songs, and "repeated voice, repeated sentences, breathless, rebuttal, question-and-answer style" are the artistic expression forms of Yanling Hakka folk songs. Yanling Hakka folk songs are widely sung throughout the county. They are the representative folk culture of Yanling County. They have a long history and far-reaching influence. Initially, there was no accompaniment of folk songs, and only leaves were used as standard instruments to improvise with the singing. With the diversification of artistic expressions, folk songs gradually entered the field of mass culture. In order to reform and innovate folk songs, literary and art workers consciously added small instruments such as bamboo flutes and erhu to enrich the artistic effect of folk songs, but they still used leaves to lead the singing. In this way, the original "mountain wildness" was preserved and new connotations were given to folk songs. However, when people are free from work, in the fields, by the trees or by the river, they often use leaves as "accompaniment" for folk songs. The content of Yanling Hakka folk songs can be roughly divided into: labor songs, entertainment and funny songs, narrative songs, drinking songs, filial piety songs, teaching songs, scolding songs, love songs, children's songs and red ballads. Yanling Hakka folk songs are a unique part of Hakka culture and are closely related to the production and life of Hakka people. The content is mainly about expressing love life, advocating good and dissuading evil, and expressing their true feelings in the form of question and answer, impromptu duet, and leaf accompaniment. It truly reflects the Hakka people's passionate, witty, and positive optimism. In 2008, Yanling Hakka folk songs were identified as the second batch of intangible cultural heritage list items in Hunan Province. Yanling County Cultural Center is the main body of the protection of this project.