Folk songs refer to songs that people improvise when they are working in the fields or expressing their feelings. Its content is extensive, its structure is short, its tune is bright, its emotion is simple, its sound is high and its rhythm is free.
Folk songs are mainly distributed in Han nationality areas and ethnic minority areas in plateau, inland, mountain villages and fishing villages, and are popular in Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hunan, Guizhou and Yunnan. The descendants of ancient Baiyue people in Lingnan area are famous for their good singing skills, and folk songs are a very unique national culture. Their history can be traced back to Ren Yue Song during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. Today, Han, Zhuang, Dong, Maonan, Mulao, Shui, Yao, Miao, Yi, Gelao, She and Buyi all sing folk songs. It is widely distributed and rich in reserves.
Folk songs are one of the basic genres of China folk songs. Generally speaking, it refers to folk songs with free rhythm and long melody that spread in plateau, mountainous area and hilly area, and people entertain themselves when walking, cutting firewood, grazing and mowing grass.