Wuxi is the birthplace of Wu tune and is also the place where the Wu tune became and remains popular. Wu tune is a kind of unaccompanied singing in the dialect of Wu areas which is passed on orally from generation to generation. It is characterized by rich content, lively lyrics and the lingering accents of Wu areas. The music has a profound impact on opera and music of the area south of the Yangtze River. Hua Baoshan, a Wu tune sung by Hua Zurong and composed by Zhu Hairong, is a long story of more than one million Chinese characters.
Wu areas now consist of Shanghai, southern Jiangsu province, Zhejiang province, southern Anhui province, northeast Jiangxi province and northern Fujian province.
Zhang Haosheng, an inheritor of Wu tune, teaches primary school students to sing Wu tune. [Photo provided to China Daily]
