Chaozhou xianshi

Teochew string music or Chaozhou xianshi (Chinese: 潮州弦诗; literally: "Chaozhou string-poem" also called "string-poem music") is classed as a type of sizhu music (chamber music for strings and woodwind, literally "silk/bamboo") although it typically uses stringed instruments only. It is found in northeastern Guangdong and parts of Fujian and also in regions with overseas Teochew populations, such as Singapore, Thailand, and the United States. The Chaoshan region of Guangdong, bordering on Fujian and comprising the cities of Chaozhou, Shantou and Jieyang, forms its own cultural sphere. Teahouses often accompany with Chaozhou music.

Developed from a fusion of elements, popular song, arias of Chinese opera, ancient melodies and pieces of Buddhist music, string music falls into two styles: Rujia yue（儒家乐） is music of the Confucian school that can be performed as an independent instrumental music genre or at weddings and other ceremonies and that aims at elegance and nobility, while Pengding yue（棚顶乐） is principally the music of the theatre, though it may be played independently: it cultivates a sober, rustic style.

The instruments most commonly employed include several varieties of two-stringed bowed lutes; the zixian (字弦) erxian（二弦） or touxian (头弦) the lead instrument in the Hakka style, shorter and higher-pitched than the erxian), the tihu (of lower pitch than the zixian, adapted from the Cantonese gaohu) and the big and small yehu (coconut shell body), as well as several types of plucked lutes: the pipa, large and small sanxian (a fretless bass instrument like the shamisen), qinqin (four-stringed with short, fretted neck and round body), ruan (four-stringed with long, fretted neck and round body) and meihuaqin. Other than this, the zheng (zither) and yangqin (a hammered dulcimer thought to derive from the Iranian santur) are played as well as percussion instruments: a hand-held wooden clapper (muban), a pair of "temple" blocks (daban and fuban) that mark the beat, and a small drum (zhegu). Cello is sometimes also used, particularly in the style performed in the area of Shantou.

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