A conversation across 1,000 years

Nanyin New Force is interested in what happens when that centuries-old sound meets the musical vocabulary of today, as Chen puts it.

Their approach is not to overwrite Nanyin with electronic beats or pop arrangements, but to preserve what makes the tradition recognizable while allowing it to enter new musical contexts.

The group may retain traditional Nanyin instruments while adding guitar, bass and drums. It may incorporate Nanyin singing into an original folk song, or create new music specifically shaped around the vocal style of the tradition.

One example is Yue Niang Yue Guang Guang (Moon, Moonlight), a Minnan (the southern area of Fujian province) children's song familiar to generations of local people. The group retains the original lyrics but reimagines the song through Nanyin-style singing and contemporary instrumentation.

The song will be performed in Beijing on Sept 24, a day ahead of Mid-Autumn Festival. Along with China Broadcasting Film Symphony Orchestra, the ensemble, featuring six musicians headed by Chen, will give the song new life, bringing the sounds of southern Fujian into a new orchestral setting.

"It is a memory shared by Minnan people," Chen says. "We wanted to return to something plain and simple, something that can make people happy."

Among the younger musicians helping to shape that sound is Wu Xuanhui, a Quanzhou native born in 1999. A music producer and songwriter now based in Shanghai, Wu grew up immersed in the contemporary musical world of pop music and short videos. He began forming his own music groups in high school and later shifted from pop performance to music production.

His connection with Nanyin, however, began much earlier.

Wu remembers his grandfather, who played pipa and erhu (two-stringed Chinese fiddle) and listened to Nanyin on a radio in their village. As a child, Wu was exposed to the music but did not yet understand it.

"I couldn't understand it when I was young, and I would fall asleep listening to it," he says.

Only later did he begin to hear something different.

"Nanyin is a conversation across 1,000 years," Wu says. "When the music starts, you can almost feel the era it comes from. It takes you into the world of Quanzhou."

Wu first met Chen while working on music projects that sought to incorporate local cultural elements. Their collaboration gradually developed into a creative partnership, with Wu handling songwriting, arrangement and production, while Chen brought her deep knowledge of Nanyin singing and musical conventions.

The division of labor is not simply traditional versus modern. It is a process of learning from each other.

Wu may begin with lyrics and a melodic idea. Chen then reshapes the material according to the rhythms and expressive principles of Nanyin by adjusting long notes, diction and phrasing.

For Wu, the goal of such crossovers is not necessarily for audiences to walk away knowing the technical vocabulary of Nanyin.

"What matters is that the music leaves an impression and makes people curious about the culture," he says.

That culture can enter through music, but also through the details of everyday life — Quanzhou food, local opera, streets and landmarks.

"Nanyin shaped me," Chen says. "Now I want people to know that Nanyin can be beautiful, enjoyable and fun."