Cantonese Music YANG Cui Xi

The composer for the famous Cantonese music YANG CUI XI is anonymous. No one nowadays knows who has composed it or what the music wants to express. However, from its title, which was a historical person’s name, the history of the music should not be too long. YANG CUI XI was a famous prostitute, actress and singer whose activities were active in the late Qing Dynasty and the early years in the Republic of China. She was perhaps the most famous prostitute in Qing Dynasty. There were references online that said she had once tried to protect the reformers who advocated constitutional Monarchy in Qing Dynasty.

The music has been widely used in Cantonese opera for many years. I know it was used in some operas in the 1950s and the music sheet was once published in the 1930s. From this point of view, it is at least not a piece of contemporary music and has many characteristics of traditional Cantonese music. I am not sure the mood of the music, but I feel it at least not a sad song.

Many years ago when I was a middle school student, I played this music with a bamboo flute in a musical lesson.