A Study On "a Popular Tune In Yimeng Mountains" And Its Spread

"A Popular Tune in Yimeng Mountains"is a"revolutionary historical folk song in Shandong". Originated from a song named"Gathering to Beat Yellow Sand"created in 1940 in Yimeng Mountains, a then anti-Japanese democratic base area, this song has been spread for 70 years. Though its original content of"gathering to beat yellow sand"has been replaced, it is still a typical"revolutionary historical folk song". It was accomplished by"composing a poem to a given folk tune"as similar tunes can be found in Shandong folk songs, Northeast folk songs, Hebei folk songs, and Beijing folk songs. The tune of this song is from the"songs of the same clan"descended from their"mother song", a song named"Small Chinese Cabbage". With different versions, the"ultimate version"of this song is still hard to find. In its 70 years'spread, there have been several published versions of this song, and much more"performance"versions and"re-performance"versions. As a musical theme, this song has rich thematic elements, which is shown by various kinds of instrumental music revised from this song and the fact that it has been used as a music theme to create instrumental music. The spread of this song is in complex historical and cultural backgrounds. Born in an"old revolutionary base area", this song then acquired more mediums to spread and became a"red song". The literary and artistic works with Yimeng themes are rich and continual, which provides direct medium for the spread of"A Popular Tune in the Yimeng Mountains". Now this song has been considered as an important"cultural symbol"and"cultural soft power"of Linyi area and the whole Shandong Province.