Muyu Song (Wooden-Fish Song)

Muyu song, also called "moyu song" or "muyu song," is a narrative-singing art of the Cantonese-speaking Lingnan region, especially the non-Hakka parts of Dongguan; it was once mostly performed by the blind, hence the popular name "blind men's song." Sung in Cantonese dialect, it retells folk tales and historical romances and represents the narrative singing of Lingnan. It entered the third national ICH list.

Muyu song takes the form of a single singer beating time on a wooden-fish block and chanting in Cantonese dialect; the libretti draw on folk tales, historical romances and scholar-beauty legends, with a plain yet narrative melody, free rhythm and alternating speech and song, a long piece sometimes sung over several days.

Muyu song represents the narrative singing of the Cantonese-speaking Lingnan region, carrying a rich tradition of dialect art, urban entertainment and folk literature; it is valuable for the study of Lingnan narrative arts and the evolution of Cantonese, and it shaped later forms such as Cantonese opera song and nanyin.