Yiwu Culture

Wu Opera

Wu Opera, one of the major local operas in Zhejiang province, originated in the later period of Ming dynasty, with 400 years’ history. It takes Jinhua area as the center, popularizing in Jinhua, Lishui, Linhai, Jiande, Chun’an, Yushan in the northeast of Jiangxi, Shangrao, Yiyang, Guixi, Panyang, Jingdezhen,etc. It possesses 6 tunes. Because Jinhua ever had a name of Wuzhou so that this kind of opera is named as Wu Opera in 1949. Here are some famous works like The Tears of Hero, the Legend of Zhuyitie, Yiwu Solders, etc.

Daoqing

Early summer 2003, the National Literary Federation and the Chinese Ballad Singers Association decided to grant the title of "Township of Chinese Folk Art" to Yiwu. Yiwu Daoqing, which is originated from (A.D. 1573-1620), becomes folk arts that people love to hear in Zhejiang province with Lianhua Luo in Shaoxing, Guzici in Wenzhou and Pingtan in Hangzhou. Yiwu Daoqing is unique since it has no fixed tune. Its main goal is to form make works pleasant to be hear so that performers can play freely according to their own voice features and rap tunes.

Martial Art

Yiwu folk martial arts are various and have abundant content including all the things that can be found in martial field. There are also stone lifting, dragon dance, lion dance, vaulting-horse, stilts, bullfighting, etc., which spread to all the urban and rural areas there, each with its own characteristics. Every holiday, you could see that martial art teams are active in every corner in the countryside. Yiwu martial art has its extensive and deep mass base, which contributes to create the spirit righteousness and bravery of Yiwu people. Yiwu martial art pay attention to the code of brotherhood, justice and the morality of martial art so that it shapes Yiwu people , advocating the virtues of martial arts.

Birthday Party for the Old

When it time to the birthday of the old in the families, young people would hold birthday parties for them. Then there would be big splendid banquets, and relatives and friends would come with some gifts for good wishes. During the eating time, people can enjoy various folk rap performances.

Other intangible cultural heritage

Modelling art: Farmer paintings, Baizi lantern, paper cutting, kites, ceramic craft, root artware, clay sculpture and embroidery.
Performance art: Dragon lantern welcoming, human pyramid, stilts, vaulting-horse performance, Yiwu Daoqing, Yiwu flower-drum, small gong book, gong and drum group and swing.