Jiashan farming songs are a major kind of folk songs in Zhejiang Province. Different from the common single folk song, it is a general term for a package of seven different tunes, including Diluosheng (literally the tune of dripping), Luoyangge (literally the song of rice-transplantation), Ditouge (literally the song of Ditou Village), Yangsaoge (literally the song of sheep stink), Heiluodiao (the tune of a chant), Jijige (literally a hurried song), and Pingdiao (literally a smooth tune). Such folk songs as a complete package are rarely seen.
With a beautiful and twisting melody, Jiashan farming songs boast strong characteristics of water villages south of the Yangtze River. Lyrics mainly comprise puns and slang of Wu dialect (spoken in Jiangsu and Zhejiang Provinces, and also in Shanghai). The Wu style of the lyrics directly derives from Folk Songs compiled by Feng Menglong in the Ming Dynasty, which is a collection of folk songs in Wu area. Besides, it is also conspicuously related to Anthology of Yuefu Poems edited by Guo Maoqian in the Song Dynasty, especially to the portion of Wu songs in the Southern Dynasties. Therefore, Jiashan farming songs constitute a significant part of Wu songs south of the Yangtze River.
