（廣東）南音，是以粵語說唱的曲藝，與粵謳、龍舟、木魚、板眼同屬廣東地方歌謠，曾流行於珠江三角洲一帶。南音是二十世紀初期香港的流行娛樂，演唱者以失明藝人為主，以說故事的方式，伴以古箏、椰胡奏曲，手打拍板敲擊節拍。歌詞內容大多反映低下階層的困苦。失明的男、女南音藝人（分別尊稱瞽師及師娘）時於酒樓及妓院演唱「地水南音」。另說由於某些曲目內容悲慘，良家婦女聽到會引來不幸。

 

南音伴奏旋律有固定與不固定之分。固定旋律有板面（前奏）、過序（間奏）、拉腔（句尾特別設計的唱腔）等。唱詞部分的伴奏旋律則是不固定的，視乎所唱文字的聲調而變化；瞽師師娘有時會以即興說白與唱段相間。可見南音乃極具創意與靈活性之戲曲樂種。

 

其後，粵劇流行，廣東南音的唱腔曲調融入其中，成為其中的演唱元素。現存南音曲目不少，當中著名的短篇南音有《客途秋恨》及《男燒衣》等，都以悲情思戀的情節為題。

 

粵港澳作為廣東南音文化重地，均有有關措施推廣南音，甚至三地聯演活動，如2016年廣州文化局主辦之「粵港澳南音名家匯演」及香港康樂及文化事務署策劃之「粵港澳南音粵樂薪傳音樂會」。現時在香港會演唱南音之藝人為數不多，當中較著名的如阮兆輝、唐健垣、唐小燕等，均不時舉行演出。南音除了於2017年加入香港非物質文化遺產代表作名錄，亦為即將落成之西九戲曲中心之試演項目，或望在港有定期南音演出。澳門文化局同樣積極推廣南音，如以南音為課題舉辦中小學生「文化講堂」、並邀請國家非遺名錄認可之澳門南音傳承人瞽師區均祥公開演出及講座。

 

「南音說唱」於2011年由澳門申請成功列入第三批國家級非物質文化遺產名錄；2014年香港將「南音」納入香港首份非物質文化遺產清單。

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Nanyin is a type of Cantonese folk music, which includes yue’ou (Cantonese: jyut6 au1 粵謳), longzhou (Cantonese: lung4 zau1 龍舟), muyu (Cantonese: muk6 jyu4 木魚), and banyan (Cantonese: baan2 ngaan5 板眼). It was a popular entertainment in the Pearl River Delta region, especially Canton and Hong Kong, in the early 20th century. It was mostly performed by blind singers who were called gushi (Cantonese: gu2 si1 瞽師) if male and shi’niang (Cantonese: si1 noeng4 師娘) if female, and they often performed dishui nanyin (地水南音) in restaurants and brothels. They sang telling stories of the lowest strata of society, with accompanying music and rhythm from guzheng, erhu and clapper. In the past, because of the tragic content of the songs, it was considered unlucky for women from good families to hear them.

 

A nanyin song has fixed and non-fixed parts. The fixed parts include the banmian (板面 instrumental prelude), guoxu (過序 interlude), laqiang (拉弦 changing the voice at the end of each sentence); the non-fixed parts include singing, which depends on the tones of the words. Gushi and shi’niang may sometimes improvise spoken parts in the interludes. Nanyin is a creative and flexible genre of xiqu.

 

Later, when yueju (Cantonese opera) became more popular, it absorbed some characteristics of Cantonese nanyin, preserving them onstage. Some songs of nanyin, such as Ketu Qiuhen (客途秋恨 Wayfarer's Autumn Lament) and Nanshaoyi (男燒衣 Male’s Clothes), lamentations over lost love, are still famous.

 

As the key locations for Cantonese nanyin, Canton, Hong Kong and Macau have actively promoted the singing tradition in recent years, by education and even combined performances, for example, “Nanyin in Guangdong Music: Talents from Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao” (粵港澳南音粵樂薪傳音樂會) organized by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department in 2016. In Hong Kong today, a few nanyin artists still perform, such as Franco Yuen Siu-fai, Tong Kin-woon, and Tong Siu-yin. Apart from being included in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Hong Kong in 2017, nanyin is possibly scheduled as one of the regular programmes of the coming Xiqu Centre in the West Kowloon Cultural District. As for Macau, the Cultural Affairs Bureau promotes nanyin by many ways, such as holding “Palestras Sobre Temas Culturais” (文化講堂) for introducing it to primary and secondary students, and inviting Master Au Kwan-cheung who is the only gushi singing dishui nanyin in Macau and the nationally-recognized inheritor of nanyin for open talks and performances.

 

In 2011, nanyin was included in the third batch of the National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of China (第三批國家級非物質文化遺產名錄), applied by Macau. In 2014 it was also listed on the First Intangible Cultural Heritage Inventory of Hong Kong (香港首份非物質文化遺產清單) by Hong Kong Intangible Cultural Heritage Office.