Folk songs are short and lyrical rhymes that people can sing or recite. The word "ballad" can be summarized as a folk verse style; It can also be divided into "songs" and "ballads". There is a poem in The Book of Songs Feng Weiyuan with Peach: "Worry about my heart, I sing and sing." Explaining this sentence, "The Biography of Shi Mao's Old Training" said: "Music and joy are songs, and songs are ballads." That is, folk songs that are in harmony with the movement, have certain tunes and vocals, and are often equipped with musical instruments; There is no melody, but the lyrics have a strong sense of rhythm, and they are folk songs spread by chanting. Folk songs and folk songs can be distinguished by the presence or absence of tunes. When "folk songs" and "folk songs" are relative, "folk songs" is a narrow concept. However, there is another situation in which "folk songs" as the abbreviation of "folk songs" also include folk songs. This is like "songs" in ancient Chinese, sometimes including "ballads". In the Qing Dynasty, Du Fu said in "Old Proverbs: Ordinary Cases": "Compared with songs, ballads can be divided into acts and songs, and the words of songs are the general term; Where a word is said, a song is also a song. Therefore, ballads can be combined with a song, or they can be called with a song. "
Folk songs are short in length, which is obviously different from epic, long folk poems, Quyi and other rhyming works. It can be sung and recited, and has the characteristics of melody or rhythm, which is different from prose works such as stories and legends in form.
Folk song is a comprehensive art form, which not only has a rhythmic language form, but also is suitable for music and singing, often accompanied by dance. In ancient times, poetry, music and dance were usually trinity. "Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals and Ancient Music" records: "In the past, Ge Zhile, three people fucked oxtails and sang a lot." What it describes is an artistic activity that integrates poetry, dance and pleasure. Poetry in The Book of Songs, the first classical poem in ancient China, is a comprehensive artistic activity. It is mentioned in Mozi Meng Gong that in the era of Confucius, the Book of Songs had "300 poems recited, 300 poems sung and 300 poems danced". Later, poetry, music and dance gradually divided into three independent art categories. Although they cooperate with each other, their main models are developing in their own independent directions. Folk songs are different from literati's poems. In many cases, they are still a combination of poetry, music and dance.