The Yangtze River Gorge Boatman song

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The Yangtze River Gorge boatman song is a folk song traditionally sung by those who would load, unload and sail their boats along the Xiling Gorge of the Yangtze River when sail power was the order of the day.

Xiling Gorge is the most perilous of the Yangtze River's three gorges. For hundreds of years, boatmen would sing and shout to maintain their working pace and uplift their spirits, as they struggled to ensure safe passage of their wooden boats through its fast and sometimes treacherous waters.

People in heavy occupations like lumbermen and boatmen often have their own songs to set the pace for their hard physical labor.

In 2008, the Yangtze River Gorge boatman song was listed as a national intangible cultural heritage.