THE REGIONAL CHARACTERISTICS AND GEOGRAPHICAL BASIS OF THE CULTURE OF CHINESE FOLK SONG

China has a vast territory, and as a result, the regional human and natural environments are complex and differ from each other. There exist different styles of folk songs in different regions because of the difference of terrain and climate. Therefore it is of great significance to investigate the relationship between Chinese folk song and environment, to divide the areas of the culture of Chinese folk song, and to indicate the characteristics of regional folk song in China. First of all, based on review of some studies on folk song from the viewpoint of geography, using the method of Culture Geography, this paper not only points out the historical basis in the development of Chinese folk song's cultural areas, but also discusses some integrated models of the culture of folk song. The authors point out that the thoughts of Chinese folk song's geographical subarea existed ever since Emperor Huang's era. Then, on the basis of some thoughts of division in folk song's cultural areas, the authors divide Chinese folk song's cultural areas into seven districts, including the style of watery region represented by Jiangnan Ditty, the bold and unconstrained style represented by northern work song, the style of northwest high plateau represented by Xintianyou and Huaer, the style of southwest high plateau represented by folk song of Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan provinces, the style of northern prairie represented by long melody, the style of folk song of Xinjiang province, and that in snowfield of higher mountain. On the one hand, the authors believe that this division draft of culture area of Chinese folk song is relative and dynamic, and that it changes with the number of selected factors, the size of investigated areas and the length of study period. On the other hand, the authors summarize the regional characteristics and geographical mechanisms of these regions of Chinese folk songs in detail. At last, the conclusion is drawn and a forecast is made. The authors think that this division draft will not only help to recognize Chinese folk song's styles, but also help to protect and develop these different styles.