A Rambling Talk about the Various Types of Songs in The Outlaws of the Marsh

The famous long novel The Outlaws of the Marsh,which was written in oral Chinese during the end of Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of Ming Dynasty,contains some folk songs which were very popular in both cities and rural areas during Song and Yuan Dynasty,such as Zhu Gong Tune,the Songs of the Peddlers,Joking songs,Cut-down songs,Long poems etc.These songs had played important artistic roles in the process of the formation of songs in north China and dramas in Yuan Dynasty.