Xingshan folk songs with a history ofmore than 2000 years are widely spread in towns and villages in Xingshan county and surrounding areas in the east, south and north. Xingshan folk songs are so peculiar that people do not know the pitch, the tone, not easy to learn.In the scale structure, there is a special interval between the big and the minorthird. This unique scale proves that there is an oral culture in the Jingchu music culture that is consistent with tuning system of the archaeological discovery, whichhas become the “living fossil” of the Chinese ancient music. Experts and scholars in the field of musicology refer to it as the remains of the “Jingchu ancient song”. It can be proved from Zeng Houyi chime, especially the tone structureof bronze chime bellsofShang and Zhou Dynasties unearthed in Changyang Tujia Autonomous County, which has high academic research value.

　　Chen Jiazhen, a 76-year-old villager from Huxi village, Huangliang town, Xingshan County, is a representative of Xingshan folk songs. Her daughter, grandsonand she together play the role of inheritingthe ancient Xingshan folk songs.Shewas awarded the title of National Inheritor by China’s Ministry of Culture in Jan.2008;she was also awarded as an advanced worker in the protection of China’s intangible cultural heritage in 2009.