Classical poets used
渔歌 as an image of detached freedom - the fisherman-poet drifting apart from officialdom. Liu Zongyuan's
渔翁 and Su Shi's ci
渔歌子 cemented it as a literary trope. Today the living tradition survives along the Pearl River delta (
疍家渔歌, Danjia boat-people songs) and in coastal Fujian.
