The Peony Pavilion, a unique performance form of Jiangnan Sizhu in combination with traditional stringed and woodwind instruments, gong and drum, is exclusively popular in the Chongming Island.

The Peony Pavilion, originating from the reign of Emperor Daoguang in the Qing Dynasty, was reportedly first created by Chongming folk artist Wang Dongyang (Wang). Inspired by the scene of musicians playing while walking in the colorful boat on the Qinhuai River in Nanjing, Wang created pavilion-style memorial archway as bow, followed by awning corridor made of silk cloth as barge. It was held up by 10 people with bamboo poles, with colored rope at each end and musicians playing and walking under awning corridor. This form of performance was called "Hanchuanle" by Wan. Later, a friend sent him a picture of peony with the title of “national beauty and heavenly fragrance -- peony”. Peony had been long regarded as king or queen of flowers. Besides, “The Peony Pavilion”, written by Ming Dynasty dramatist Tang Xianzu with a love story between Du Shiliang and Liu Mengmei, also attracted attention of many people. Thus, Wang renamed the former unique and matchless “Hanchuanle” into “The Peony Pavilion”.

In the early stage, people usually used “The Peony Pavilion" to play folk music including “Laolaoban”, “Hualaoban”, “Suhe”, “Yanghe” and “Huaiwang”. In order to better adapt to the festive and lively scenes such as a temple fair or the streetscape, Wang added Chongming folk gongs and drums. Later, he adapted folk music “Suhe” and “Yanghe” into “Suqiao” and “Yangqiao”. With addition of Chongming folk gongs and drums, this folk music is later called “Suyangqiao”, the only form of gongs and drums in Jiangnan Sizhu. The number of performers of “The Peony Pavilion” were later fixed to 16, with eight playing thick percussion instruments and the other eight fine (bamboo instruments) instruments.

In June 2008, the State Council announced to list Jiangnan Sizu into the second batch of national intangible cultural heritage list.