Zhang Yiping

01 · Lineage & Regional School

In 1959 she entered the Wuhan Opera School, studying under Luo Yuhua, the leading disciple of the Chu Opera master Shen Yunhai. Within the regional tradition and school record of Chu Opera in Hubei: The role types of Chu opera are divided chiefly into the three categories of sheng, dan and chou; the other role types too are doubled by actors coming from these three. Chu opera is close to everyday life, keeps pace with the times, and has rich and varied means of expression together with a strong capacity for taking in what it encounters; it fully displays the distinctive character of the local culture of eastern Hubei. Chu opera was formerly known as ohe qiang, the Huangxiao flower drum opera and the Xilu flower drum opera. In the Daoguang reign of the Qing dynasty the ohe qiang then current in eastern Hubei was fused with the mountain songs, daoqing, bamboo-horse dances, stilts and folk storytelling and singing of the Huangpi and Xiaogan area, and out of this fusion an independent local operatic genre with its own vocal system took shape; it was renamed Chu opera in 1926 and by now has a history of more than a hundred and fifty years.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

Female, Han ethnicity, born in April 1948 in Wuhan, Hubei Province. A National Class One performer and an expert receiving the special government allowance of the State Council. With a refined stage appearance and delicate acting, she has developed, through years of stage practice, a style that reveals brilliance within simplicity and beauty within depth. Her representative plays include Xiu Xie An (The Embroidered Shoe Case), Yangming de Erzi (The Son Who Sustains Life), Ni Shi Yi Tiao He (You Are a River), Mu Guiying Xiu Fu (Mu Guiying Divorces Her Husband), Hai Ying and Zhaojun Chu Sai (Zhaojun Departs the Frontier). Within the documented technical tradition of Chu Opera in Hubei: Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Qin Xuemei Diao Xiao (Qin Xuemei in Mourning for Her Mother-in-Law)": About five hundred Chu opera plays survive today and more than two hundred of them are performed regularly; the more important among them include Qin Xuemei Diao Xiao (Qin Xuemei in Mourning for Her Mother-in-Law), Yinping Gongzhu (Princess Yinping), Gan Zhai (Rushing to the Vegetarian Offering), Sha Gou Jing Qi (Killing the Dog to Startle the Wife), San Shi Chou (Feuds of Three Generations), Wu Han Sha Qi (Wu Han Slays His Wife), Cai Mingfeng Ci Dian (Cai Mingfeng Leaves the Inn), Ge Ma (Hemp and Sesame), Bai Ri Yuan (A Hundred Days of Affinity), Jiu Jian Yi (The Nine-Piece Garment), Wu Jin Ji (The Record of Black Gold), Mai Miansha (Selling Cotton Yarn), Ya Nu Gao Zhuang (The Mute Girl Files Her Complaint), Bai Shan Ji (The White Fan), Si Fan (Longing for the Mortal World), Lai Hun (Breaking Off the Marriage), Ji Shui (Drawing Water) and Dong Yong Mai Shen (Dong Yong Sells Himself). "Yinping Gongzhu (Princess Yinping)": About five hundred Chu opera plays survive today and more than two hundred of them are performed regularly; the more important among them include Qin Xuemei Diao Xiao (Qin Xuemei in Mourning for Her Mother-in-Law), Yinping Gongzhu (Princess Yinping), Gan Zhai (Rushing to the Vegetarian Offering), Sha Gou Jing Qi (Killing the Dog to Startle the Wife), San Shi Chou (Feuds of Three Generations), Wu Han Sha Qi (Wu Han Slays His Wife), Cai Mingfeng Ci Dian (Cai Mingfeng Leaves the Inn), Ge Ma (Hemp and Sesame), Bai Ri Yuan (A Hundred Days of Affinity), Jiu Jian Yi (The Nine-Piece Garment), Wu Jin Ji (The Record of Black Gold), Mai Miansha (Selling Cotton Yarn), Ya Nu Gao Zhuang (The Mute Girl Files Her Complaint), Bai Shan Ji (The White Fan), Si Fan (Longing for the Mortal World), Lai Hun (Breaking Off the Marriage), Ji Shui (Drawing Water) and Dong Yong Mai Shen (Dong Yong Sells Himself). "Gan Zhai (Rushing to the Vegetarian Offering)": About five hundred Chu opera plays survive today and more than two hundred of them are performed regularly; the more important among them include Qin Xuemei Diao Xiao (Qin Xuemei in Mourning for Her Mother-in-Law), Yinping Gongzhu (Princess Yinping), Gan Zhai (Rushing to the Vegetarian Offering), Sha Gou Jing Qi (Killing the Dog to Startle the Wife), San Shi Chou (Feuds of Three Generations), Wu Han Sha Qi (Wu Han Slays His Wife), Cai Mingfeng Ci Dian (Cai Mingfeng Leaves the Inn), Ge Ma (Hemp and Sesame), Bai Ri Yuan (A Hundred Days of Affinity), Jiu Jian Yi (The Nine-Piece Garment), Wu Jin Ji (The Record of Black Gold), Mai Miansha (Selling Cotton Yarn), Ya Nu Gao Zhuang (The Mute Girl Files Her Complaint), Bai Shan Ji (The White Fan), Si Fan (Longing for the Mortal World), Lai Hun (Breaking Off the Marriage), Ji Shui (Drawing Water) and Dong Yong Mai Shen (Dong Yong Sells Himself). "Sha Gou Jing Qi (Killing the Dog to Startle the Wife)": About five hundred Chu opera plays survive today and more than two hundred of them are performed regularly; the more important among them include Qin Xuemei Diao Xiao (Qin Xuemei in Mourning for Her Mother-in-Law), Yinping Gongzhu (Princess Yinping), Gan Zhai (Rushing to the Vegetarian Offering), Sha Gou Jing Qi (Killing the Dog to Startle the Wife), San Shi Chou (Feuds of Three Generations), Wu Han Sha Qi (Wu Han Slays His Wife), Cai Mingfeng Ci Dian (Cai Mingfeng Leaves the Inn), Ge Ma (Hemp and Sesame), Bai Ri Yuan (A Hundred Days of Affinity), Jiu Jian Yi (The Nine-Piece Garment), Wu Jin Ji (The Record of Black Gold), Mai Miansha (Selling Cotton Yarn), Ya Nu Gao Zhuang (The Mute Girl Files Her Complaint), Bai Shan Ji (The White Fan), Si Fan (Longing for the Mortal World), Lai Hun (Breaking Off the Marriage), Ji Shui (Drawing Water) and Dong Yong Mai Shen (Dong Yong Sells Himself).

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

She is a representative bearer of Chu Opera, a third-batch national intangible cultural heritage project. She has won first prize at the Wuhan Young Performers Competition, the Peony Award of Hubei Drama, the Wenhua Performance Award of the Ministry of Culture and the Outstanding Supporting Performer Award of the First Cao Yu Drama Awards. In recent years she has actively carried out transmission activities, teaching Shen school plays to young performers.

04 · Associated Heritage Item Dossier

05 · Fellow National Bearers Lineage

National representative bearers recorded under the same item code, ordered from the first to the sixth batch. Batch order is not a teacher–student relationship.

06 · Archival Sources & Bibliography

1. Zhang Yiping · National Representative Bearer Archive