Zhu Shulong

01 · Lineage & Regional School

Zhu Shulong, Male, Unspecified, from Xuzhou, Jiangsu, is a third-batch national representative bearer of Liuqinxijiangsuliuqin Opera (Ⅳ-63). The tradition is documented in Xuzhou, Jiangsu. Within the regional tradition and school record of Liuqin Opera in Xuzhou, Jiangsu: There are two accounts of the origin of Liuqin opera: one holds that it grew out of the folk ditties of southern Shandong under the influence of the local Liuzi opera, the other that it was spread from Haizhou in Jiangsu. Liuqin opera is popularly known as “lahun qiang”, and also goes by the names “lahu qiang” and “lahou qiang”; in 1953 it was formally named “Liuqin opera”. It took shape after the mid-Qing period and is distributed mainly in the border area where the four provinces of Jiangsu, Shandong, Anhui and Henan meet.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

Male, Han ethnicity, born in March 1958 in Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province. A National Class One performer. He has had a strong interest in traditional drama since childhood. In 1971 he was admitted to the Jiangsu Provincial Liuqin Opera Troupe. His breakthrough work was Hong Luo Shan (The Red Silk Robe), and after starring in Hangong Yuan (Grievance in the Han Palace) his fame spread widely across Jiangsu, Shandong, Henan and Anhui. With Bai Yulou (The White Jade Tower) he established himself as a celebrated actor of Liuqin Opera. A versatile performer, he is proficient in the xiaosheng, wusheng (martial male), xusheng (bearded male), laosheng and xiaochou (clown) roles, with solid skills in both civil and martial plays. His representative plays include Hong Luo Shan, Hangong Yuan, Bai Yulou and Zou Niangjia (Visiting the Bride's Family), and his productions have been broadcast repeatedly by China Central Television. In order to pass Jiangsu Liuqin Opera from generation to generation, he took Yang Cheng as his disciple. Within the documented technical tradition of Liuqin Opera in Xuzhou, Jiangsu: The singing of Liuqin opera is centred on the zhi mode and the gong mode; the zhi mode is gentle and lingering, the gong mode bright and vigorous. Its melodies include “qiban”, “daoban”, “laqiang”, “sheqiang”, “ye li cang hua”, “huilong diao”, “sili changqiang”, men's and women's “lala qiang”, “die duanqiao”, “da yapai” and the tune “the young lady enters the garden”; its ban patterns divide roughly into manban, erhangban, shuban, jinban and wuzi jinban. In performance it is accompanied by such instruments as the liuyeqin, dizi, zhuiqin, erhu, banhu, suona and sheng, together with the ban drum and the large gong. The performance of Liuqin opera is rough and unadorned, its rhythm brisk and lively, its local flavour strong, and the actors' movements and step patterns clearly bear the marks of folk song-and-dance. The traditional repertoire of Liuqin opera is extraordinarily rich; close to two hundred plays have been transcribed by the opera research institute of Shandong Province alone, and Liuqin opera in Jiangsu has more than three hundred plays large and small, most of them adapted from folk stories and chapter-novels. Siping Mountain, Bapan Mountain, Chronicle of the Fresh Flowers, Chronicle of the Fish Basket, Breaking the Two Nails, Little Ao Mountain, Yanmen Pass, The White Silk Robe, Eating Mianye Noodles and The Small Study are among its representative plays. In the course of its long development Liuqin opera absorbed the strengths of various sister arts and kept close ties with the life of the people in the area where it circulates. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Siping Mountain": Siping Mountain, Bapan Mountain, Chronicle of the Fresh Flowers, Chronicle of the Fish Basket, Breaking the Two Nails, Little Ao Mountain, Yanmen Pass, The White Silk Robe, Eating Mianye Noodles and The Small Study are among the representative plays of Liuqin opera. "Bapan Mountain": Siping Mountain, Bapan Mountain, Chronicle of the Fresh Flowers, Chronicle of the Fish Basket, Breaking the Two Nails, Little Ao Mountain, Yanmen Pass, The White Silk Robe, Eating Mianye Noodles and The Small Study are among the representative plays of Liuqin opera. "Chronicle of the Fresh Flowers": Siping Mountain, Bapan Mountain, Chronicle of the Fresh Flowers, Chronicle of the Fish Basket, Breaking the Two Nails, Little Ao Mountain, Yanmen Pass, The White Silk Robe, Eating Mianye Noodles and The Small Study are among the representative plays of Liuqin opera. "Chronicle of the Fish Basket": Siping Mountain, Bapan Mountain, Chronicle of the Fresh Flowers, Chronicle of the Fish Basket, Breaking the Two Nails, Little Ao Mountain, Yanmen Pass, The White Silk Robe, Eating Mianye Noodles and The Small Study are among the representative plays of Liuqin opera.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

He is a representative bearer of Liuqin Opera, a third-batch national intangible cultural heritage project. In 1988 he became a disciple of the Jiangsu Liuqin Opera master Li Renqing and is a fourth-generation transmitter of the art.

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. Zhu Shulong · National Representative Bearer Archive