Zhang Haichen

01 · Lineage & Regional School

He is a National Second-Class Performer and the fifth-generation transmitter of Yongnian Xidiao. Within the regional tradition and school record of Yongnianxidiao in Yongnian, Hebei: Yongnian xidiao is transmitted in the area of Yongnian County in southern Hebei. Yongnian District of Handan City has vast open plains, with the Fu River and the Ming River running across the territory, and an excellent geographical environment; since xidiao was transmitted here from Zezhou in Shanxi it has taken root in this district, and in performance it chiefly learns from and draws on the performance conventions and acrobatic techniques of Peking opera and Hebei bangzi, being characterised by roughness and boldness, concision and plainness, and full of local colour. At present only one professional xidiao troupe, in Yongnian District, carries on the transmission within Hebei. Yongnian xidiao is also called "Zezhou diao"; because it usually performed in paodai plays (costume-and-sash plays) and because its stage generally carried one daban (a length of railing), it also had the popular name "three-daban". In the early years after the founding of the People's Republic of China it was formally named "xidiao". It originally had five vocal systems — kun, bang, luo, juan and huang — but only the bangzi register is performed now, and its singing and recitation have abandoned Jin pronunciation, moving towards jingbai and yunbai; all of its more than one hundred traditional plays are inherited from Shangdang bangzi, and the juan plays that it once had have now been lost.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

He began studying opera under his father, Zhang Xuezeng, in 1943, and from 1948 he worked in the Yongnian Xidiao Troupe, acquiring a comprehensive command of the genre's vocal technique and performance skills. His acting is bold and fluent, and he specializes in the xusheng (bearded male) roles. His singing is rugged and high-pitched, well suited to large-scale dynastic plays, and he is capable of taking the leading role in any production. His representative plays include The Pan-Yang Lawsuit (Pan Yang Song), Hai Rui Brings Suit (Hai Rui Gao Zhuang) and The Eighth Son Stabs Xiao (Ba Lang Ci Xiao). He has collected ten scripts of traditional Xidiao plays together with traditional performance props, and has trained more than thirty successors. Within the documented technical tradition of Yongnianxidiao in Yongnian, Hebei: Yongnian County of Handan City lies in southern Hebei, where the plains are vast and the Fu River and the Ming River run across the territory; the geographical environment is excellent, and Yongnian xidiao is widely transmitted in this area. Yongnian xidiao is also called "Zezhou diao"; because it usually performed in paodai plays (costume-and-sash plays) and because its stage generally carried one daban (a length of railing), it also had the popular name "three-daban". In the early years after the founding of the People's Republic of China it was formally named "xidiao". Yongnian xidiao belongs to the banqiang system (metrical-modulation system), and its vocal music consists mainly of sīxián tune patterns and large-flute tune patterns. It has elaborate, costly and complete sets of metrical forms such as "two-slow-beat", "three-slow-beat", "four-six-beat", "duoban", "slow-long-beat" and "jieban", and it is good at expressing lofty and impassioned, free and uninhibited, and lively and cheerful emotions. Its accompanying instruments are very distinctive. The lead instrument, the head-string saw fiddle, is an authentic indigenous instrument made by the players themselves: it uses hide for its strings, is tuned in fifths with 6 inside and 3 outside, has a thin and short neck, and its relatively thick and long sound box is hollowed out of catalpa or paulownia wood. The two strings of the homemade jinghu are tuned in fourths, with 3 inside and 6 outside; the sanpa (gourd) is a bass instrument shaped like an erhu, with a rather long neck and a flat sound box, producing a deep, rich tone. Yongnian xidiao originally had five vocal systems — kun, bang, luo, juan and huang — but only the bangzi register is performed now, and its singing and recitation have abandoned Jin pronunciation, moving towards jingbai and yunbai. Yongnian xidiao has a complete range of role types; in performance it chiefly learns from and draws on the performance conventions and acrobatic techniques of Peking opera and Hebei bangzi, and is characterised by roughness and boldness, concision and plainness, and is full of local colour. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Xiao Guoshan (Crossing the Small Mountain)": All of its more than one hundred traditional plays are inherited from Shangdang bangzi. These include more than sixty bangzi-register plays such as Xiao Guoshan (Crossing the Small Mountain) and Luo Zhang Kuilou (Luo Zhang Kneeling Before the Tower); more than thirty huang-register plays such as Tanyin Shan (Exploring the Yin Mountain) and Kongchengji (The Empty Fort Strategy); a number of kun-register plays such as Fengxiang and Cifu; and a number of luo-register plays such as Da Mian'gang (Beating the Flour Jar), Shangfen (Visiting the Tomb) and Dingzhuan (Carrying Bricks). The juan plays that it once had have now been lost. "Luo Zhang Kuilou (Luo Zhang Kneeling Before the Tower)": All of its more than one hundred traditional plays are inherited from Shangdang bangzi. These include more than sixty bangzi-register plays such as Xiao Guoshan (Crossing the Small Mountain) and Luo Zhang Kuilou (Luo Zhang Kneeling Before the Tower); more than thirty huang-register plays such as Tanyin Shan (Exploring the Yin Mountain) and Kongchengji (The Empty Fort Strategy); a number of kun-register plays such as Fengxiang and Cifu; and a number of luo-register plays such as Da Mian'gang (Beating the Flour Jar), Shangfen (Visiting the Tomb) and Dingzhuan (Carrying Bricks). The juan plays that it once had have now been lost. "Tanyin Shan (Exploring the Yin Mountain)": All of its more than one hundred traditional plays are inherited from Shangdang bangzi. These include more than sixty bangzi-register plays such as Xiao Guoshan (Crossing the Small Mountain) and Luo Zhang Kuilou (Luo Zhang Kneeling Before the Tower); more than thirty huang-register plays such as Tanyin Shan (Exploring the Yin Mountain) and Kongchengji (The Empty Fort Strategy); a number of kun-register plays such as Fengxiang and Cifu; and a number of luo-register plays such as Da Mian'gang (Beating the Flour Jar), Shangfen (Visiting the Tomb) and Dingzhuan (Carrying Bricks). The juan plays that it once had have now been lost. "Kongchengji (The Empty Fort Strategy)": All of its more than one hundred traditional plays are inherited from Shangdang bangzi. These include more than sixty bangzi-register plays such as Xiao Guoshan (Crossing the Small Mountain) and Luo Zhang Kuilou (Luo Zhang Kneeling Before the Tower); more than thirty huang-register plays such as Tanyin Shan (Exploring the Yin Mountain) and Kongchengji (The Empty Fort Strategy); a number of kun-register plays such as Fengxiang and Cifu; and a number of luo-register plays such as Da Mian'gang (Beating the Flour Jar), Shangfen (Visiting the Tomb) and Dingzhuan (Carrying Bricks). The juan plays that it once had have now been lost.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

Born in January 1936 and deceased in November 2023, he was a man of Han ethnicity from Yongnian County, Hebei Province. He was a representative bearer of Yongnian Xidiao, a third-batch national intangible cultural heritage project.

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 Haichen · National Representative Bearer Archive