Lin Jianhua

01 · Lineage & Regional School

Lin Jianhua, Female, Unspecified, from Lvjuyuan, Shandong, is a third-batch national representative bearer of Luju Opera (Ⅳ-116). The tradition is documented in Lvjuyuan, Shandong. Within the regional tradition and school record of Luju Opera in Lvjuyuan, Shandong: Lu opera was formerly called "zuqiang yangqin" (seated-tune yangqin) and "huazhuang yangqin" (painted-face yangqin). It evolved and developed out of Shandong qinshu by absorbing folk flower-drum, ditties and local tunes, and is popular in Shandong and in parts of Jiangsu and Anhui.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

Born in February 1931 in Wendeng County, Shandong Province, she is of Han ethnicity. In 1948 she joined the cultural and artistic work team of the Bohai Area Party Committee; in 1950 she transferred to the local opera research office of the Shandong Federation of Literary and Art Circles, and in 1953 she became a performer with the Shandong Luju Company, specialising in the qingyi and laodan roles. Her voice is bright, crisp and beautiful, sweet, moist and gentle, pure in both high and low registers, combining firmness and softness and used with complete ease. She has worked hard to absorb the finest qualities of the vocal art of sister genres and of narrative song, gradually forming a distinctive style marked by sharply distinguished apical and rounded articulation, a graceful and flowing melodic line and a mellow, lingering flavour, with strong power to move an audience. She is adept at using distinctive ornaments to polish her vocal lines, creating an impression of freshness and beauty, rich in flavour and delightful to the ear. She has appeared in nearly one hundred productions; her signature works include Ban Yao (Moving the Kiln), Hong Sao (Sister Hong), Both Banks of the Yi River and The Virtuous Sister-in-Law. Within the documented technical tradition of Luju Opera in Lvjuyuan, Shandong: It belongs to village art, playing out the affairs of farming households and singing out the feelings of farming households; its roles are centred on the "three small" of xiaosheng (young male), xiaodan (young woman) and xiaochou (comic), and its lyrics and spoken lines also draw largely on everyday folk usage. When it is sung, its principal accompanying instruments are the zhuihu, the erhu and the sanxian. The vocal music of Lu opera evolved from folk popular tunes and belongs to the typical banqiang (ban-style) structural system, being made up of such modes as "siping" and "erban" together with a certain number of tune patterns. Its melodies are simple and plain, beautiful and pleasing, natural and easy to render, easy to learn and easy to sing, and they are saturated with a strong flavour of everyday life and local character; among the people in the areas where it is popular it enjoys the reputation of a "post for tethering wives". Lu opera has close to three hundred plays in its repertory, among which Wang Xiao Drives the Cart, Sisters Swap Marriages and Li Ersao Remarries are representative works. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Wang Xiao Drives the Cart": Lu opera has close to three hundred plays in its repertory, among which Wang Xiao Drives the Cart, Sisters Swap Marriages and Li Ersao Remarries are representative works. "Sisters Swap Marriages": Lu opera has close to three hundred plays in its repertory, among which Wang Xiao Drives the Cart, Sisters Swap Marriages and Li Ersao Remarries are representative works. "Li Ersao Remarries": Lu opera has close to three hundred plays in its repertory, among which Wang Xiao Drives the Cart, Sisters Swap Marriages and Li Ersao Remarries are representative works.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

She is a national representative bearer of Luju opera, 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. Lin Jianhua · National Representative Bearer Archive