Chen Xian

01 · Lineage & Regional School

Chen Xian, Male, Unspecified, from Shuchanggongzuozhexiehui, Shanghai, is a third-batch national representative bearer of Suzhou Pingtan (Ⅴ-1). The tradition is documented in Shuchanggongzuozhexiehui, Shanghai. Within the regional tradition and school record of Suzhou Pingtan in Shuchanggongzuozhexiehui, Shanghai: Tanci leans more towards works of legendary narrative, which contain the rich cultural psychology of the Chinese nation, reflect the traditional moral outlook and life ideals of the people, and embody the humanistic characteristics and values of the Jiangnan region. Pinghua is popularly called 'da shu' (big book) and Tanci 'xiao shu' (small book); they flourished in the Suzhou region during the Qianlong and Jiaqing reigns of the Qing dynasty. In the mid-nineteenth century Suzhou Pingtan was introduced to Shanghai. Around the 1920s the centre of Pingtan activity had already shifted from Suzhou to Shanghai.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

A national first-class actor. In 1941 he became a disciple of Shen Jian'an. In 1945 he formed a duo with his senior fellow disciple Zhou Yunrui, taking the supporting role; he rose to fame and became one of the "Seven Fierce Acts" (qisha dang) of the late 1940s. In 1951 he joined the Shanghai Municipal People's Pingtan Working Troupe, now the Shanghai Pingtan Troupe. In the late 1970s he partnered successively with Xue Huijun and Zheng Ying, this time taking the leading role; his singing changed accordingly, drawing mainly on the Shen tune while assimilating elements of the Xue tune, and became all the more deep and restrained. His narration was clear and his diction nimble, and he was particularly skilled in singing to the sanxian and pipa. His representative aria pieces include Shi Ba Yin He (Eighteen Reasons), Qi Shi Er Ge Ta (Seventy-two of Him), Tong Ze (The Severe Reproach) and Jian Niang (Meeting the Mother). Within the documented technical tradition of Suzhou Pingtan in Shuchanggongzuozhexiehui, Shanghai: Suzhou Pingtan is the collective name for Suzhou Pinghua and Suzhou Tanci. With the rapid growth of Shanghai's economy and population, the storytelling market kept expanding and the level of performance kept rising, bringing forth a large number of famous performers and schools that caused a sensation at the time and influenced later generations. In Shanghai too, Suzhou Pingtan is still performed in the Suzhou dialect; its music is beautiful, its vocal style can narrate as well as express feeling, and it carries a strong flavour of the Jiangnan water-town region. Its performances often employ artistic devices of narration, singing, string playing, comic effect and acting. The prose portions of the text are rendered through 'shuo', which is termed 'biao' and 'bai', that is, narrating and describing the words and deeds of characters in the story and the environment of their activity in the voice of the storyteller; the versified passages, mainly in seven-syllable lines, are rendered through 'chang', accompanied by the sanxian or the pipa. In Pingtan performance, one performer is called 'dan dang' and sings while accompanying himself on the sanxian; two performers are called 'shuang dang', divided on stage into the upper seat and the lower seat, each singing while accompanying himself on the sanxian and the pipa respectively and accompanying one another in turn. To add interest, dramatic elements are inserted into the narrative portions of the story during performance; these are called 'xue'. When a performer imitates the speech, gestures and expressions of characters in the story, this is called 'yan', also known as 'zuo' or 'xue'. Over long years of performance, Tanci artists, besides developing the 'shu diao' used for Tanci singing, also absorbed tune patterns such as 'Shan Ge Diao', 'Luan Ji Ti' and 'Fei Jia Diao', enriching the music of the vocal style. Pinghua performance centres on 'shuo, xue, yan', and there is a large number of long-form traditional titles, some fifty or more, including historical romances such as 'The Three Kingdoms' and 'Sui and Tang', cases and chivalrous tales such as 'The Case of Judge Shi' and 'The Seven Heroes and Five Gallants', and mythological and fantastic works such as 'Investiture of the Gods' and 'The Biography of Ji Gong'. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Shanghai pingtan troupe": Founded in 1951 and now known as the Shanghai Pingtan Troupe, it became the city's central body for composing and performing pingtan. "The seven fearsome acts": A late-1940s Shanghai label for seven star pingtan acts; Chen Xi'an and his senior Zhou Yunrui, paired as second hand, were among them. "Signature arias of Chen Xi'an": Chen Xi'an sang chiefly in the Shen style with touches of Xue, and his signature arias include Eighteen Reasons Why, Seventy-Two He's, Bitter Reproach and Meeting Mother. "Works of Yu Hongxian": Yu Hongxian's signature works include Butterflies in Love with Flowers and Spring Breeze on Both Banks of the Huangpu; she received the Peony Award for lifetime achievement in 2014.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

Male, Han ethnicity, born in January 1929 in Changshu, Jiangsu Province, and died in October 2019. National representative bearer of Suzhou Pingtan (Suzhou storytelling and Suzhou balladry), 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. Chen Xian · National Representative Bearer Archive