Peng Yankun

01 · Lineage & Regional School

Peng Yankun, Male, Unspecified, from Changsha, Hunan, is a third-batch national representative bearer of Changsha Tanci Balladry (Ⅴ-51). The tradition is documented in Changsha, Hunan. Within the regional tradition and school record of Changsha Tanci Balladry in Changsha, Hunan: Changsha tanci was originally called "tanci" and is also known as "chang jiang", "jiang ping" and "ping jiang qu"; it has now a history of more than a hundred years. Its transmission reaches the principal towns and villages of Huxiang, and it has devoted listeners even among the Chinese communities of Hong Kong, Taiwan and places in Southeast Asia such as Singapore. Based on the Changsha dialect, with each character sung to its own tune, Changsha tanci has the artistic characteristics of being "antique, plentiful, broad, emotive and harmoniously witty". In the course of its long development, Changsha tanci formed the three traditional schools of Liao, Zhou and Shu. The later eminent blind tanci performer Peng Yangkun drew on the strengths of many masters, standardising the nine ban and eight qiang, the eighteen sets of tunes and the thirteen rhyme categories of the local dialect, and further assimilating musical elements such as the high-pitched singing of Hunan opera, kunqu, xiaoqu and mountain songs, to form a distinctive "Peng school" that enriched the performing art of Changsha tanci. Changsha tanci grew out of yugu daoqing and was at first sung by two people who performed itinerantly in the streets, a practice popularly known as "beating the street" (da jie).

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

He was a visiting professor at the Changsha Vocational and Technical College of Commerce and Tourism. Fond of quyi from childhood, he lost his sight in an accident at the age of ten, applied himself to the study of tanci, and travelled about Changsha performing tanci as a wandering singer. He later took the veteran Changsha tanci artist Hu Zhaolin as his teacher, blending the vocal styles of Xiang opera, the huagu tune, sixian xiaodiao, Huangmei opera and Peking opera into his singing, and on the basis of the ping, huan, rou, bei, dabei, nu and shenxian modes he created his own lan mode, giving Changsha tanci a deeper and more lingering flavour. He standardised and organised the nine boards and eight modes, the eighteen suites and the thirteen rhyme categories of the local dialect of Changsha tanci, and blended into his singing the high-pitched Xiang opera style, kunqu, xiaodiao, mountain songs and other musical elements, forming a distinctive Peng school. He extended the improvisational function of Changsha tanci and enriched and developed its vocal art. Within the documented technical tradition of Changsha Tanci Balladry in Changsha, Hunan: In performance, one performer holds a yueqin (moon-shaped zither) while another holds a yugu drum cylinder, clappers and a small gong, these instruments together being called the "three sounds" (sanxiang). It later developed into teahouse performance known as "sitting in the stall" (zuo peng), which can be presented either as a "single act" (dan dang), with one person playing and singing for himself, or as a "double act" (shuang dang), performed cooperatively by two people. Its vocal style is sweet and rounded, resonant and vigorous, easy to sing and exact in every word. Its "live question-and-answer" performance is uniquely characteristic, improvised on the spot, and can truly be called a wonder. Changsha tanci covers a wide range of subjects and has thousands of pieces, essentially embracing the content of every historical period; it has played a positive role in spreading historical knowledge. Its representative works include The Five Tigers Pacify the Southwest, The Chronicle of the Moon Tang, The Late Tang and Five Dynasties, The Generals of the Yang Family, Ciyun's Flight from the Realm, Water Margin and The Chronicle of the Seven States. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "The Five Tigers Pacify the Southwest": Changsha tanci covers a wide range of subjects and has thousands of pieces, essentially embracing the content of every historical period; it has played a positive role in spreading historical knowledge. Its representative works include The Five Tigers Pacify the Southwest, The Chronicle of the Moon Tang, The Late Tang and Five Dynasties, The Generals of the Yang Family, Ciyun's Flight from the Realm, Water Margin and The Chronicle of the Seven States. "The Chronicle of the Moon Tang": Changsha tanci covers a wide range of subjects and has thousands of pieces, essentially embracing the content of every historical period; it has played a positive role in spreading historical knowledge. Its representative works include The Five Tigers Pacify the Southwest, The Chronicle of the Moon Tang, The Late Tang and Five Dynasties, The Generals of the Yang Family, Ciyun's Flight from the Realm, Water Margin and The Chronicle of the Seven States. "The Late Tang and Five Dynasties": Changsha tanci covers a wide range of subjects and has thousands of pieces, essentially embracing the content of every historical period; it has played a positive role in spreading historical knowledge. Its representative works include The Five Tigers Pacify the Southwest, The Chronicle of the Moon Tang, The Late Tang and Five Dynasties, The Generals of the Yang Family, Ciyun's Flight from the Realm, Water Margin and The Chronicle of the Seven States. "The Generals of the Yang Family": Changsha tanci covers a wide range of subjects and has thousands of pieces, essentially embracing the content of every historical period; it has played a positive role in spreading historical knowledge. Its representative works include The Five Tigers Pacify the Southwest, The Chronicle of the Moon Tang, The Late Tang and Five Dynasties, The Generals of the Yang Family, Ciyun's Flight from the Realm, Water Margin and The Chronicle of the Seven States.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

Male, Han, born in May 1937, died in November 2016, a native of Changsha, Hunan Province. National representative bearer of Changsha Tanci 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. Peng Yankun · National Representative Bearer Archive