Wang Yihua

01 · Lineage & Regional School

He comes from a family of theatre people and loved opera from childhood; at thirteen he was admitted to the Puzhoubangzi troupe of Yuncheng County to train in xiaosheng (young male) roles, studying under Di Guodong, a disciple of Xie Hongping, one of the “four great martial xiaosheng” of Puzhoubangzi, and acquired solid basic skills. Within the regional tradition and school record of Puzhoubangzi in Yuncheng, Shanxi: Puzhou bangzi arose in the late Ming and early Qing at Puzhou, the district where the borders of Shanxi, Shaanxi and Henan run together; it is found above all in southern Shanxi and in parts of Shaanxi, Henan, Gansu and Qinghai. One of China's oldest bangzi qiang (clapper-tune) genres, it was known among the people as luantan or bangzi qiang when it first came into being, as Shanshan bangzi (Shanxi-Shaanxi bangzi) in the middle of the Qing dynasty, and as Puzhou bangzi in the early years of the Republic; since the 1930s its name has been shortened to Puju. Its repertoire is extensive, and the plays known at present number more than fourteen hundred; those with the greatest influence include Dou E Yuan (The Injustice to Dou E), Xue Gang Fan Chao (Xue Gang's Revolt Against the Court), Lin Gu Chuang (The Qilin Bone Bed), Sha Yi (Killing at the Courier Station) and Gua Hua (Hanging the Scroll Painting).

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

He is a man of the Han ethnic group, born in August 1957 in Wanrong County, Shanxi Province. In singing, taking advantage of the mellow, resonant quality of his voice, he has extended his upper register and added a softer, more lyrical colour, and audiences praise him as having a “full mouth of voice”. In acting he has gathered the achievements of the celebrated xiaosheng performers of Puzhoubangzi and absorbed the refined manner of Beijing Opera xiaosheng; his special techniques with pheasant plumes, hair tassels and hat wings in particular have won high praise from experts and audiences alike. His representative pieces include The Yellow Crane Tower (Huang He Lou), The Incorrupt Official Kou Zhun (Qing Guan Kou Zhun), Lu Bu and Diao Chan, Zhou Ren Weeps at the Grave (Zhou Ren Ku Fen) and The Civet Cat Exchanges for the Crown Prince (Li Mao Huan Tai Zi). In recent years he has successively accepted six students as formal disciples and transmitted his art to them, and he is often invited to give free performances and teach at television stations and schools. Within the documented technical tradition of Puzhoubangzi in Yuncheng, Shanxi: Its singing is built mainly on the bangzi qiang, with kunqu, the chui qiang (blowing-tune) styles and folk ditties added to it. The bangzi qiang belongs to the banqiang (metrical) family and has seven basic ban patterns, together with upwards of three hundred suona tune patterns and three hundred-odd silk-string tune patterns. The vocal hallmark of Puzhou bangzi lies in its high pitch and its quick beat, in the great surges and plunges of its contour, and above all in its power to express emotions that are generous, stirring and impassioned. The singers employ the chest and the head voice together, and leaps greater than a tenth, or of two full octaves, occur again and again; the line carried by the voice is resonant, bold and unrestrained, and rich in passion. The accompanying ensemble is split into a civil band and a martial band. The civil band is headed by the banhu and joined by the flute, the two-string fiddle, the sanxian, the erhu and the like; the martial band employs the ban drum, the jujube clapper, the horse gong, nao and cymbals and the like, and it has an exceptionally rich repertory of gong-and-drum formulas (luogu jing). Puzhou bangzi assigns its performers to role types such as xusheng (bearded male), laosheng (older male), xiaosheng (young male), zhengdan (principal female), xiaodan (young female), laodan (older female), dahu lian (great painted face), erhualian (second painted face) and sanhualian (third painted face). Its performance art is backed by a long history and a deep tradition; what marks it out most is a fiery abandon, a vigorous breadth, an expansive brightness and a restrained delicacy. It stresses worked detail and has a gift for rendering characters through special techniques. Many of its performance techniques are technically difficult and highly attractive to watch — the stunt specialities alone number more than thirty — and its mao chi gong (hat-wing work), ran kou gong (beard work), ling zi gong (pheasant-feather work), shao zi gong (short-weapon work), bian zi gong (whip work), yi zi gong (chair work), shan zi gong (fan work), shua zhi fan (paper-pennon display) and cai gong (coloured-silk work) are celebrated throughout the country. Swept along by the advance of the commercial tide, Puzhou bangzi is now in crisis, audiences are leaving in great numbers and the acting force stands with a gap between the old and the young; this state of affairs must be reversed as soon as possible. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Dou E Yuan (The Injustice to Dou E)": Its repertoire is extensive, and the plays known at present number more than fourteen hundred; those with the greatest influence include Dou E Yuan (The Injustice to Dou E), Xue Gang Fan Chao (Xue Gang's Revolt Against the Court), Lin Gu Chuang (The Qilin Bone Bed), Sha Yi (Killing at the Courier Station) and Gua Hua (Hanging the Scroll Painting). "Xue Gang Fan Chao (Xue Gang's Revolt Against the Court)": Its repertoire is extensive, and the plays known at present number more than fourteen hundred; those with the greatest influence include Dou E Yuan (The Injustice to Dou E), Xue Gang Fan Chao (Xue Gang's Revolt Against the Court), Lin Gu Chuang (The Qilin Bone Bed), Sha Yi (Killing at the Courier Station) and Gua Hua (Hanging the Scroll Painting). "Lin Gu Chuang (The Qilin Bone Bed)": Its repertoire is extensive, and the plays known at present number more than fourteen hundred; those with the greatest influence include Dou E Yuan (The Injustice to Dou E), Xue Gang Fan Chao (Xue Gang's Revolt Against the Court), Lin Gu Chuang (The Qilin Bone Bed), Sha Yi (Killing at the Courier Station) and Gua Hua (Hanging the Scroll Painting). "Sha Yi (Killing at the Courier Station)": Its repertoire is extensive, and the plays known at present number more than fourteen hundred; those with the greatest influence include Dou E Yuan (The Injustice to Dou E), Xue Gang Fan Chao (Xue Gang's Revolt Against the Court), Lin Gu Chuang (The Qilin Bone Bed), Sha Yi (Killing at the Courier Station) and Gua Hua (Hanging the Scroll Painting).

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

He is a national representative bearer of Puzhoubangzi, a fourth-batch national intangible cultural heritage project. He is a recipient of the National May 1st Labour Medal.

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. Wang Yihua · National Representative Bearer Archive