Fan Yinglong

01 · Lineage & Regional School

Fan Yinglong, Male, Han, from Neixiang, Henan, is a fourth-batch national representative bearer of Wanbang (Ⅳ-24). The tradition is documented in Neixiang, Henan. Within the regional tradition and school record of Wanbang in Neixiang, Henan: Wan bangzi grew and spread in Nanyang and the wide surrounding area of south-western Henan Province; because Nanyang was anciently called Wan, in 1956 the Nanyang administrative office formally named it Wan bangzi, while in early times people called it jiji bang, lao bangzi, Nanyang bangzi and other names. It evolved by fusion after the eastern-route Qinqiang of Shaanxi (Tongzhou bangzi) was introduced to Nanyang at the end of the Ming and the beginning of the Qing dynasty and merged with the local folk songs and ditties and the folk narrative singing; at present only one state-owned Wan bangzi professional troupe in Neixiang County is still carrying on the difficult transmission of this ancient spark of national art. Wan bangzi is a rare local operatic genre. It grew and spread in Nanyang and the wide surrounding area of south-western Henan Province; in early times people called it jiji bang, lao bangzi, Nanyang bangzi and other names. Because Nanyang was anciently called Wan, in 1956 the Nanyang administrative office formally named it Wan bangzi. Wan bangzi is an operatic genre that evolved after the eastern-route Qinqiang of Shaanxi (Tongzhou bangzi) was introduced to Nanyang at the end of the Ming and the beginning of the Qing dynasty and fused with the local folk songs and ditties and the folk narrative singing of Nanyang; its rise to the present has spanned more than three hundred years. Wan bangzi has more than one hundred and forty traditional plays, including Wen Jiang He, Hua Xin Wan, Hei Da Chao, Zha Mei An, Xia Chen Zhou, Tao Hua An, Mai Miao Lang, Yang Jia Jiang, Da Jin Zhi, Huang He Lou and others.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

Male, of Han ethnicity, born in June 1943 in Neixiang County, Henan Province. In 1957 he joined the Neixiang County Wanbang Troupe, and in 1960 he took Xing Deshan, whose stage name was Xing Puyu and whose nickname was “Er Dian’er”, as his master, specializing in wusheng (martial male) roles. Accomplished in both singing and recitation, he moves with measure, dignified and generous: fierce and awe-inspiring when the role demands hardness, steady and restrained when it demands softness. He excels at characterization, his vocal delivery is steady with well-judged rise and fall, and his half-spoken, half-sung technique has a distinctive charm. He has performed nearly a hundred productions, his representative works including Chu Before and After (Qian Hou Chu Guo), Beheading Cai Yang (Zhan Cai Yang) and Striking the Golden Branch (Da Jin Zhi). Since 2007 he has travelled to many places to recover and collate one hundred and fifty-nine traditional Wanbang plays, amounting to more than five hundred thousand characters. His disciples include Yao Yulin, Zhou Chengshun and Yang Honghai. Within the documented technical tradition of Wanbang in Neixiang, Henan: Its music belongs to the banqiang system; its melodies are rich, and its vocal style is divided into the benqiang (natural voice) and the jiaqiang (falsetto voice), with the natural and the falsetto voice paired in every kind of ban pattern. Its usual modal categories fall into four main parts: manban (slow ban), liushui (flowing water), erba (two-eight) and sanban (free ban). Accompanying instruments include the daxian, the erxian, the zhuihu, the yueqin, the suona, small gong, hand cymbals, ban drum, large gong, large cymbals, big drum, battle drum and jujube-wood clappers. The principal bowed string instrument of Wan bangzi is the daxian of early Qinqiang, whose sound is high and resonant, like the call of a bird; combined with the jujube-wood clappers it gives the genre a style of its own. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Wen Jiang He (The Wen River)": Wan bangzi has more than one hundred and forty traditional plays, including Wen Jiang He (The Wen River), Hua Xin Wan (The Heart-Changing Pill), Hei Da Chao (The Black Court Performance), Zha Mei An (The Case of Beheading the Unfaithful Husband), Xia Chen Zhou (Taking Chen Zhou), Tao Hua An (The Peach Blossom Nunnery), Mai Miao Lang (Selling the Young Son-in-Law), Yang Jia Jiang (The Yang Family Generals), Da Jin Zhi (Beating the Golden Branch), Huang He Lou (Yellow Crane Tower) and others. "Hua Xin Wan (The Heart-Changing Pill)": Wan bangzi has more than one hundred and forty traditional plays, including Wen Jiang He (The Wen River), Hua Xin Wan (The Heart-Changing Pill), Hei Da Chao (The Black Court Performance), Zha Mei An (The Case of Beheading the Unfaithful Husband), Xia Chen Zhou (Taking Chen Zhou), Tao Hua An (The Peach Blossom Nunnery), Mai Miao Lang (Selling the Young Son-in-Law), Yang Jia Jiang (The Yang Family Generals), Da Jin Zhi (Beating the Golden Branch), Huang He Lou (Yellow Crane Tower) and others. "Hei Da Chao (The Black Court Performance)": Wan bangzi has more than one hundred and forty traditional plays, including Wen Jiang He (The Wen River), Hua Xin Wan (The Heart-Changing Pill), Hei Da Chao (The Black Court Performance), Zha Mei An (The Case of Beheading the Unfaithful Husband), Xia Chen Zhou (Taking Chen Zhou), Tao Hua An (The Peach Blossom Nunnery), Mai Miao Lang (Selling the Young Son-in-Law), Yang Jia Jiang (The Yang Family Generals), Da Jin Zhi (Beating the Golden Branch), Huang He Lou (Yellow Crane Tower) and others. "Zha Mei An (The Case of Beheading the Unfaithful Husband)": Wan bangzi has more than one hundred and forty traditional plays, including Wen Jiang He (The Wen River), Hua Xin Wan (The Heart-Changing Pill), Hei Da Chao (The Black Court Performance), Zha Mei An (The Case of Beheading the Unfaithful Husband), Xia Chen Zhou (Taking Chen Zhou), Tao Hua An (The Peach Blossom Nunnery), Mai Miao Lang (Selling the Young Son-in-Law), Yang Jia Jiang (The Yang Family Generals), Da Jin Zhi (Beating the Golden Branch), Huang He Lou (Yellow Crane Tower) and others.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

Representative bearer of Wanbang, a fourth-batch national intangible cultural heritage project. In 1992 he led the Wanbang Troupe to the national showcase of outstanding productions by “Number One Troupes Under Heaven” and received the Outstanding Performance Award.

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. Fan Yinglong · National Representative Bearer Archive