Chen Binmao

01 · Lineage & Regional School

Chen Binmao, Male, Han, from Ganzhou, Jiangxi, is a fourth-batch national representative bearer of Caicha Opera (Ⅳ-65). The tradition is documented in Ganzhou, Jiangxi. Within the regional tradition and school record of Caicha Opera in Ganzhou, Jiangxi: It formed gradually on the basis of the Jiulong tea lantern (Jiulong chadeng), absorbing the other folk arts of southern Jiangxi; it circulates mainly in southern Jiangxi, northern Guangdong and western Fujian, and for a time also spread to the southern part of Guangxi. Southern Jiangxi is a settlement area of the Hakka people. After the Hakka ancestors settled there they made their living by picking tea, and tea-picking opera, as a local play known in every household and loved by everyone, has become an artistic bond that gathers the Hakka people's hearts and unites Hakka kinsmen; it is important material for the study of Hakka language, art and folk culture. Gannan tea-picking opera originated in the area around Jiulong Mountain in Anyuan County, Jiangxi Province, and has a history of more than three hundred years.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

Male, of Han ethnicity, born in October 1946 in Ganzhou, Jiangxi Province. He holds the professional title of Second-Grade Director at the national level. At thirteen he was admitted to the Gannan Literature and Art School, where he studied with veteran artists such as Kuang Gonghai, Xie Desheng and Lin Shenghao and inherited the essence of Caicha Opera in a fairly comprehensive way. In 2010 he took part in the recording of the CCTV television feature The Ancient Charm of the Gan River, from the series Talks on Yangtze Opera (Chang Jiang Xi Hua zhi Gan Jiang Gu Yun). Within the documented technical tradition of Caicha Opera in Ganzhou, Jiangxi: Gannan tea-picking opera is popularly known as "dengzi xi" (lantern play) or "chalan xi" (tea-blue play). It is the most representative variety among the Jiangxi tea-picking operas, and Tian Han praised it as "an unusual flower in the hundred-flower garden of Chinese theatre". It grew out of folk song-and-dance; its subject matter is close to everyday life and its language is witty and humorous. It has more than 280 traditional tune patterns, which, according to their origin, style, string-band line, mode and usage, fall into four groups: "tea tunes" (chaxiang), "lantern tunes" (dengxiang), "road tunes" (luxiang) and "miscellaneous tunes" (zadiao). In performance the actors, over the accompaniment, deftly employ characteristic movements such as the short-statured step (aizibu), the fan flourish (shanzihua), the single long water sleeve and a number of gestures imitating animal forms; they sing as they dance, displaying a rich local flavour and a marked Hakka character. The traditional repertoire of Gannan tea-picking opera consists mainly of "three small" plays (xiaosheng, xiaodan and xiaochou — the young male role, the young female role and the clown), with representative works including Nanshan Gengtian, Dazhu Cao, Jiulongshan Zhai Cha, Meizi, Tongnian, Diao, Shang Guangdong, Mai Huaxian, Da Quanfu, Si Jie Fanqing, Bu Pixie and Bu Gang. After the founding of the People's Republic of China a further batch of fine plays appeared, among which Chatong Xizhu was filmed by the Shanghai Film Studio as an opera film and shown nationwide; the newly written modern tea-picking plays Zenme Tan Bulong and Fengyu Jiemeihua were also in turn brought to the screen. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Nanshan Gengtian (Ploughing the Fields at Nanshan)": The traditional repertoire of Gannan tea-picking opera consists mainly of "three small" plays (xiaosheng, xiaodan and xiaochou — the young male role, the young female role and the clown), with representative works including Nanshan Gengtian, Dazhu Cao, Jiulongshan Zhai Cha, Meizi, Tongnian, Diao, Shang Guangdong, Mai Huaxian, Da Quanfu, Si Jie Fanqing, Bu Pixie and Bu Gang. "Dazhu Cao (Cutting Pigweed)": The traditional repertoire of Gannan tea-picking opera consists mainly of "three small" plays (xiaosheng, xiaodan and xiaochou — the young male role, the young female role and the clown), with representative works including Nanshan Gengtian, Dazhu Cao, Jiulongshan Zhai Cha, Meizi, Tongnian, Diao, Shang Guangdong, Mai Huaxian, Da Quanfu, Si Jie Fanqing, Bu Pixie and Bu Gang. "Jiulongshan Zhai Cha (Picking Tea on Jiulong Mountain)": The traditional repertoire of Gannan tea-picking opera consists mainly of "three small" plays (xiaosheng, xiaodan and xiaochou — the young male role, the young female role and the clown), with representative works including Nanshan Gengtian, Dazhu Cao, Jiulongshan Zhai Cha, Meizi, Tongnian, Diao, Shang Guangdong, Mai Huaxian, Da Quanfu, Si Jie Fanqing, Bu Pixie and Bu Gang. "Meizi (The Girl)": The traditional repertoire of Gannan tea-picking opera consists mainly of "three small" plays (xiaosheng, xiaodan and xiaochou — the young male role, the young female role and the clown), with representative works including Nanshan Gengtian, Dazhu Cao, Jiulongshan Zhai Cha, Meizi, Tongnian, Diao, Shang Guangdong, Mai Huaxian, Da Quanfu, Si Jie Fanqing, Bu Pixie and Bu Gang.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

He was a national representative bearer of Caicha Opera (Gannan Caicha Opera), a fourth-batch national intangible cultural heritage project. In 1999 he was awarded the first Gannan Hakka Art Education Fund Award. In 2005, for his outstanding achievements in compiling the Jiangxi volume of the ten national literary and artistic compendia, he received a first prize for compilation achievement. A course of exemplary teaching combinations in Jiangxi Gannan Caicha Opera that he devised received the Award for Contribution to the Safeguarding of Traditional Dance Culture at the Ninth Peach and Plum Cup Dance Competition in 2009. He has taught at the Beijing Dance Academy and other institutions, and is dedicated to training artistic talent.

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 Binmao · National Representative Bearer Archive