Liu Yanbiao

01 · Lineage & Regional School

Liu Yanbiao, Male, Han, from Qinghai, is a fourth-batch national representative bearer of Qinghai Xiaxian (Ⅴ-94). The tradition is documented in Qinghai. Within the regional tradition and school record of Qinghai Xiaxian in Qinghai: Qinghai xiaxian has traditional pieces such as Three Visits to the Thatched Cottage, Leaving Cao's Camp, Yue Fei's Mother Inscribes His Back and Lin Chong Buys a Sword, as well as short items such as Flowers Bloom in the Twelfth Month and A Wild Goose Carries a Letter. Lin Chong Buys a Sword is further divided into short sections including Lin Chong Seeks a Son, Vowing Thanks at the Eastern Peak Temple, Buying the Sword, Interrogation in the Hall, Entering the Prison, Lady Lin's Farewell and Descending the Mountain. Qinghai xiaxian circulates in Xining City of Qinghai Province and in the nearby Hehuang region. It arose in the late Qing dynasty and has a history of more than a hundred years. This narrative art form comes from the singing of blind people at the liuqisuo during the Qianlong reign. From the middle of the Qing dynasty until the late Qing and early Republican period it was passed on among the blind, and gradually matured into a distinct genre, taking its name from the xiaxian diao, which supplies the main tune in performance.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

Born in October 1942 in Xining, Qinghai Province, he is a man of Han ethnicity. A blind folk artist, he began studying the various genres of Qinghai local narrative singing in childhood. After years of study he was able to perform Xining Xianxiao (filial-piety balladry), Qinghai Yuexian and Qinghai Xiaxian (lower-string balladry), singing with consummate skill, clear diction and a distinctive style. His representative work, He Huang Liang An Hao Feng Guang (Fine Scenery on Both Banks of the Hehuang), received the Creation Award and an Excellence Award at the 1991 Qinghai Provincial Amateur and Spare-time Literary and Artistic Performance, presented by the Qinghai Provincial Department of Culture. Within the documented technical tradition of Qinghai Xiaxian in Qinghai: Qinghai xiaxian is performed by one or two singers seated, in a very simple form, and can be performed on the spot in parks and hotels, in teahouses and restaurants, and in streets and lanes. A male performer singing alone accompanies himself on the banhu or the sanxian; a female performer singing alone plays the sanxian herself; when a man and a woman perform together, the man plays the banhu and the woman the sanxian. The principal tunes of Qinghai xiaxian are the xiaxian diao, the fang xiaxian diao (in imitation of the xiaxian tune) and the ruan xiaxian diao (soft xiaxian tune). There are also suite pieces such as 【Xia Beigong】 and fixed tune patterns such as 【Qian Beigong】, 【Liqing】, 【Zaoluo】 and 【Hou Beigong】. The vocal music is built on a principal tune framed by an opening and a closing section. The principal tune has a marked rhythm and is good at narration; the opening and closing sections may be long or short and are good at lyrical expression. The prelude and the instrumental interludes are independent musical sections, played with the string-tuning method of the xiaxian diao. The lyrics of xiaxian pieces are generally four lines, of varying length and endlessly varied. The melodic structure of the vocal style is short and compact, and a piece is sung straight through from beginning to end. Although the four lines recur, the many variations within them keep the singing beautiful and moving and touching the heart. In particular, the opening and closing sections follow the lyrics: where the words are long the tune is long, where the words are short the tune is short, giving a swaying richness and a flavour all its own. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Three Visits to the Thatched Cottage": Qinghai xiaxian has traditional pieces such as Three Visits to the Thatched Cottage, Leaving Cao's Camp, Yue Fei's Mother Inscribes His Back and Lin Chong Buys a Sword, as well as short items such as Flowers Bloom in the Twelfth Month and A Wild Goose Carries a Letter. Lin Chong Buys a Sword is further divided into short sections including Lin Chong Seeks a Son, Vowing Thanks at the Eastern Peak Temple, Buying the Sword, Interrogation in the Hall, Entering the Prison, Lady Lin's Farewell and Descending the Mountain. "Leaving Cao's Camp": Qinghai xiaxian has traditional pieces such as Three Visits to the Thatched Cottage, Leaving Cao's Camp, Yue Fei's Mother Inscribes His Back and Lin Chong Buys a Sword, as well as short items such as Flowers Bloom in the Twelfth Month and A Wild Goose Carries a Letter. Lin Chong Buys a Sword is further divided into short sections including Lin Chong Seeks a Son, Vowing Thanks at the Eastern Peak Temple, Buying the Sword, Interrogation in the Hall, Entering the Prison, Lady Lin's Farewell and Descending the Mountain. "Yue Fei's Mother Inscribes His Back": Qinghai xiaxian has traditional pieces such as Three Visits to the Thatched Cottage, Leaving Cao's Camp, Yue Fei's Mother Inscribes His Back and Lin Chong Buys a Sword, as well as short items such as Flowers Bloom in the Twelfth Month and A Wild Goose Carries a Letter. Lin Chong Buys a Sword is further divided into short sections including Lin Chong Seeks a Son, Vowing Thanks at the Eastern Peak Temple, Buying the Sword, Interrogation in the Hall, Entering the Prison, Lady Lin's Farewell and Descending the Mountain. "":

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

Representative bearer of Qinghai Xiaxian, a fourth-batch national intangible cultural heritage project. He took part many times in literary and artistic performances organized at national, provincial and municipal levels and won wide acclaim. In 1984 he entered the Chinese Blind Musicians Competition and received a third prize awarded by the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Ministry of Culture.

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. Liu Yanbiao · National Representative Bearer Archive