Zhang Zhanmin

01 · Lineage & Regional School

He began learning the art at the age of ten, studying guanzi and suona playing under the veteran artists of the village wind-music society Wang Chengkui, Zhang Haigen, Wang Liji and Wang Muke. Within the regional tradition and school record of Jizhong Sheng and Guan Ensemble in Dingzhou, Hebei: Jizhong sheng-and-guan music is current in nearly thirty counties and cities south of Beijing, west of Tianjin and north of Cangzhou and Dingzhou; it is a drum-and-wind music peculiar to the Jizhong Plain, popularly called a “music society” by the people, and, because it is led by the guan and accompanied by the sheng and other instruments, also called “sheng-and-guan music”. Jizhong sheng-and-guan music is found all over the Jizhong Plain; the farmers of this region form societies by village, borrowing instruments to meet, and play in local sacrificial rites, funerals and other folk activities, handing it on from generation to generation in their own distinctive way. Chui-ge, blowing and beating together, is one of the forms of instrumental music of the folk in Hebei Province; it combines percussion with wind playing and has developed out of ancient drum-and-wind music and the nao-song music of the Qing dynasty.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

Male, Han ethnicity, born in June 1963 in Dingzhou City, Hebei Province. He is currently director of the Dingzhou Ziwei Wind Music Art Troupe and academic director of the Dingzhou Ziwei Wind Music Art School. His technique is consummate and his performance refined; his kaxi (vocal imitation) playing is rich and full of changing nuance, and he has a distinctive ability to interpret works of different regions and different styles. His representative works include the traditional Ziwei wind-music pieces Fang Lü (Letting Out the Donkey), Da Zao (Beating the Jujubes), Zhai Mian Hua (Picking Cotton) and Ju Da Gang (Sawing the Big Vat), the guanzi solo Jiang He Shui (River Water), the suona solo Bai Niao Chao Feng (A Hundred Birds Pay Homage to the Phoenix), the kaxi piece Da Deng Dian (Ascending the Hall) from Hebei bangzi, and Zhi Dou (The Battle of Wits) from Peking opera. Within the documented technical tradition of Jizhong Sheng and Guan Ensemble in Dingzhou, Hebei: Besides wind instruments such as the sheng, guan and flute, Jizhong sheng-and-guan music also uses such percussion instruments as cloud gongs, drums, nao, cymbals and clapper bells. The pieces of sheng-and-guan music fall into three kinds: suites, short pieces and independent sets of percussion music; of these the suites are of great length and complex structure, and form the main part of the whole performing repertory. The chui-ge society of Zixei Town, Dingzhou City, Baoding, is a prominent representative of this form of instrumental performance, with a history of more than two hundred years. The chui-ge band of Zixei includes such instruments as the guan, suona, sheng, transverse flute, haizhui (popularly the “lama horn”), large huqin, drum, small cymbals, hand gong and bangzi, of which the guan (the small guan) and small suona are the principal ones. The size of the whole band can be increased or reduced according to the specific circumstances, forming various different combinations. The performing forms of Zixei chui-ge comprise the seated and the processional. The seated form, that is playing at a pitch, has the band seated around a table or in a row, using mostly two sheng, two guans and two suonas together with gong, cymbals and drum; the processional form, that is playing in the street, has the band arranged with the cloud gong in front and, behind it in order, flute, sheng, suona, drum, cymbals, dang and cymbals. In performance the tempo is fast, the melody varied, the sound high and resonant, and the style hot and ardent, full of artistic power. The repertoire of Zixei chui-ge is numerous, including traditional folk tune patterns, the vocal styles of local opera and folk instrumental tune patterns; its representative pieces include Fang Lv, Da Zao, Chao Tian Zi, Mo Li Hua, Wan Nian Huan and Yi Zhi Hua. The musicians of Zixei chui-ge are good at learning and absorbing various folk minor tunes, local opera melodies and their performing techniques; their performance is free and exaggerated, unrestrained by any set form, and they even sing and dance as they play, with a strong local flavour and a distinctive folk artistic style. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Fang Lv": The repertoire of Zixei chui-ge is numerous, including traditional folk tune patterns, the vocal styles of local opera and folk instrumental tune patterns; its representative pieces include Fang Lv, Da Zao, Chao Tian Zi, Mo Li Hua, Wan Nian Huan and Yi Zhi Hua. "Da Zao": The repertoire of Zixei chui-ge is numerous, including traditional folk tune patterns, the vocal styles of local opera and folk instrumental tune patterns; its representative pieces include Fang Lv, Da Zao, Chao Tian Zi, Mo Li Hua, Wan Nian Huan and Yi Zhi Hua. "Chao Tian Zi": The repertoire of Zixei chui-ge is numerous, including traditional folk tune patterns, the vocal styles of local opera and folk instrumental tune patterns; its representative pieces include Fang Lv, Da Zao, Chao Tian Zi, Mo Li Hua, Wan Nian Huan and Yi Zhi Hua. "Mo Li Hua": The repertoire of Zixei chui-ge is numerous, including traditional folk tune patterns, the vocal styles of local opera and folk instrumental tune patterns; its representative pieces include Fang Lv, Da Zao, Chao Tian Zi, Mo Li Hua, Wan Nian Huan and Yi Zhi Hua.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

Representative bearer of Jizhong Sheng and Guan Ensemble (Ziwei Wind Music), a fifth-batch national intangible cultural heritage project. He has trained more than four hundred students. He regularly leads his troupe in artistic performances and competitions at national and provincial level and beyond, and has won numerous awards.

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. Zhang Zhanmin · National Representative Bearer Archive