Fang Bingkun
01 · Lineage & Regional School
Fang Bingkun, Male, Han, from Chunan, Zhejiang, is a fifth-batch national representative bearer of Zhuma (Ⅲ-44). The tradition is documented in Chunan, Zhejiang. Within the regional tradition and school record of Zhuma in Chunan, Zhejiang: The bamboo-horse troupes are scattered in places such as Songcun, Miaofan, Zitong and Qiandaohu Town, with performers such as Fang Bingkun coaching them separately, each taking charge of his own group. According to the records, the Chun'an bamboo horse began in the Southern Song dynasty. The Southern Song works Old Matters of Wulin and Record of Dreams of Liang both contain records of bamboo-horse dancing. In the Ming and Qing dynasties Chun'an had very many temple fairs, and bamboo-horse dance performances flourished. During the Kangxi reign of the Qing dynasty, tea-picking opera was introduced into Chun'an and merged with the Chun'an bamboo horse, giving rise to the 'two-legged bamboo-horse troupe'. By the end of the Qing dynasty it had developed into the 'three-legged bamboo-horse troupe', which jumped the bamboo horse first and then performed short plays.
02 · Mastery & Signature Works
Male, Han ethnic group, born in September 1939, a native of Chun'an County, Zhejiang Province. From 1953 he studied bamboo horse performance under his uncle Fang Delin. From 1956 to 1989 he was a performer with the Chun'an Mu Opera Troupe, where he took part in the troupe's bamboo horse performances, and he also performed and taught in the bamboo horse teams of the sanjiao opera at Songcun, Miaofan, Changjinli and Qiangli. Since 1992 he has worked continuously on the performance and transmission of the Chun'an Bamboo Horse. He has served as bamboo horse instructor to the Qiandao Lake Wulong Island bamboo horse team, the Xinyuan Art Troupe, the First Primary School of Qiandao Lake Town (a provincial-level bamboo horse teaching and transmission base), the Huangcun bamboo horse team of Zitong Town, the Shilan Art Troupe of Songcun Township and the county's amateur Mu opera troupe. He has mastered more than ten traditional steps and more than twenty formations of the Chun'an Bamboo Horse, together with its sung and recited passages and its melodies and lyrics. Within the documented technical tradition of Zhuma in Chunan, Zhejiang: The Chun'an bamboo horse, commonly called 'jumping the bamboo horse', is a traditional dance transmitted mainly among the townships of Chun'an County, Zhejiang Province, and radiating to neighbouring counties and cities such as Jiande City, Tonglu County and Kaihua County. In the early years after the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Chun'an bamboo horse reached its peak, with bamboo-horse teams numbering more than three hundred. Whenever traditional festivals such as the Spring Festival or the Lantern Festival came round, jumping the bamboo horse was one of the main cultural activities of the local people. A Chun'an bamboo horse performance commonly consists of three men and two women, or two men and three women, who dance in the guise of figures from historical costume drama. The first horse is a red horse, danced by the male lead; the second is a yellow horse, danced by the female warrior; the third is a green horse, danced by the young male role; the fourth is a white horse, danced by the female clown; the fifth is a black horse, danced by the clown. In performance the dancer binds the bamboo horse to the waist, front and rear, grips the horse's neck with the left hand and holds the riding whip in the right hand, giving prominence to the single idea of 'jumping'. Common steps include quick-step circling of the stage, quick-step straight advance, quick-step leaping, sideways shuffling steps and horse-stance retreat. The traditional formation patterns of the Chun'an bamboo horse are extremely numerous, reaching 108. Common formation patterns include the horse-flower formation, the plum-blossom formation, opening the four gates, two horses leaping together, whipping the horse to gallop and five horses circling the pillar. The accompaniment is chiefly that of operatic gongs and drums, such as rolling head, horse legs and gale; it is supplemented by wind and string playing, and the pieces commonly used are [Twelve Monthly Flower Named Tunes]. Bamboo-horse performance is not restricted by time, place or number of participants, and may be performed in squares, on stages, in clan halls and other venues. To this day it still keeps such folk customs as jumping the bamboo horse to ask for auspicious blessings, sacrificing before jumping the horse, keeping the white horse out of the house (or the village), and ascending the temple hall to seek the gods and invite the horse. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "The five horses and their role types": The five horses are colour-coded and cast by role type: red for the senior male, yellow for the demure female, green for the young male, white for the flower role, black for the clown. "The hundred-and-eight formations": The tradition counts 108 formations, among them the horse-flower, plum-blossom, four-gate, double-leap and five-horses-around-the-pillar patterns. "Household taboos and fetching the horse": Customs survive such as dancing for luck, sacrificing before dancing, keeping the white horse out of the house, and fetching the horse by worshipping in temple. "From two-role to three-role troupes": Tea-picking opera merged with the bamboo horse in the Kangxi era to produce two-role troupes, which by the late Qing had grown into three-role troupes that danced first and acted afterwards.
The five horses and their role types
The five horses are colour-coded and cast by role type: red for the senior male, yellow for the demure female, green for the young male, white for the flower role, black for the clown.
The hundred-and-eight formations
The tradition counts 108 formations, among them the horse-flower, plum-blossom, four-gate, double-leap and five-horses-around-the-pillar patterns.
Household taboos and fetching the horse
Customs survive such as dancing for luck, sacrificing before dancing, keeping the white horse out of the house, and fetching the horse by worshipping in temple.
From two-role to three-role troupes
Tea-picking opera merged with the bamboo horse in the Kangxi era to produce two-role troupes, which by the late Qing had grown into three-role troupes that danced first and acted afterwards.
03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status
A representative bearer of the Zhuma (Chun'an Bamboo Horse), a fifth-batch national intangible cultural heritage project. He has taken part many times in bamboo horse performances and television recordings at national, provincial, municipal and county level, and has coached teams that won numerous honors in folk square song and dance competitions, including the Shanhua (Mountain Flower) Award of Chinese Folk Literature and Art.
04 · Associated Heritage Item Dossier
Historical origin
According to the records, the Chun'an bamboo horse began in the Southern Song dynasty. The Southern Song works Old Matters of Wulin and Record of Dreams of Liang both contain records of bamboo-horse dancing.
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.
| Bearer | Declared area | Roster code | Relation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tang Yudao | Gaochun, Jiangsu | 03-0929 | Other regional school |
| Qu Shaojin | Pizhou, Jiangsu | 05-2250 | Other regional school |
| Ren Qiusheng | Liyang, Jiangsu | 05-2251 | Other regional school |
| Fang Bingkun | Chunan, Zhejiang | 05-2252 | This page |
06 · Archival Sources & Bibliography
This static English edition is rendered at the edge for search engines, AI crawlers and readers without JavaScript. Compiled from official national representative bearer archival records and the associated project dossier, organized by topic and translated into English. 阅读中文版。