Lvyueming

01 · Lineage & Regional School

In 1957 he was admitted to the first Xinchang Diaoqiang training class and studied under the veteran artists Wang Yikai and Pan Yongqian, learning to play the drum (sigu). Within the regional tradition and school record of Xinchangdiaoqiang in Xinchang, Zhejiang: Xinchang diaoqiang is centred on Xinchang in Zhejiang and is spread in Shaoxing, Shangyu, Shengzhou County and Ninghai in eastern Zhejiang. Xinchang lies in the mountainous area of eastern Zhejiang, where the environment was relatively sealed, and diaoqiang was therefore able to preserve itself in this one corner of the country. Ninghai pingdiao is a branch of it, and local forms such as Yue opera, Taizhou Lutan, Rui'an gaoqiang and Shao opera all drew nourishment to some degree from its repertoire, vocal styles and performance. It is regarded as the sole surviving relic of Yuyao qiang, one of the “Four Great Vocal Styles” of Ming-dynasty Nanxi. The repertoire of Xinchang diaoqiang is rich: it includes plays derived from mulian opera, Nanxi, Yuan-dynasty zaju and Ming- and Qing-dynasty chuanqi, as well as historical story plays and modern plays newly written in recent times. With warfare incessant in the late Qing and early Republican period, and new operatic forms rising one after another, Xinchang diaoqiang fell into decline.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

Male, Han ethnicity, born in January 1940, a native of Xinchang County, Zhejiang Province. After joining the troupe he served as leader of the band group while also being responsible for notating and engraving the vocal music of Diaoqiang plays, and he later became a composer. When playing the drum his rhythm is accurate and rigorous: in civil plays it is steady without being dull, relaxed and delicate; in martial plays it is forceful without being fiery, free and brisk. His compositions accurately embody the characteristics of the Diaoqiang genre, and in designing vocal music and creating music he lays stress on returning to the roots while opening the new, producing new vocal passages. In 1988 he took part in compiling the Zhejiang Volume of the Collected Music of Chinese Xiqu, and completed the five-volume Collected Music of Diaoqiang. Within the documented technical tradition of Xinchangdiaoqiang in Xinchang, Zhejiang: Xinchang diaoqiang is one of the ancient vocal styles of Chinese opera; it is also called diaoqiang, Shaoxing gaodiao or Xinchang gaoqiang. Centred on Xinchang, it is spread in Shaoxing, Xiaoshan, Shangyu, Yuyao, Shengzhou County and Ninghai in eastern Zhejiang. In the early Qing, Xinchang diaoqiang entered its period of full prosperity and spread outward with Hangzhou as its centre. In the artistic archives of diaoqiang there are as many as 159 manuscript copies of old plays predating the late Qing, among which Yuan-dynasty zaju plays such as “Bei Xixiang”, “Han Gong Qiu” and “Zhuang Xiang Ji” are possessed by diaoqiang alone, and are extremely precious. The Xinchang Diaoqiang Theatre is the only artistic troupe in the country able to perform “Bei Xixiang”, and its performance of “Han Gong Qiu” also preserves the original appearance of the Yuan qu. Mulian opera in diaoqiang occupies an important position in China's mulian opera system; of the 167 diaoqiang mulian items, as many as 72 are not found in any other operatic form. In diaoqiang singing there are devices such as dry singing, chorus backing and dieban; at the end of each sung line a chorus commonly takes up one or several characters, or the last few characters of the line are repeated a beat late to a different melody; the chorus is purely by voice, and the melody of successive lines tends to slide downward. Diaoqiang uses no wind or string accompaniment, relying only on percussion to support the performance; later, influenced by Kunqu and Lutan, a flute and a banhu were used to accompany a small number of excerpt plays (zhezixi). The accompanying band of diaoqiang is extremely simple, consisting of only six people, who play the drum, the clappers, the small gong and the like. The role types of diaoqiang are known as “three hua, four bai, five dan hall”: the three hua are dahualian, erhualian and xiaohualian; the four bai are laosheng, zhengsheng, fumo and xiaosheng; the five dan hall are laodan, zhengdan, tiedan, xiaodan and wudan. Its performance is noted for its exquisite refinement, and it has specialty skills such as raising a chair on the palm, holding a candle and kicking off the boots with the back turned. Xinchang lies in the mountainous area of eastern Zhejiang, where the environment was relatively sealed, and diaoqiang was therefore able to preserve itself in this one corner of the country. Diaoqiang deeply influenced the surrounding operatic forms: Ninghai pingdiao is a branch of it, and local forms such as Yue opera, Taizhou Lutan, Rui'an gaoqiang and Shao opera all drew nourishment to some degree from its repertoire, vocal styles and performance. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "The Northern West Chamber": In the artistic archives of diaoqiang there are as many as 159 manuscript copies of old plays predating the late Qing, among which Yuan-dynasty zaju plays such as “Bei Xixiang”, “Han Gong Qiu” and “Zhuang Xiang Ji” are possessed by diaoqiang alone, and are extremely precious. "Autumn in the Han Palace": In the artistic archives of diaoqiang there are as many as 159 manuscript copies of old plays predating the late Qing, among which Yuan-dynasty zaju plays such as “Bei Xixiang”, “Han Gong Qiu” and “Zhuang Xiang Ji” are possessed by diaoqiang alone, and are extremely precious. "The Make-up Casket": In the artistic archives of diaoqiang there are as many as 159 manuscript copies of old plays predating the late Qing, among which Yuan-dynasty zaju plays such as “Bei Xixiang”, “Han Gong Qiu” and “Zhuang Xiang Ji” are possessed by diaoqiang alone, and are extremely precious.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

National representative bearer of Xinchang Diaoqiang, a fifth-batch national intangible cultural heritage project. Beginning in the 1980s he trained students such as Xing Zoubin, Zhang Zhanghai, Lyu Liming and Ye Jiale, cultivating new forces for the transmission of Xinchang Diaoqiang music.

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. Lvyueming · National Representative Bearer Archive