He Xiaoju

01 · Lineage & Regional School

She studied under the Jinju performing artist Kang Cuiling. Within the regional tradition and school record of Jinju (Shanxi Opera) in Huhehaote, Inner Mongolia: Inner Mongolia Jinju is most widely spread around Hohhot, Baotou and Ulanqab; its singing and recitation use Jin and Beijing speech together with the local Chinese dialect and absorb melodic and rhythmic elements of Mongolian music, forming an open and expansive steppe style that differs from Shanxi Jinju in pronunciation, singing and subject matter. Zhonglu bangzi, also called “Shanxi bangzi” or Jinju, was introduced into Inner Mongolia in the late Qing and early Republic. In the 1950s and 1960s, with strong support from the Party and government, zhonglu bangzi held a dominant place on the Inner Mongolian stage. Drawing on the Inner Mongolia volume of the Annals of Chinese Xiqu, zhonglu bangzi came into central and western Inner Mongolia in large numbers with Shanxi merchants' “journey beyond the western pass” and waves of migration in the late Qing and early Republic, performing first in the guild halls and temple fairs of mercantile towns such as Guihua (today's Hohhot) and Baotou, and in the 1950s and 1960s, with government support, became one of the leading genres of the Inner Mongolian stage.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

Female, Han ethnicity, born in March 1962 in Shangdu County, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. She is a national first-class actor. In 1976 she was admitted to the Shangdu County Jinju Troupe. In 1983 she was transferred to the Jinju Troupe of Ulanqab League, now Ulanqab City. In 1991 she was transferred to the Hohhot Jinju Troupe as leading actress. She has starred in such plays as Man Du Hai, Mai Miao Lang (Selling the Young Man), Lei Sa Xiang Si Di (Tears on the Land of Yearning) and Da Jin Zhi (Beating the Golden Branch). She has mastered the performance techniques of the Jinju qingyi role; her stage image is fresh, and she has blended Mongolian musical elements into Jinju music, enriching the vocal composition of Jinju and creating a number of young female characters, earning credit as a pioneer of grassland Jinju. She was selected for the second batch of the Four Batches talent programme of the publicity and culture system of Inner Mongolia. Within the documented technical tradition of Jinju (Shanxi Opera) in Huhehaote, Inner Mongolia: After entering Inner Mongolia, zhonglu bangzi absorbed Jin speech, Beijing speech and local dialects; its performance is plain, its appearance pure and handsome, its singing vigorous and rough-hewn, and its tunes melodious and pleasing. More than two hundred pieces are commonly performed, representative works including Da Jinzhi, The White-Haired Girl and Gada Meilin. Inner Mongolia Jinju has a full range of role types, with the singing roles of qingyi, xusheng and hualian especially developed; besides traditional plays its repertory includes original works on steppe history and life, reflecting the localising creativity of the genre in cross-regional transmission. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Da Jinzhi (Beating the Princess)": A representative work among the two hundred or more pieces commonly performed by Inner Mongolia Jinju. "The White-Haired Girl": A representative work among the two hundred or more pieces commonly performed by Inner Mongolia Jinju. "Gada Meilin": A representative work among the two hundred or more pieces commonly performed by Inner Mongolia Jinju, taking a Mongolian historical hero as its subject. "Mandoohai": One of the representative plays of Inner Mongolia Jinju, drawn from a Mongolian historical figure and starring the inheritor He Xiaoju.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

National representative bearer of Jinju (Shanxi Opera), a fifth-batch national intangible cultural heritage project. In 2008 she was named an outstanding expert by the Ministry of Culture. In 2007 she won the 23rd China Drama Plum Blossom Award.

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. He Xiaoju · National Representative Bearer Archive