Yan Jianguo

01 · Lineage & Regional School

Yan Jianguo, Male, Han, from Tianjinhebeibangzijuyuan, is a fifth-batch national representative bearer of Hebei Bangzi (Ⅳ-22). The tradition is documented in Tianjinhebeibangzijuyuan. Within the regional tradition and school record of Hebei Bangzi in Tianjinhebeibangzijuyuan: Hebei Bangzi fully expresses the regional cultural characteristics of Hebei and has produced a group of famous performers who are deeply loved by audiences; Hebei Bangzi performances in Beijing and in Tianjin also each have a style of their own. Hebei Bangzi is the most representative local vocal operatic genre of Hebei Province. It has been known as "Jing Bangzi", "Zhili Bangzi", "Wei Bangzi" and "Qinqiang", and in 1952 it was formally given the name "Hebei Bangzi". Qinqiang and Shanxi Bangzi that had flowed into Beijing during the middle of the Qing dynasty combined with the dialects and folk music of the Hebei region, and Hebei Bangzi was formally formed during the Daoguang reign. It is now popular chiefly in Hebei, Beijing, Tianjin and parts of Shandong and Northeast China. From the 1930s onward, Hebei Bangzi began to show a trend of decline.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

Male, Han ethnicity, born in July 1938 in Cang County, Hebei Province. He is a national first-class actor. Nurtured by the theatrical customs of his native place, by the age of ten he was already a locally renowned young laosheng (old male role) performer. He later studied laosheng plays under the master Yin Dazi, and studied xiaosheng (young male role) plays under Dong Ruixi, stage name Gai Qi Sheng, a celebrated artist of the Northern Route Bangzi. While inheriting traditional vocal styles, he continued to study and draw on sister art forms, enriching Hebei Bangzi vocal music. At the same time he applied the various performance techniques of lingzi gong, including hair tossing, pheasant-feather headdresses, wing ornaments, beards and horsewhips, to his character portrayals, so that the figures in plays such as Zhong Yi Xia (The Loyal and Righteous Hero), Sha Yi (Killing at the Post Station) and Xiao Yan (The Small Banquet) are distinct in personality, vivid in image and graceful in movement. In 1986 he staged the newly written historical play Yuan Kai Zhuang Feng (Yuan Kai Feigns Madness), whose presentation of the beauty of madness won high praise from fellow theatre professionals and a wide audience. His representative plays include Da Jin Zhi (Beating the Golden Branch), Zuo Gong (Sitting in the Palace) and Bai She Zhuan (The Legend of the White Snake). Within the documented technical tradition of Hebei Bangzi in Tianjinhebeibangzijuyuan: The singing music of Hebei Bangzi belongs to the banqiang system, with ban patterns such as the manban, erliu, liushui and jianban, together with various introductory and closing phrases. In performance the bangzi wooden clapper keeps the beat, accompanied by the banhu, flute, bangzi and sheng. The tone, while high, resonant and impassioned, constantly gives way to a gentle and plaintive quality, and the genre is adept at expressing lofty and tragic feeling. Hebei Bangzi has more than five hundred traditional plays, of which The Lotus Lantern, Qin Xianglian, Jinshui Bridge, Du Shiniang, The Butterfly Cup, The Injustice to Dou E, Teaching the Son, The Broken Bridge, Three Visits to the Bridge, Joyful Return Home, Beating the Golden Branch, Xun Guanniang, The Northern and Southern Union and Su Wu Herding Sheep have the greatest influence. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "The Lotus Lantern": Hebei Bangzi has more than five hundred traditional plays, of which The Lotus Lantern, Qin Xianglian, Jinshui Bridge, Du Shiniang, The Butterfly Cup, The Injustice to Dou E, Teaching the Son, The Broken Bridge, Three Visits to the Bridge, Joyful Return Home, Beating the Golden Branch, Xun Guanniang, The Northern and Southern Union and Su Wu Herding Sheep have the greatest influence. "Qin Xianglian": Hebei Bangzi has more than five hundred traditional plays, of which The Lotus Lantern, Qin Xianglian, Jinshui Bridge, Du Shiniang, The Butterfly Cup, The Injustice to Dou E, Teaching the Son, The Broken Bridge, Three Visits to the Bridge, Joyful Return Home, Beating the Golden Branch, Xun Guanniang, The Northern and Southern Union and Su Wu Herding Sheep have the greatest influence. "Jinshui Bridge": Hebei Bangzi has more than five hundred traditional plays, of which The Lotus Lantern, Qin Xianglian, Jinshui Bridge, Du Shiniang, The Butterfly Cup, The Injustice to Dou E, Teaching the Son, The Broken Bridge, Three Visits to the Bridge, Joyful Return Home, Beating the Golden Branch, Xun Guanniang, The Northern and Southern Union and Su Wu Herding Sheep have the greatest influence. "Du Shiniang": Hebei Bangzi has more than five hundred traditional plays, of which The Lotus Lantern, Qin Xianglian, Jinshui Bridge, Du Shiniang, The Butterfly Cup, The Injustice to Dou E, Teaching the Son, The Broken Bridge, Three Visits to the Bridge, Joyful Return Home, Beating the Golden Branch, Xun Guanniang, The Northern and Southern Union and Su Wu Herding Sheep have the greatest influence.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

National representative bearer of Hebei Bangzi, a fifth-batch national intangible cultural heritage project.

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. Yan Jianguo · National Representative Bearer Archive