Ding Fan

01 · Lineage & Regional School

In 1978 he joined the Deqing County Cantonese Opera Troupe, and in 1980 he moved to the Guangdong Cantonese Opera Troupe, studying under the celebrated Cantonese opera artist Luo Pinchao. Within the regional tradition and school record of Yueju (Cantonese Opera) in Wenhuating, Guangdong: Cantonese opera is mainly popular in the towns and countryside of Guangdong Province as a whole, of southern Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and of the Macao Special Administrative Region — in short, wherever Cantonese is spoken. During the Xianfeng and Daoguang reigns of the Qing dynasty, Guangdong's local troupes used banghuang (xipi and erhuang) as their basic melodic mode in performance, while also taking in the gaoqiang and kunqiang styles together with Guangdong folk pieces and contemporary popular tunes; they took "theatre-tent Mandarin" (xipengguanhua) as the basic language, interspersed with Cantonese, and Cantonese opera gradually took shape. In the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, the Yiyang and Kun tune styles were introduced into Guangdong. Around 1912, Cantonese opera performance had basically switched to the Guangzhou dialect; the performance system grew steadily more complete, folk songs and minor tunes began to be inserted into the banghuang (bangzi and erhuang) passages, and falsetto singing was replaced by natural-voice singing known as "pinghou".

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

Male, Han ethnicity, born in August 1956 in Liling County, Hunan Province. He is a National First-Class Actor and an expert entitled to the special government allowance of the State Council. Over more than forty years in the art he has pursued it without let-up, remaining always on the front line of artistic creation and acquiring consummate performance skills and systematic professional knowledge. His range is broad, with particular mastery of the civil-and-martial xiaosheng; he has a handsome stage appearance, is accomplished in both civil and martial roles and excels in both singing and acting. He has played the leading role in dozens of full-length Cantonese operas, including Hun Qian Zhuji Xiang (Soul Tied to Zhuji Lane) and Lun Wenxu Chuanqi (The Legend of Lun Wenxu), and has directed a number of Cantonese opera productions such as Tang Gong Xiang Meng Zheng Qian Meng (Sweet Dream of the Tang Palace). He has created a great many vivid and moving stage characters and has exerted wide influence among audiences at home and abroad. He has led his troupe many times on tours to Hong Kong, Macao and the Taiwan region and to the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore, actively promoting the art of Cantonese opera at home and abroad. He served as president of the Guangdong Cantonese Opera Theatre and was elected chairman of the Guangdong Dramatists Association in November 2016. Within the documented technical tradition of Yueju (Cantonese Opera) in Wenhuating, Guangdong: The early traditional repertoire of Cantonese opera mainly included Yibao Xue (One Handful of Snow), Erdu Mei (Plum Blossoming Twice), Sanguantang (Hall of the Three Officials), Sijinshi (Four Jinshi) and Wudengke (Five Times Passing the Imperial Examination), known as the so-called "Eighteen Works of the Rivers and Lakes" (jianghu shiba ben). Later there appeared the "New Eighteen Works of the Rivers and Lakes" (xin jianghu shiba ben), including Huanghuashan (Yellow Flower Mountain), Xihe Hui (Meeting at the Western River), Shuangjie Yuan (Two Knotted Marriages) and Xuezhong Yuan (Heavy Injustice Under Snow), as well as the "Grand Eighteen Works of Full Staging" (da paichang shiba ben), such as Suwu Muyang (Su Wu Herding Sheep) and Daiyu Zanghua (Daiyu Burying Flowers). Other representative repertoire works include Bai Jinlong (The White Golden Dragon), Huoshao Epanggong (Burning the Epang Palace), Pinggui Bieyao (Pinggui Parting from the Kiln), Baolian Deng (The Lotus Lantern), Luocheng Xieshu (Luo Cheng Writing the Letter) and Fengyi Ting (Phoenix Pageantry Pavilion). The basic vocal styles of Cantonese opera are bangzi (bang) and erhuang; it also incorporates the gaoqiang (high tune) and kunqiang (Kun tune) styles together with Guangdong folk narrative singing and miscellaneous minor tunes. The Cantonese opera ensemble was originally made up of the "five-piece head" (wujiatou) of erxian (two-string fiddle), yueqin (moon lute), sanxian (three-string lute), zhutiqin (bamboo fiddle) and xiao (flute); other newer instruments were gradually taken in later. Cantonese opera originally had ten role types — mo, sheng, dan, jing, chou, wai, xiao, fu, tie and za — which were later streamlined to six: wenwu sheng, xiaosheng, zhengyin huadan, erbang huadan, chou sheng and wu sheng. Cantonese opera performance carries a plain, unadorned and bold character, with virtuoso techniques such as one-legged stomping, rope-sliding (huasuo), darting of the eyes, small leaps and back-twisting. Its martial combat is based on the southern school of kung fu; target-striking, hand-bridge, Shaolin boxing and the highly difficult chair skills and high-platform skills are all exceptionally accomplished. Cantonese opera make-up is spare and simple, its colours are rich and brilliant, and its costumes are made largely with Guangdong embroidery (Guangxiu) — exquisite and gorgeous, with a strong local flavour. Cantonese opera broadly absorbs local art forms such as Guangdong music, Guangxiu embroidery, ivory carving, pottery and grey sculpture (huisu); it fully embodies the regional cultural traditions of the Guangfu cultural group, its reach extends to every part of the globe, and it holds extremely strong cultural cohesion among Chinese communities worldwide. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Yibao Xue (One Handful of Snow)": The early traditional repertoire of Cantonese opera mainly included Yibao Xue (One Handful of Snow), Erdu Mei (Plum Blossoming Twice), Sanguantang (Hall of the Three Officials), Sijinshi (Four Jinshi) and Wudengke (Five Times Passing the Imperial Examination), known as the so-called "Eighteen Works of the Rivers and Lakes" (jianghu shiba ben). Later there appeared the "New Eighteen Works of the Rivers and Lakes" (xin jianghu shiba ben), including Huanghuashan (Yellow Flower Mountain), Xihe Hui (Meeting at the Western River), Shuangjie Yuan (Two Knotted Marriages) and Xuezhong Yuan (Heavy Injustice Under Snow), as well as the "Grand Eighteen Works of Full Staging" (da paichang shiba ben), such as Suwu Muyang (Su Wu Herding Sheep) and Daiyu Zanghua (Daiyu Burying Flowers). "Erdu Mei (Plum Blossoming Twice)": The early traditional repertoire of Cantonese opera mainly included Yibao Xue (One Handful of Snow), Erdu Mei (Plum Blossoming Twice), Sanguantang (Hall of the Three Officials), Sijinshi (Four Jinshi) and Wudengke (Five Times Passing the Imperial Examination), known as the so-called "Eighteen Works of the Rivers and Lakes" (jianghu shiba ben). Later there appeared the "New Eighteen Works of the Rivers and Lakes" (xin jianghu shiba ben), including Huanghuashan (Yellow Flower Mountain), Xihe Hui (Meeting at the Western River), Shuangjie Yuan (Two Knotted Marriages) and Xuezhong Yuan (Heavy Injustice Under Snow), as well as the "Grand Eighteen Works of Full Staging" (da paichang shiba ben), such as Suwu Muyang (Su Wu Herding Sheep) and Daiyu Zanghua (Daiyu Burying Flowers). "Sanguantang (Hall of the Three Officials)": The early traditional repertoire of Cantonese opera mainly included Yibao Xue (One Handful of Snow), Erdu Mei (Plum Blossoming Twice), Sanguantang (Hall of the Three Officials), Sijinshi (Four Jinshi) and Wudengke (Five Times Passing the Imperial Examination), known as the so-called "Eighteen Works of the Rivers and Lakes" (jianghu shiba ben). Later there appeared the "New Eighteen Works of the Rivers and Lakes" (xin jianghu shiba ben), including Huanghuashan (Yellow Flower Mountain), Xihe Hui (Meeting at the Western River), Shuangjie Yuan (Two Knotted Marriages) and Xuezhong Yuan (Heavy Injustice Under Snow), as well as the "Grand Eighteen Works of Full Staging" (da paichang shiba ben), such as Suwu Muyang (Su Wu Herding Sheep) and Daiyu Zanghua (Daiyu Burying Flowers). "Sijinshi (Four Jinshi)": The early traditional repertoire of Cantonese opera mainly included Yibao Xue (One Handful of Snow), Erdu Mei (Plum Blossoming Twice), Sanguantang (Hall of the Three Officials), Sijinshi (Four Jinshi) and Wudengke (Five Times Passing the Imperial Examination), known as the so-called "Eighteen Works of the Rivers and Lakes" (jianghu shiba ben). Later there appeared the "New Eighteen Works of the Rivers and Lakes" (xin jianghu shiba ben), including Huanghuashan (Yellow Flower Mountain), Xihe Hui (Meeting at the Western River), Shuangjie Yuan (Two Knotted Marriages) and Xuezhong Yuan (Heavy Injustice Under Snow), as well as the "Grand Eighteen Works of Full Staging" (da paichang shiba ben), such as Suwu Muyang (Su Wu Herding Sheep) and Daiyu Zanghua (Daiyu Burying Flowers).

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

He is a national representative bearer of Cantonese opera, a fifth-batch national intangible cultural heritage project. He has won the Eighth China Drama Plum Blossom Award, the Wenhua Performance Award of the Ministry of Culture and the Fifth China Golden Record Award, among other honours, as well as the titles of Outstanding Expert of the Ministry of Culture and Virtuous and Artistically Accomplished Young and Middle-Aged Artist of Guangdong Province. He places emphasis on training successors in Cantonese opera and has trained a group of outstanding performers, including the National First-Class Actors Zeng Xiaomin and Peng Qinghua.

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. Ding Fan · National Representative Bearer Archive