Cengzhaojuan

01 · Lineage & Regional School

After completing the graduate programme at the National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts, her understanding of how xiqu shapes character and of the styles of the different artistic schools advanced qualitatively. Within the regional tradition and school record of Pingju Opera in Tianjinpingjuyuan: The China Pingju Opera Theatre carries on the traditions of the western-route and eastern-route schools of Pingju; its productions retain a great deal of the content of Beijing traditional culture, and at the same time it has inherited, developed and formed artistic schools such as Bai (Yushuang), Xin (Fengxia), Wei (Rongyuan), Zhang (Defu) and Ma (Tai). The Tianjin Pingju Opera Theatre is likewise strong, and it has both inherited and developed the four great schools of Li (Jinshun), Liu (Cuixia), Bai (Yushuang) and Ai (Lianjun) very well. Pingju was originally called "bengbeng xi" or "luozi xi", was also known as "pingqiang bangzi xi" and was abbreviated as "ping xi", and it formally took the name "Pingju" in 1935. Cheng Zhaocai, the founder of Pingju and its first playwright, wrote such representative works as Ma Guafu Kai Dian (The Widow Ma Opens an Inn), Hua Wei Mei (The Flower as Matchmaker) and Yang Sanjie Gao Zhuang (Yang Sanjie's Suit), which have now become the classic preserved plays of the genre.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

Female, of Han ethnicity, born in November 1965 in Qing County, Hebei Province. A National First-Class Actor. In 1981 she was admitted to the student class of the Tianjin Hangu Pingju Troupe, and in March 1987 she became a disciple of the celebrated Pingju performing artist Hua Shulan, studying the Hua school of the art. Her singing was sweet-toned and wide-ranging, conveying emotion through the voice and moving the audience through feeling. Her original productions Ji Yin Chuan Qi (The Legend of the Sealed Seal), Zhao Jin Tang, Feng Yang Qing (Love in Fengyang) and Hong Gao Liang (Red Sorghum) have exerted a wide artistic influence. She is currently director of the Tianjin Pingju Theatre. Within the documented technical tradition of Pingju Opera in Tianjinpingjuyuan: It circulates in Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei and the Northeast, and has a broad popular basis. Around 1910, the bengbeng xi artists headed by Cheng Zhaocai took as their base the antiphonal "lianhualuo" of the Luanzhou area in eastern Hebei, absorbing the vocal music and the performance art of northeastern errenzhuan, Peking opera, shadow puppetry and dagu; in performance they used a complete set of Hebei Bangzi instruments for accompaniment, and thus the basic style of Pingju was formed. In the course of practice this newly emergent Pingju art was continually developed and perfected and became steadily more mature. The music of Pingju belongs to the banqiang (metrical) system; its ban patterns include jianban, dabban, da anban, xiao anban, sanchui, daoban, duoban and liushuiban, and at the same time there is also fandiao (reverse mode). The accompanying instruments fall into three kinds, bowed and plucked, percussion and wind: the bowed and plucked include the banhu, erhu, sanxian and the like, the percussion include the ban (clappers), digu (low side drum), tanggu (hall drum), diluo (small gong) and daluo (large gong), and the wind include the dizi, suona and the like. The vocal styles of Pingju draw on the music of Peking opera and of bangzi, and are divided into a male voice and a female voice. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Ma Guafu Kai Dian (The Widow Ma Opens an Inn)": Cheng Zhaocai, the founder of Pingju and its first playwright, wrote such representative works as Ma Guafu Kai Dian (The Widow Ma Opens an Inn), Hua Wei Mei (The Flower as Matchmaker) and Yang Sanjie Gao Zhuang (Yang Sanjie's Suit), which have now become the classic preserved plays of the genre. "Hua Wei Mei (The Flower as Matchmaker)": Cheng Zhaocai, the founder of Pingju and its first playwright, wrote such representative works as Ma Guafu Kai Dian (The Widow Ma Opens an Inn), Hua Wei Mei (The Flower as Matchmaker) and Yang Sanjie Gao Zhuang (Yang Sanjie's Suit), which have now become the classic preserved plays of the genre. "Yang Sanjie Gao Zhuang (Yang Sanjie's Suit)": Cheng Zhaocai, the founder of Pingju and its first playwright, wrote such representative works as Ma Guafu Kai Dian (The Widow Ma Opens an Inn), Hua Wei Mei (The Flower as Matchmaker) and Yang Sanjie Gao Zhuang (Yang Sanjie's Suit), which have now become the classic preserved plays of the genre.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

A national representative bearer of Pingju Opera, a fifth-batch national intangible cultural heritage project. She is a recipient of the Ministry of Culture's Wenhua Performance Award, the 16th China Drama Plum Blossom Award in 1999 and a second Plum Blossom Award at the 24th China Drama Plum Blossom Award in 2009. She is committed to transmitting the art of Pingju opera and actively passes on its finest traditional plays to young performers.

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. Cengzhaojuan · National Representative Bearer Archive