Shao Zhiqing

01 · Lineage & Regional School

Shao Zhiqing, Female, Han, from Huadengjutuan, Guizhou, is a fifth-batch national representative bearer of Hua Lantern Opera (Ⅳ-78). The tradition is documented in Huadengjutuan, Guizhou. Within the regional tradition and school record of Hua Lantern Opera in Huadengjutuan, Guizhou: Guizhou huadeng is popular in Zunyi, Bijie, Anshun and Tongren, with such names as “dengjiaxi”, “taideng” and “high-platform opera” according to region; the Guizhou Provincial Huadeng Theatre, centred on Guiyang and drawing on the tunes and repertory of the western and northern Guizhou lines, is the genre's principal professional transmission body in Guizhou. Drawing on the Guizhou volume of the Annals of Chinese Xiqu, huadeng opera derives from folk lantern song-and-dance and developed into local opera in Guizhou in the late Qing and early Republic; the Guizhou Provincial Huadeng Troupe was founded in the 1950s and has since long borne the genre's creation and performance, advancing it from short plays to grand plays.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

Female, of Han ethnicity, born in September 1962 in Guiyang City, Guizhou Province. She is a National First-Class Actor. She began studying Guizhou Huadeng performing art at the age of ten or so, and had mastered Huadeng technique by her youth; with a solid artistic foundation and strong expressive power, her vocal style, bearing and character creation have won unanimous recognition from those in the field. She has taken part in the creation of many works, the principal ones being Qimei yu She Lang (Seventh Sister and the Snake Bridegroom), Yuezhao Fenglin Du (Moonlight on the Maple Ford), Wujiang Yun (Clouds over the Wu River) and Bashan Yu (Rain on Ba Mountain), Deng Ban Chuanqi (The Legend of the Lantern Troupe), Zhengren Xing (The Traveler's Song), Su Erjie Tiao Lang (Second Sister Su Chooses Her Man), Fuyu Zhihou (After Prosperity), Yue'er Wanwan (The Crescent Moon) and Yandao (The Salt Road). She has published the academic paper A Brief Discussion of the Creation of Realistic Rural-Themed Works in Guizhou Huadeng Opera, which was selected for the 2009 Research Series on Modern Chinese Opera. Within the documented technical tradition of Hua Lantern Opera in Huadengjutuan, Guizhou: Huadeng opera is a performing art form that is folk, self-entertaining, song-and-dance and half-sung half-spoken, with a comprehensive character including drama and acrobatics. After entering Guizhou, huadeng absorbed the local language and musical tunes, forming the distinctive Guizhou huadeng. Qianxi huadeng is the representative of north-western Guizhou huadeng and has a history of more than two hundred years, now popular in Zunyi, Bijie, Anshun and Tongren. In the early twentieth century Qianxi huadeng added martial performance, the “tongzi shu” tune, twin-fan dance and filler words, now uncommon in other Guizhou huadeng lines and distinctive to Qianxi. Its representative plays include Bai Nian, Jiemei Guan Hua, San Fang Qin, Liu Sanmei Tiao Shui and Fangniu Lan Qi. Guizhou huadeng sings and dances, speaks and sings, its roles mainly xiaosheng, xiaodan and xiaochou, its singing based on huadeng ditties while absorbing Guizhou dialect and folk song, its performance humorous and lively with a strong flavour of life. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Bai Nian (New Year Greetings)": A representative play of Guizhou huadeng opera. "Jiemei Guan Hua (Sisters Admire the Flowers)": A representative play of Guizhou huadeng opera. "San Fang Qin (Three Visits to Kin)": A representative play of Guizhou huadeng opera. "Liu Sanmei Tiao Shui (Liu Sanmei Carries Water)": A representative play of Guizhou huadeng opera.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

She is a national representative bearer of Hua Lantern Opera, a fifth-batch national intangible cultural heritage project. In 2007 she received the Twenty-Third 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. Shao Zhiqing · National Representative Bearer Archive