Chen Shuanfa
01 · Lineage & Regional School
He later followed his master from village to village, and in the course of his apprenticeship he gradually mastered the fundamentals of sixianshu. Within the regional tradition and school record of Zezhousixianshu in Zezhou, Shanxi: Zezhou Four-String Storytelling circulates mainly throughout Zezhou County of Shanxi Province, as well as in the southeastern part of Qinshui County, the eastern part of Yangcheng County and the western part of Lingchuan County; the Zezhou County Cultural Centre is the protecting unit. In former times the performers were all blind folk artists, and the villagers' offerings to the gods, the redemption of vows and celebrations were the principal occasions for their performances. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Zezhou County established a quyi troupe whose main repertory was Four-String Storytelling; it created and performed new programmes such as “Kaoshenpo”, “Wu Quanyou Receives His Daughter” and “The River God Takes a Wife”, styles of performance standing still and moving about also appeared, and the two-string fiddle replaced the four-string fiddle as an accompanying instrument while the suona, the small drum and the clapper board were added. Zezhou Four-String Storytelling (Zezhousixianshu) had already taken shape no later than the Guangxu reign period of the Qing dynasty, giving it a history of more than one hundred and fifty years.
02 · Mastery & Signature Works
Born in November 1953 in Zezhou County, Shanxi Province, he is of Han ethnicity. At fourteen he became a pupil of Yuan Xiaomi, a folk artist of Zezhou sixianshu, learning vocal technique and repertoire such as the long-form daguan shu and the short xiaoduan shu. At nineteen he began leading a troupe on his own to perform in the countryside. His singing is gentle and mournful, his articulation crisp and his voice resonant, with a strong Jincheng dialect flavour, and the characters he creates are sharply individualised. Through long practice as a storyteller his performing style has won recognition among the people of Jincheng. His representative repertoire includes The Five Maidens Revive the Tang (Wu Nü Xing Tang Zhuan), Biographies of Virtuous Women (Lienü Zhuan), Jiang Taigong Sells Flour (Jiang Taigong Mai Mian), Red Gauze Mountain (Hongluo Shan), Lintong Mountain (Lintong Shan), Yang Bajie Goes on a Spring Outing (Yang Bajie You Chun) and Meng Liang Moves the Troops (Meng Liang Ban Bing). Within the documented technical tradition of Zezhousixianshu in Zezhou, Shanxi: Zezhou Four-String Storytelling is a form of quyi storytelling that circulates mainly throughout Zezhou County of Shanxi Province, as well as in the southeastern part of Qinshui County, the eastern part of Yangcheng County and the western part of Lingchuan County. It takes its name from the four-string fiddle (sihu), its principal accompanying instrument. The performance alternates speech and song, with song predominating, and is delivered in the Zezhou local accent. In its early days a single performer accompanied himself on the four-string fiddle and the leg clappers; later, accompaniment by several musicians came into use. Its vocal styles and tunes belong to the banqiang (metrical pattern) system, the principal ban patterns being pingban, jinban, jieban, sandao ban and guanyun. The accompanying instruments comprise the lead instruments — the four-string fiddle, the sanxian and the huhu — together with two two-string fiddles (erba), as well as one each of the large, medium and small leg clappers and a pair of cymbals. The accompaniment is interlude-style: the instruments do not play while the singing is under way. The sung lyrics basically follow a seven-character paired-line form, with the lower line rhyming. In former times those who performed Zezhou Four-String Storytelling were all blind folk artists, and the principal occasions for their performances were the villagers' offerings to the gods, the redemption of vows and celebrations. Traditional programmes frequently performed include “Youtiantai (A Tour of Mount Tiantai)”, “Da Baxian (The Great Eight Immortals)”, “Fugui Changchun (Wealth and Everlasting Spring)”, “Fupih Huashan (Cleaving Mount Hua with an Axe)”, “Du Linying”, “Sanjie Luofan (Third Sister Descending to the Mortal World)”, “Tianxian Songzi (The Celestial Being Delivering a Child)”, “Xu Gongzi Baishou (Young Master Xu Paying Birthday Respects)”, “Long Sanjie Baishou (Third Sister Long Paying Birthday Respects)”, “Xixiangji (The Story of the Western Wing)” and “Liang Zhu Xiashan (Liang Zhu Descending the Mountain)”. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Zezhou County established the Zezhou County Quyi Troupe, whose main repertory was Zezhou Four-String Storytelling. It created and performed new programmes such as “Kaoshenpo (Examining the God-Diviner's Wife)”, “Wu Quanyou Receives His Daughter” and “The River God Takes a Wife”. During the same period, styles of performance standing still and moving about also appeared. At the same time the two-string fiddle (erhu) replaced the four-string fiddle as an accompanying instrument, and the suona, the small drum and the clapper board were added. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "The four-string fiddle and leg clappers": Named for its leading four-string fiddle, the genre also uses sanxian and three sizes of leg clappers, with accompaniment falling between vocal phrases. "The five metres of Zhaozhou sixiang": The arias are metrical in type with five principal metres, sung in couplets of seven characters rhyming on the second line. "Representative traditional items": Regularly performed traditional items steeped in myth and legend, forming the core of the repertoire alongside Wandering to Tiantai. "Blind singers and votive occasions": The players were traditionally blind, hired mainly for thanks-offerings and temple celebrations, at first one man alone with fiddle and clappers.
The four-string fiddle and leg clappers
Named for its leading four-string fiddle, the genre also uses sanxian and three sizes of leg clappers, with accompaniment falling between vocal phrases.
The five metres of Zhaozhou sixiang
The arias are metrical in type with five principal metres, sung in couplets of seven characters rhyming on the second line.
Representative traditional items
Regularly performed traditional items steeped in myth and legend, forming the core of the repertoire alongside Wandering to Tiantai.
Blind singers and votive occasions
The players were traditionally blind, hired mainly for thanks-offerings and temple celebrations, at first one man alone with fiddle and clappers.
03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status
He is a national representative bearer of Zezhou Sixianshu, a fifth-batch national intangible cultural heritage project. For many years he has devoted himself to performing sixianshu and to training successors to carry on the art.
04 · Associated Heritage Item Dossier
Historical origin
Zezhou Four-String Storytelling (Zezhousixianshu) had already taken shape no later than the Guangxu reign period of the Qing dynasty, giving it a history of more than one hundred and fifty years.
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.
| Bearer | Declared area | Roster code | Relation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chen Shuanfa | Zezhou, Shanxi | 05-2521 | This page |
06 · Archival Sources & Bibliography
This static English edition is rendered at the edge for search engines, AI crawlers and readers without JavaScript. Compiled from official national representative bearer archival records and the associated project dossier, organized by topic and translated into English. 阅读中文版。