Zhang Jiadi

01 · Lineage & Regional School

Zhang Jiadi, Male, Han, from Wenan, Hebei, is a fifth-batch national representative bearer of Zuogezhuangganhui (Ⅵ-46). The tradition is documented in Wenan, Hebei. Within the regional tradition and school record of Zuogezhuangganhui in Wenan, Hebei: The Zuogezhuang Pole Society takes Chongxin Village in Zuogezhuang Town, Wen'an County, as its principal place of transmission; the village once established a pole society and built a pole-practice hall, and its members were mostly local farmers. Unlike pole societies in other regions that use fixed wooden poles, the Zuogezhuang Pole Society mainly uses a living pole and can perform with a tree trunk at any time and in any place, giving it great mobility. To the present day, the society remains active in Wen'an and the surrounding counties and cities; in 1996 it took part in the Beijing Longtan Temple Fair and won an excellent performance award. The Zuogezhuang Pole Society is transmitted in the area of Zuogezhuang Town, Wen'an County, Hebei Province. Zuogezhuang lies on the bank of the Daqing River and was formerly a wharf on the water routes, where merchants and travelers gathered and the customs of folk martial arts and acrobatics flourished. Judging from the apparatus used and the content of performances, the Zuogezhuang Pole Society is related to the acrobatic pole societies of the Yuan and Ming periods; its techniques have been passed down from generation to generation locally, in family and village units. Society members farm during the busy agricultural seasons and practice pole skills in the off-season, turning out to perform at temple fairs and New Year festivals, which produced a relatively fixed organization and mode of transmission.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

A performer of Zuogezhuang pole techniques. He began learning the basic skills at the age of eight and, after thirty years of persistent hard training, mastered the techniques on the pole. He has innovated many movements on the pole, such as the hanging foot-and-face, sleeping on the pole and the foot-swung flag. He once served as chairman and coach of the pole association of Chongxin Village, Zuogezhuang. Within the documented technical tradition of Zuogezhuangganhui in Wenan, Hebei: The Zuogezhuang Pole Society is a traditional sport transmitted in the Wen'an area of Hebei Province. Unlike pole societies in other regions, the Zuogezhuang Pole Society mainly uses a living pole (a loose pole), and can perform with a tree trunk at any time and in any place. The main technical moves include dating (single and double), chuanzi, danbi zheyu (hanging fish on one arm), zhua san dao liang (grasping three, snatching two), yangya zhuan (leaning-branch turns), sleeping on the loop, gua jiaomian (hooking the instep, single and double), dao jiaomian (inverted instep), lie jiaomian (twisted instep), gua jiaohougen (hooking the heel, single and double), nian tangren (sticky sugar figure), hand flag-waving, foot flag-waving, lü dagun (donkey roll), golden rooster standing on one leg, shua liuxing (playing the meteor hammer), and dan henggun (single horizontal pole). Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Performing on the living pole": The society's hallmark is its use of a living pole, a tree trunk rigged on the spot rather than a fixed upright. "Ting-thrusts and stringing": Core technical moves of the society, the ting-thrust done singly or doubly and the chuanzi a continuous tumbling sequence on the pole. "Single-arm fish-fold and the three-two grip": Pole moves in which the body folds over one supporting arm or shifts by a set rhythm of grips, demanding arm strength and body control. "Sleeping on the pole and toe hooks": Daring yet comic moves in which the performer lies or hangs on the pole, hooking it with feet and heels in many variations.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

Male, Han ethnicity, born in May 1942, died in February 2021, a native of Wen'an County, Hebei Province. National representative bearer of the Zuogezhuang Pole Association, a fifth-batch national intangible cultural heritage project. He organized the construction of a pole-training hall, trained more than twenty apprentices able to perform competently on the pole, and organized old and new members to practise during holidays and in their spare time. In 1996 he led the pole association to the Beijing Longtan Temple Fair, where it won an award for outstanding performance.

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. Zhang Jiadi · National Representative Bearer Archive