Zhang Yuying
01 · Lineage & Regional School
Zhang Yuying, Female, Yi, from Shilinyizuzizhi, Yunnan, is a sixth-batch national representative bearer of Ashima (Ⅰ-28). The tradition is documented in Shilinyizuzizhi, Yunnan. Within the regional tradition and school record of Ashima in Shilinyizuzizhi, Yunnan: It circulates mainly in the Sani-concentrated area of the Yi people in the Shilin Yi Autonomous County of Yunnan, and divides into a northern and a southern school that differ only slightly. Since the Chinese-language collated edition of Ashima was published in the relevant journals in the early 1950s it has been translated into English, French, German, Spanish, Russian, Japanese, Korean and other languages and circulated abroad, and in Japan it has also been adapted into radio drama, song-and-dance drama and children's drama. China's first colour wide-screen stereophonic musical song-and-dance film Ashima won the first prize for best dance film at the first Santander International Music Festival in Spain in 1982.
02 · Mastery & Signature Works
The bearer record for Zhang Yuying is anchored in the documented technical standards of Ashima in Shilinyizuzizhi, Yunnan. Within the documented technical tradition of Ashima in Shilinyizuzizhi, Yunnan: Ashima is a long narrative poem circulating among the Sani branch of the Yi people in the Shilin Yi Autonomous County of Yunnan. It uses the language of oral poetry to tell or sing the story of Ashima. The story of Ashima's unyielding struggle against the forces of power reveals the human ideal that light will in the end replace darkness, good and beauty replace ugliness and freedom replace oppression and confinement, and reflects the national character and spirit of the Sani Yi, who would rather break than bend. The original form of Ashima was created in the Sani Yi language and is the crystallisation of the collective wisdom of the Sani people tempered over a thousand trials, with a broad popular character. Ashima is sung in five-character lines and uses such devices as foreshadowing, exaggeration and irony and such techniques as homophony, anadiplosis, zeugma and metaphor, so that content and form are perfectly unified. As a narrative poem it can be told or sung, its tunes including the joyful tune, the old people's tune, the sorrowful tune, the weeping tune and the scolding tune; it may be sung on no fixed occasion but at such varied occasions as weddings, sacrifices, funerals, labour and daily life. In China Ashima has been adapted into a film and into Peking opera, Dian opera, opera, dance drama and Sani drama staged in various places. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "The Joyful Tune": One of the tunes of Ashima, used on joyful occasions. "The Sorrowful Tune": One of the tunes of Ashima, used for sorrowful passages. "The Weeping Tune": One of the tunes of Ashima, used for lamenting passages. "The Film Ashima": China's first colour wide-screen stereophonic musical song-and-dance film, which won an international prize in 1982.
The Joyful Tune
One of the tunes of Ashima, used on joyful occasions.
The Sorrowful Tune
One of the tunes of Ashima, used for sorrowful passages.
The Weeping Tune
One of the tunes of Ashima, used for lamenting passages.
The Film Ashima
China's first colour wide-screen stereophonic musical song-and-dance film, which won an international prize in 1982.
03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status
In 2025, Zhang Yuying was announced in the sixth batch of national representative bearers for Ashima, with Shilinyizuzizhi, Yunnan as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Ashima in Shilinyizuzizhi, Yunnan: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2006 (batch 1), with Shilinyizuzizhi, Yunnan as its declared area, and Shilin Yi Autonomous County Ashima Culture Transmission Yu Safeguarding Center (Shilin Yi Autonomous County Ashima Culture Research Institute, Shilin Yi Autonomous County Intangible Cultural Heritage Safeguarding Center) as its safeguarding unit. Since the project was inscribed in the national inventory, its declared area and safeguarding unit have carried out documentation, transmission and presentation within the national safeguarding framework. Together, the inventory record and the project archive form the public documentary basis for the bearer’s transmission practice.
04 · Associated Heritage Item Dossier
Historical origin
Since the Chinese-language collated edition of Ashima was published in the relevant journals in the early 1950s it has been translated into English, French, German, Spanish, Russian, Japanese, Korean and other languages and circulated abroad, and in Japan it has also been adapted into radio drama, song-and-dance drama and children's drama. China's first colour wide-screen stereophonic musical song-and-dance film Ashima won the first prize for best dance film at the first Santander International Music Festival in Spain in 1982.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bi Huayu | Shilinyizuzizhi, Yunnan | 01-0030 | Same declared area |
| Wang Yufang | Shilinyizuzizhi, Yunnan | 01-0031 | Same declared area |
| Zhang Yuying | Shilinyizuzizhi, Yunnan | — | 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。