Lei Guosheng
01 · Lineage & Regional School
Lei Guosheng, Male, She, from Xiapu, Fujian, is a sixth-batch national representative bearer of She Xiaoshuoge (Ⅰ-30). The tradition is documented in Xiapu, Fujian. Within the regional tradition and school record of She Xiaoshuoge in Xiapu, Fujian: The She novel song takes Bailukeng of Xiapu, Fujian, as its centre and circulates in the She-concentrated areas of eastern Fujian and southern Zhejiang; sung in the She language, with one singing and the crowd responding, it is mostly performed at ancestor worship, weddings, festivals and farm slack seasons, the tunes and pieces differing somewhat from place to place. The She novel song originated in Bailukeng village of Hounan town, Xiapu county, Fujian. The novel song began in the Qing, when the more literate of the She singers adapted Han chapter-novels and pinghua librettos into oral and manuscript songbooks of their own people, and later works were created on the basis of the deeds of heroes circulated among the She and combined with the life, psychology and language of the people, such as The Song of Emperor Gao, The Song of Successive Dynasties, Zhong Liangbi, The White Snake, The Song of Ten Worthies, Zhong Jingqi and Lan Tianyu, so that the novel song took shape. The late Qing and early Republican period was the heyday of the novel song, with many singers.
02 · Mastery & Signature Works
The bearer record for Lei Guosheng is anchored in the documented technical standards of She Xiaoshuoge in Xiapu, Fujian. Within the documented technical tradition of She Xiaoshuoge in Xiapu, Fujian: Bailukeng is the area with the densest She population and the richest cultural deposit and may be called the first village of eastern Fujian. As a long story song the novel song is a unique literary form and cultural vehicle created by the She people. In content the She novel songs are mostly drawn from the stories circulating in Chinese folk opera and narrative-singing and differ from the She's ordinary miscellaneous songs. Their basic poetic features are: first, a strong narrative quality with plot; second, a strict structural method, each piece made up of many individual songs, each individual song having four lines of seven characters, like the Chinese seven-character quatrain; third, the use of various techniques to give artistic treatment to the characters; and fourth, the author's signature cleverly hidden at the end of the song. Because the She novel songs are rich in content and varied in form, bright in language and harmonious in rhyme, using no allusions and indulging in no exaggeration or embellishment, fusing narration, description of things and lyric expression into one and plain yet true, they are widely recognised by the She people. They are not only the essence of She songs but also the most representative cultural form of the She and the most distinctive artistic category of eastern Fujian. The novel song occupies an important place in the cultural and literary history of the She and is a progressive product in the development of She culture. There survive a hundred and thirty manuscript and oral novel songs. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "The Song of Emperor Gao": A representative novel song of the She, recounting the legend of the She ancestral founder. "Zhong Liangbi": A She novel song created from the deeds of a hero of the people. "The White Snake": A She novel song adapted from Han chapter-novels and pinghua librettos. "The Song of Successive Dynasties": A novel song narrating the rise and fall of successive dynasties.
The Song of Emperor Gao
A representative novel song of the She, recounting the legend of the She ancestral founder.
Zhong Liangbi
A She novel song created from the deeds of a hero of the people.
The White Snake
A She novel song adapted from Han chapter-novels and pinghua librettos.
The Song of Successive Dynasties
A novel song narrating the rise and fall of successive dynasties.
03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status
In 2025, Lei Guosheng was announced in the sixth batch of national representative bearers for She Xiaoshuoge, with Xiapu, Fujian as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of She Xiaoshuoge in Xiapu, Fujian: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2006 (batch 1), with Xiapu, Fujian as its declared area, and Xiapu County Funing Culture Art Jiaoliu 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
The She novel song originated in Bailukeng village of Hounan town, Xiapu county, Fujian. The novel song began in the Qing, when the more literate of the She singers adapted Han chapter-novels and pinghua librettos into oral and manuscript songbooks of their own people, and later works were created on the basis of the deeds of heroes circulated among the She and combined with the life, psychology and language of the people, such as The Song of Emperor Gao, The Song of Successive Dynasties, Zhong Liangbi, The White Snake, The Song of Ten Worthies, Zhong Jingqi and Lan Tianyu, so that the novel song took shape. The late Qing and early Republican period was the heyday of the novel song, with many singers.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zhong Changyao | Xiapu, Fujian | 04-1496 | Same declared area |
| Lei Guosheng | Xiapu, Fujian | — | 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。