Chi Shangming
01 · Lineage & Regional School
Chi Shangming, Male, Han, from Yanqing, Beijing, is a sixth-batch national representative bearer of Badalingchangcheng Legend (Ⅰ-32). The tradition is documented in Yanqing, Beijing. Within the regional tradition and school record of Badalingchangcheng Legend in Yanqing, Beijing: The Badaling Great Wall legends are rooted in the people, strongly regional, rich in content and varied in kind, spanning a great range of time; they are a plain and easily understood original-ecological literary form with a strong mythological colour. Their emergence is bound up both with the special local environment and historical conditions and inseparably with production and life, the seasons and festivals and local custom. The emergence of the Badaling legends is inseparable from the special local geographical environment, the military defence system and the historical conditions of garrison farming and migration. The earliest legends about Badaling derive from ancient myth and arose before the creation of writing, reflecting the relation between man and nature in remote antiquity. By the Ming, along the Badaling section of the Great Wall eight great stockades were built, each garrisoned with troops, and every village, stockade, wall and pass and even the stones and springs had their legends, handed down from generation to generation; such tales as The Stone Gazing at the Capital, The Shadow of the Sixth Lord, The Golden Ox Cave, The Stone Buddha Temple, Mu Guiying's Reviewing Stand and The Lute-Playing Gorge are still much on people's lips. The content of the Badaling legends covers the hardship of building the wall, the loyalty and bravery of the frontier soldiers, anecdotes of imperial tours and the origin of the hills, waters and scenery along the line, combining the colour of both myth and historical hearsay. These legends have long circulated in Yanqing and the northern Beijing area and been continually enriched through the oral transmission of their tellers.
02 · Mastery & Signature Works
The bearer record for Chi Shangming is anchored in the documented technical standards of Badalingchangcheng Legend in Yanqing, Beijing. Within the documented technical tradition of Badalingchangcheng Legend in Yanqing, Beijing: The Badaling Great Wall in Yanqing county, Beijing, has a long history and has been a military strongpoint and vital communication line since ancient times. Even the origin of the name Badaling has several versions in folk legend. Commanding the defile of Juyong pass, Badaling's Guanggou old road was the throat leading from the capital to the north of the passes, and through the ages troops were garrisoned and merchants came and went, providing rich soil for the birth of legends; the origin of the name Badaling has in folk tradition such versions as the ridge dividing eight reaches and the road reaching in eight directions. The telling of the Badaling legends mostly relies on particular rocks, springs, caves and pass place names, plain and vivid in narration and serving the double function of legend and explanation of scenery. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "The Stone Gazing at the Capital": One of the much-loved pieces of the Badaling Great Wall legends. "The Shadow of the Sixth Lord": One of the much-loved pieces of the Badaling Great Wall legends. "Mu Guiying's Reviewing Stand": One of the much-loved pieces of the Badaling Great Wall legends. "The Lute-Playing Gorge": One of the much-loved pieces of the Badaling Great Wall legends.
The Stone Gazing at the Capital
One of the much-loved pieces of the Badaling Great Wall legends.
The Shadow of the Sixth Lord
One of the much-loved pieces of the Badaling Great Wall legends.
Mu Guiying's Reviewing Stand
One of the much-loved pieces of the Badaling Great Wall legends.
The Lute-Playing Gorge
One of the much-loved pieces of the Badaling Great Wall legends.
03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status
In 2025, Chi Shangming was announced in the sixth batch of national representative bearers for Badalingchangcheng Legend, with Yanqing, Beijing as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Badalingchangcheng Legend in Yanqing, Beijing: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2008 (batch 2), with Yanqing, Beijing as its declared area, and Beijing Yanqing District Museum (Beijing Yanqing District Cultural Relics Management Office) 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 earliest legends about Badaling derive from ancient myth and arose before the creation of writing, reflecting the relation between man and nature in remote antiquity. By the Ming, along the Badaling section of the Great Wall eight great stockades were built, each garrisoned with troops, and every village, stockade, wall and pass and even the stones and springs had their legends, handed down from generation to generation; such tales as The Stone Gazing at the Capital, The Shadow of the Sixth Lord, The Golden Ox Cave, The Stone Buddha Temple, Mu Guiying's Reviewing Stand and The Lute-Playing Gorge are still much on people's lips. The content of the Badaling legends covers the hardship of building the wall, the loyalty and bravery of the frontier soldiers, anecdotes of imperial tours and the origin of the hills, waters and scenery along the line, combining the colour of both myth and historical hearsay. These legends have long circulated in Yanqing and the northern Beijing area and been continually enriched through the oral transmission of their tellers.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chi Shangming | Yanqing, Beijing | — | 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。