Wen Xianglian

01 · Lineage & Regional School

Wen Xianglian, Female, Han, from Kangle, Gansu, is a sixth-batch national representative bearer of Hua'er (Ⅱ-20). The tradition is documented in Kangle, Gansu. Within the regional tradition and school record of Hua'er in Kangle, Gansu: Hua'er is a mountain-song kind widely current among the eight ethnic groups—Hui, Han, Tu, Dongxiang, Bao'an, Salar, Tibetan and Yugur—of the four provinces and regions of Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia and Xinjiang. It is always sung in the local Chinese dialect and may be sung only outside the villages and stockades; it is commonly called a “wild song” (as opposed to the “home song”, that is, the banquet song) and is also known as the “youth”. In the 1960s and 1970s the singing of hua'er was banned; after reform and opening up there was again a scene of flourishing.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

The bearer record for Wen Xianglian is anchored in the documented technical standards of Hua'er in Kangle, Gansu. Within the documented technical tradition of Hua'er in Kangle, Gansu: It is sung on two main kinds of occasion: daily production and life, and the “flower fair”. The “flower fair” is a large folk song gathering, also called “singing the mountain”. Lianhua mountain lies in the south-west of Kangle county, Gansu, and the flower fair is an annual folk-song gathering spontaneously organized by the people of the Lianhua mountain area, radiating to seventy-eight fair sites in six counties of three prefectures. Such folk songs were already flourishing three hundred years ago. The Lianhua mountain flower fair is distinctive in form, grand in scale and complete in procedure, divided into the stages of blocking the road, roaming the mountain, antiphonal singing, toasting and farewell; the main fair runs six days, from the first to the sixth of the sixth lunar month, passing Tangfang Tan, the ascent, the descent, Zuguchuan, Wangjiagou Gate and Zisong mountain, with more than a hundred thousand participants. The Lianhua mountain hua'er is most characterized by the improvisation of its composition, the fixity of its metre and the rusticity of its language, and is commonly called the “wild flower”. Representative tunes include the Lianhua Mountain Tune. Because of its distinctive, folk, dependent, procedural, collective, entertaining and popular character it has been praised by scholars at home and abroad as the “soul of the north-west” and the “encyclopedia of the north-west”. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Blocking the Road, Roaming the Mountain, Antiphonal Singing, Toasting and Farewell": The distinctive and procedurally complete course of the Lianhua mountain flower fair. "Tunes such as the Lianhua Mountain Tune": The representative tunes of the Lianhua mountain hua'er. "The Improvised Composition of the “Wild Flower”": The chief features of improvisation in composition, fixity of metre and rusticity of language. "The Main Fair from the 1st to the 6th of the Sixth Lunar Month": The six-day fair passing Tangfang Tan, the ascent, the descent and Zuguchuan, with more than a hundred thousand participants.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

In 2025, Wen Xianglian was announced in the sixth batch of national representative bearers for Hua'er, with Kangle, Gansu as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Hua'er in Kangle, Gansu: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2006 (batch 1), with Kangle, Gansu as its declared area, and Kangle County Cultural 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

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. Wenxianglian (Kangle, Gansu) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Wenxianglian · China ICH Official Archive