Wuzhangjiao

01 · Lineage & Regional School

Wuzhangjiao, Female, Dong, from Rongjiang, Guizhou, is a sixth-batch national representative bearer of Dong Pipa Songs (Ⅱ-29). The tradition is documented in Rongjiang, Guizhou. Within the regional tradition and school record of Dong Pipa Songs in Rongjiang, Guizhou: The Dong pipa song is distributed in the southern-dialect area of the Dong and may be divided into the two great kinds of the lyrical pipa song and the narrative pipa song. It is found in the area along the Xunjiang river and the Qushui river in Sanjiang county and Longsheng county and in Tongdao county, Hunan. Pingjia village was founded in the Yongle reign of the Ming (about 1405), and it is said that this kind of song was already sung here at that time and has been handed down without a break ever since. In 1952 music workers of the Guizhou provincial cultural department discovered this pipa song and selected it to take part in the Guizhou provincial minority nationalities artistic festival, afterwards recommending it for performance in Beijing.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

The bearer record for Wuzhangjiao is anchored in the documented technical standards of Dong Pipa Songs in Rongjiang, Guizhou. Within the documented technical tradition of Dong Pipa Songs in Rongjiang, Guizhou: In the national literary and artistic compendia the lyrical pipa song is mostly placed in the category of the folk song, while the narrative pipa song is placed in the category of the narrative-singing art (called pipa ballad-singing); some are both at once. Because the pipa songs of different places use different models of pipa and different tunings, different local speech, different performing places and different uses of the voice, many different styles have been formed. The Sanbao pipa song, also called the Chejiang pipa song, is one kind of lyrical pipa song; it is accompanied by a medium-sized four-string pipa with the guoji (ox-leg lute) playing in concert, the instrument being handled by a man, with a man playing and singing or a man playing while a woman sings, the male voice in the natural voice and the female voice in the small voice, and it is sung on the occasion of “walking in song and sitting out the moon”, circulating mainly in the Rongjiang county area centred on Sanbao. The Wanzhai pipa song, also called the Forty-Eight Stockades pipa song, is both a kind of lyrical pipa song and a kind of pipa ballad-singing: the male voice is accompanied by a three-string or five-string medium-to-large pipa and the female voice by a three-string or five-string small-to-medium pipa, both singing while playing. It circulates mainly in the Forty-Eight Stockades area where Rongjiang and Liping counties adjoin and in the Seventy-Two Stockades area of Rongjiang county. In the whole Dong area only the Forty-Eight Stockades area has women who play the pipa and sing; the Seventy-Two Stockades ballad-singing is a kind of narrative pipa song, mostly performed by middle-aged and elderly male artists accompanying themselves on a three-string or five-string large pipa, singing at the invitation of listeners in the main hall or the long gallery of a dwelling house, mainly narrative songs or songs of reasoning, and is current only in the Dong area of the Seventy-Two Stockades of Rongjiang county. The Pingjia pipa song, also called the Hongzhou pipa song, is a kind of lyrical pipa song; it is accompanied by a man on a three-string small pipa shaped like an ox-leg lute, with a man playing and singing or a man playing while a woman sings, both male and female voices in falsetto, quite distinctive, circulating mainly in the Dong area centred on Hongzhou township of Liping county and Boyang township of Tongdao county, Hunan. The Six Caves pipa song is a kind of lyrical pipa song; it is accompanied by a four-string small pipa, with a man playing and singing or a man playing while a woman sings, sung on the occasion of “walking in song and sitting out the moon”; originally both male and female voices were in falsetto, and now some have changed to the natural voice, and it circulates mainly in the areas of Liping and Congjiang counties commonly called the “Six Caves”, the “Thousand and Five” and the “Ten Caves”. The Rongjiang pipa song is both lyrical and narrative, and its performing form, performing place and performing content are the same as those of the Six Caves ballad-singing; it circulates mainly in the Rongjiang river section of Sanjiang and Rongshui counties of the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region and in the area of Liping county centred on the “Four-Foot Ox”. Its main pieces include The Opposite Bank, First Meeting, The Road Is Uneven, Long Time No See and Both of Us Willing. The Xunjiang pipa song is both lyrical and narrative, and its performing form, places and content are the same as those of the Six Caves ballad-singing; it circulates mainly in the area along the Xunjiang river and the Qushui river in Sanjiang and Longsheng counties of the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region and in Tongdao county, Hunan. The Hongzhou pipa song is current in Pingjia village of Hongzhou township, Liping county, Guizhou; the village lies 33 kilometres east of the Liping county seat, on the borders of Hunan, Guizhou and Guangxi. Because Pingjia village was then under the jurisdiction of Hongzhou, this pipa song was named the “Hongzhou pipa song”. Its most striking feature is that both men and women sing in a high falsetto, with a melody at once melodious and pleasing and quite distinctive in style. Its tunes and lyrics are rich, and its kinds include the love song, the song of filial respect for the elders and the narrative song, among others. The love song is sung antiphonally by young men and women playing the pipa at home or on the hillsides, mainly to pour out their mutual affection. The song of filial respect for the elders is sung by young men and women playing the pipa in public, its content being how to be filial to the old, and a famous one of these is called The Young All Respect the Old. The narrative song is sung by older people in the drum tower or in public, its content mostly recounting ethnic history, great events and folk tales. The Hongzhou pipa song is transmitted mainly among spontaneously organized groups of enthusiasts, and not directly between father and son or between close relatives. The old teach songs, the young sing songs and the children learn songs—this is the traditional custom of the Dong countryside. The Hongzhou pipa song holds an important place in Dong music: it is a treasure among Dong pipa songs and a heritage of ancient folk song. Among pipa songs it is the only rare variety sung in falsetto, its pipa-making craft is a thing apart, and its singing and playing are a delight for the people to hear, so that it has become an inseparable and important part of local life. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "The Opposite Bank": Main pieces of the Dong pipa song include The Opposite Bank, First Meeting, The Road Is Uneven, Long Time No See and Both of Us Willing. "First Meeting": A main piece of the Dong pipa song, belonging to the lyrical pipa songs sung at the “walking in song and sitting out the moon” gatherings. "The Road Is Uneven": A main piece of the Dong pipa song, current in the Rongjiang and Liping areas of Guizhou. "Long Time No See": A main piece of the Dong pipa song, sung to the accompaniment of the Dong pipa.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

In 2025, Wuzhangjiao was announced in the sixth batch of national representative bearers for Dong Pipa Songs, with Rongjiang, Guizhou as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Dong Pipa Songs in Rongjiang, Guizhou: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2006 (batch 1), with Rongjiang, Guizhou as its declared area, and Rongjiang 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

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. Wuzhangjiao (Rongjiang, Guizhou) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Wuzhangjiao · China ICH Official Archive