Li Mingzhong

01 · Lineage & Regional School

Li Mingzhong, Male, Han, from Shaanxi, is a sixth-batch national representative bearer of Guqin and its Music (Ⅱ-34). The tradition is documented in Shaanxi. Within the regional tradition and school record of Guqin and its Music in Shaanxi: The art of the guqin is distributed in Shaanxi mainly in the Xi'an area. The guqin was called simply the “qin” throughout ancient China and was named the “guqin” only at the beginning of the twentieth century.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

The bearer record for Li Mingzhong is anchored in the documented technical standards of Guqin and its Music in Shaanxi. Within the documented technical tradition of Guqin and its Music in Shaanxi: The art of the guqin is a typical representative of China's excellent traditional culture and an important musical manifestation of ancient Chinese spiritual culture. Historically Xi'an was not only one of the important birthplaces of the Chinese guqin but also an important place of its formation, development and flourishing, holding an irreplaceable historical position in the history of Chinese qin. With the development of the history of Chinese musical civilisation the art of the guqin blended here with the musical culture of the Silk Road and travelled eastward, scattering to the countries and regions surrounding Asia and producing a far-reaching influence. The chief performing forms by which the art of the guqin has been transmitted to the present are the qin solo, the ensemble of qin and xiao and the qin song, and its practice is chiefly embodied in the making of the instrument. In the long course of Chinese history the art of the guqin formed an independent and complete disciplinary system called “qin study”. Qin study originated in China and afterwards spread throughout the world, and is therefore called “Chinese qin study”, of which the Xi'an area is one of the important birthplaces. Chinese qin study takes qin making, the performance of qin pieces and qin theory as its main content and carries the realm and value of the aesthetic and intellectual traditions of traditional musical culture. The guqin art of Shaanxi has not only inherited the beginning of qin making by the Yan and Huang emperors, the laws and measures of King Wen and King Wu of Zhou, the legends of Jiang Ziya and the First Emperor of Qin, and the great work in qin study of such worthies as Liu Xiang, Yang Xiong, Cai Yong, Cai Yan, Ban Gu, Huan Tan, Dong Tinglan and Li Mian, but has also carried on the achievements in qin study of Zhang Youhe, Chen Yaoting, Min Zhiting and Li Mingzhong. The earliest records of the “qin” are found in such documents as the Book of Songs and the Book of Documents, and it has a history of more than three thousand years, with wide influence in the history of Chinese music, aesthetics, culture and thought. The guqin originally had five strings, and by the Zhou dynasty it already had seven. In the Guanzhong area many sages of former ages were good at the qin and understood it; they either set out laws and measures for making qin, or created qin pieces, or used the qin to narrate history. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Chinese Qin Study": Taking qin making, the performance of qin pieces and qin theory as its main content and carrying the realm and value of the aesthetic and intellectual traditions of traditional musical culture. "The Three Performing Forms: Qin Solo, Qin-and-Xiao Ensemble and Qin Song": The chief performing forms by which the art of the guqin has been transmitted to the present, its practice being chiefly embodied in the making of the instrument. "The Lineage of Qin History in the Guanzhong Region": The guqin art of Shaanxi inherits the laws and measures of King Wen and King Wu of Zhou and the qin study of such worthies as Liu Xiang, Cai Yong and Dong Tinglan, and continues the achievements of Zhang Youhe, Chen Yaoting, Min Zhiting and Li Mingzhong.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

In 2025, Li Mingzhong was announced in the sixth batch of national representative bearers for Guqin and its Music, with Shaanxi as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Guqin and its Music in Shaanxi: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2021 (batch 5), with Shaanxi as its declared area, and Shaanxi Art Research Institute 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. Limingzhong (Shaanxi) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Limingzhong · China ICH Official Archive