Yu Shuilong

01 · Lineage & Regional School

Yu Shuilong, Male, Manchu, from Liaoning, is a sixth-batch national representative bearer of Liaoning Drum Music (Ⅱ-39). The tradition is documented in Liaoning. Within the regional tradition and school record of Liaoning Drum Music in Liaoning: Liaoning drum music takes as its main body the drum bands of Liaoyang, Yingkou, Anshan, Haicheng and the counties of southern Liaoning; the players are mostly passed down from generation to generation and make the band their profession. The bands around Shenyang and Liaoyang preserve relatively more Tang and Song tune patterns and Yuan and Ming southern and northern tunes, and lay stress on strict structure and strict beat counts; the bands of southern Liaoning are distinguished by their skill in the borrowed-character modulation of the “thirty-five modes”. In former times the bands not only taught apprentices locally but also carried their art to other places, so that their influence reached far into the three northeastern provinces. Liaoning drum music was in its early days sheng-and-pipe music; suona music was added in the Ming and Qing dynasties, and the band took shape and became mature in the middle of the Qing dynasty. Especially among them, the Han tunes and the great named-tune pieces bear clear structural marks of the great suites (daqu) of the Tang dynasty and of the qupo pieces of the Song dynasty. In addition, the seven mode names given to the suona in Liaoning drum music provide important clues for the study of the development and evolution of the form of the suona.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

The bearer record for Yu Shuilong is anchored in the documented technical standards of Liaoning Drum Music in Liaoning. Within the documented technical tradition of Liaoning Drum Music in Liaoning: Liaoning drum music has been very popular since ancient times, and once exerted a far-reaching influence on the drum music of all parts of Northeast China. The mural paintings of Han and Wei period tombs excavated in Liaoyang City, Liaoning Province, include a picture of ancient drum-and-trumpet performance inscribed with the six characters “guchui yan die huanxi”. Judging by its repertoire, it preserves a small number of Tang and Song tune patterns, while most of its music consists of Yuan and Ming southern and northern tunes and of Ming and Qing tune patterns; judged by its structure, the body of the drum music is very strict, each category of piece has a definite structural model, and the number of beats is strictly prescribed. Judging from the tonality of certain pieces, Liaoning drum music was clearly influenced by the music of northern minorities such as the Khitan and the Jurchen. In its modes, the “thirty-five modes” formed by Liaoning drum music through the borrowed-character technique are in fact a continuation of the “changing register and shifting mode” that originated in the Tang and Song dynasties, a survival of the “twenty-eight modes of Yan music”. Commonly used pieces include Gong Chi Shang, Mei Hua Diao, Shang Cai Qu, Ju Ju Shuang and Gui Zhi Hua. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Gong Chi Shang": The commonly used pieces of Liaoning drum music include Gong Chi Shang, Mei Hua Diao, Shang Cai Qu, Ju Ju Shuang and Gui Zhi Hua. "Mei Hua Diao": The commonly used pieces of Liaoning drum music include Gong Chi Shang, Mei Hua Diao, Shang Cai Qu, Ju Ju Shuang and Gui Zhi Hua. "Shang Cai Qu": The commonly used pieces of Liaoning drum music include Gong Chi Shang, Mei Hua Diao, Shang Cai Qu, Ju Ju Shuang and Gui Zhi Hua. "Ju Ju Shuang": The commonly used pieces of Liaoning drum music include Gong Chi Shang, Mei Hua Diao, Shang Cai Qu, Ju Ju Shuang and Gui Zhi Hua.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

In 2025, Yu Shuilong was announced in the sixth batch of national representative bearers for Liaoning Drum Music, with Liaoning as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Liaoning Drum Music in Liaoning: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2006 (batch 1), with Liaoning as its declared area, and Liaoning Cultural Heritage Safeguarding Center (Liaoning 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. Yushuilong (Liaoning) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Yushuilong · China ICH Official Archive