Wang Defang
01 · Lineage & Regional School
Wang Defang, Male, Tujia, from Wufengtujiazuzizhi, Hubei, is a sixth-batch national representative bearer of Tujia Daliuzi Percussion (Ⅱ-54). The tradition is documented in Wufengtujiazuzizhi, Hubei. Within the regional tradition and school record of Tujia Daliuzi Percussion in Wufengtujiazuzizhi, Hubei: Tujia daliuzi in Hubei Province is distributed mainly in Wufeng Tujia Autonomous County, Hefeng County and other places; daliuzi in Hefeng County is further concentrated in most of the villages of Tiehu Township, Zouma Town, and was brought in from another region more than two hundred years ago.
02 · Mastery & Signature Works
The bearer record for Wang Defang is anchored in the documented technical standards of Tujia Daliuzi Percussion in Wufengtujiazuzizhi, Hubei. Within the documented technical tradition of Tujia Daliuzi Percussion in Wufengtujiazuzizhi, Hubei: Tujia daliuzi was formed by the Tujia people in years of hunting, felling timber and reclaiming land; it was at first called striking the “family estate”, and is popularly known as “surrounding the drum” or “drawing the daliuzi”. Tujia daliuzi is performed with one drum, one gong, two pairs of cymbals and one hook gong; the 5 instruments are each played by one of 5 people, and the ensemble is called the “five-piece band”. Locally it is said that “the drum sounds once, the gong twice, the cymbals three times, and the hook gong dots the dragon's eye”. The Hefeng Tujia daliuzi has more than one hundred named tune patterns; at performance time connective tune patterns are used to link several single tune patterns into a linked suite, which is played in alternation. During performance the “bowl-bowl sound”, “lotus-leaf sound”, “sparse blossom” and “crowded blossom” struck out in turn by the mandarin-duck cymbals (that is, the first and second cymbals) form series of melodic phrases, which make up the basic sections of the music. The gong and the mandarin-duck cymbals interweave the music alternately, sustaining the body and the character of the named tunes and clearly revealing the linear structure of gong-and-drum tune patterns, that is, the luogu jing. The drum and the hook gong, by contrast, follow the trend of the sound and play the part of “dotting the dragon's eye”. In performance the players can make full use of changes in speed, timbre, dynamics and metre to link different tune patterns organically into suites, so as to depict many vivid images and a great variety of moods. Many tune patterns are named after the movements of animals, such as Yan Ping Chi, Feng Huang Shan Chi, Long Hu Dou, Ba Ge Xi Zao and Yao Zi Fan Shen; they are vivid in image and carry a certain power of moving the hearer. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Yan Ping Chi": A Tujia daliuzi tune pattern named after the movements of an animal, vivid in image. "Feng Huang Shan Chi": A Tujia daliuzi tune pattern that takes the movements of a bird as its subject. "Long Hu Dou": A Tujia daliuzi tune pattern of fierce intensity, one of Jian Boyuan's representative pieces. "Ba Ge Xi Zao": A Tujia daliuzi tune pattern that takes the everyday movements of a bird as its subject.
Yan Ping Chi
A Tujia daliuzi tune pattern named after the movements of an animal, vivid in image.
Feng Huang Shan Chi
A Tujia daliuzi tune pattern that takes the movements of a bird as its subject.
Long Hu Dou
A Tujia daliuzi tune pattern of fierce intensity, one of Jian Boyuan's representative pieces.
Ba Ge Xi Zao
A Tujia daliuzi tune pattern that takes the everyday movements of a bird as its subject.
03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status
In 2025, Wang Defang was announced in the sixth batch of national representative bearers for Tujia Daliuzi Percussion, with Wufengtujiazuzizhi, Hubei as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Tujia Daliuzi Percussion in Wufengtujiazuzizhi, Hubei: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2008 (batch 2), with Wufengtujiazuzizhi, Hubei as its declared area, and Wufeng Tujia Autonomous 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
Historical origin
Tujia daliuzi in Hubei Province is distributed mainly in Wufeng Tujia Autonomous County, Hefeng County and other places; daliuzi in Hefeng County is further concentrated in most of the villages of Tiehu Township, Zouma Town, and was brought in from another region more than two hundred years ago.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Luo Shibi | Xiangxitujiazumiaozuzizhi, Hunan | 02-0299 | Other regional school |
| Tian Longxin | Xiangxitujiazumiaozuzizhi, Hunan | 02-0300 | Other regional school |
| Jian Boyuan | Wufengtujiazuzizhi, Hubei | 03-0846 | Same declared area |
| Yang Wenming | Xiangxitujiazumiaozuzizhi, Hunan | 05-2081 | Other regional school |
| Wang Defang | Wufengtujiazuzizhi, Hubei | — | 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。