Pan Desen

01 · Lineage & Regional School

Pan Desen, Male, Han, from Guan, Hebei, is a sixth-batch national representative bearer of Jizhong Sheng and Guan Ensemble (Ⅱ-59). The tradition is documented in Guan, Hebei. Within the regional tradition and school record of Jizhong Sheng and Guan Ensemble in Guan, Hebei: Jizhong sheng-and-guan music is current in nearly thirty counties and cities south of Beijing, west of Tianjin and north of Cangzhou and Dingzhou; it is a drum-and-wind music peculiar to the Jizhong Plain, popularly called a “music society” by the people, and, because it is led by the guan and accompanied by the sheng and other instruments, also called “sheng-and-guan music”. Jizhong sheng-and-guan music is found all over the Jizhong Plain; the farmers of this region form societies by village, borrowing instruments to meet, and play in local sacrificial rites, funerals and other folk activities, handing it on from generation to generation in their own distinctive way. The Xiaofeng village music society, current in Qugou Township, Gu'an County, Langfang City, Hebei Province, is a refined village music used for sacrificial rites and funeral ceremonies; it was founded during the Hongwu reign of the Ming dynasty and, having been transmitted by Daoists, is popularly called “Dao music”.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

The bearer record for Pan Desen is anchored in the documented technical standards of Jizhong Sheng and Guan Ensemble in Guan, Hebei. Within the documented technical tradition of Jizhong Sheng and Guan Ensemble in Guan, Hebei: Besides wind instruments such as the sheng, guan and flute, Jizhong sheng-and-guan music also uses such percussion instruments as cloud gongs, drums, nao, cymbals and clapper bells. The pieces of sheng-and-guan music fall into three kinds: suites, short pieces and independent sets of percussion music; of these the suites are of great length and complex structure, and form the main part of the whole performing repertory. The blowing scores of the Xiaofeng village music society use the ten notes “si, yi, shang, chi, gong, liu, wu, fan, he, yi”, and at the same time employ the techniques of changing the tone by level and oblique tone and modulating by yin and yang, together with the unpredictable “na kou” grace notes, making the music more melodious and moving and singularly refined. The Xiaofeng village music society performs in the great gong mode (B-flat); its pieces consist of two main parts, traditional tune patterns and repertory peculiar to itself, covering such subjects as sacrificial ritual, the rules of the Daoist rite, story and legend, the feudal patriarchal order, military and civil affairs, natural ecology, seasonal festivals, animals, scenery and the deeds of famous figures; to this day nine suites, six large-scale “daban” pieces and more than thirty short pieces survive. The instruments used by the music society include the small guan, sheng, flute, leading bells, cloud gong, wooden fish and small cymbals, together with percussion instruments such as drum, dangzi, great cymbals, great nao and small nao; the full performing line-up consists of eight guans, eight flutes, eight sets of sheng, two cloud gongs, one wooden fish, one pair of leading bells and the full set of percussion instruments, with more than thirty people taking part, an arrangement that is large in scale and imposing in manner. Representative pieces of the Xiaofeng village music society include the suites Yan Hui, Xiao Hua Yuan and Ma Yu Lang. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Yan Hui": One of the representative suites of the Xiaofeng village music society, taking the Confucian disciple Yan Hui as its subject. "Xiao Hua Yuan": One of the representative suites of the Xiaofeng village music society. "Ma Yu Lang": One of the representative suites of the Xiaofeng village music society. "Da-gong mode and large ensemble": Performed in the great gong mode (B-flat), with a full line-up of eight guans, eight flutes, eight sets of sheng, two cloud gongs, one wooden fish, one pair of leading bells and the whole set of percussion instruments, more than thirty players taking part, imposing in scale.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

In 2025, Pan Desen was announced in the sixth batch of national representative bearers for Jizhong Sheng and Guan Ensemble, with Guan, Hebei as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Jizhong Sheng and Guan Ensemble in Guan, Hebei: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2008 (batch 2), with Guan, Hebei as its declared area, and Guan County Wen WuHe Intangible Cultural Heritage Institute (Guan County Museum) 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. Pandesen (Guan, Hebei) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Pandesen · China ICH Official Archive