Xue Shengyou
01 · Lineage & Regional School
Xue Shengyou, Male, Han, from Wuhe, Anhui, is a sixth-batch national representative bearer of Wuhe Folk Songs (Ⅱ-76). The tradition is documented in Wuhe, Anhui. Within the regional tradition and school record of Wuhe Folk Songs in Wuhe, Anhui: Wuhe folk songs circulate in the lower reaches of the middle course of the Huai River in the northeast of Anhui province; centred on Wuhe, they have spread to more than a dozen counties and cities of Anhui and Jiangsu and to parts of Shandong. Wuhe stands at the junction of northern Huai, southern Huai and northern Jiangsu, influenced by the Central Plains culture and permeated by the Wu and Chu cultures; the songs accordingly combine the ku register and ku intonation and the bold manner of northern Huai with steady rhythms and gently undulating melodic lines, showing strong lyrical expressiveness and the artistic quality of hardness and gentleness in balance. Wuhe folk songs have a comparatively long history and reached their height in the Ming dynasty.
02 · Mastery & Signature Works
The bearer record for Xue Shengyou is anchored in the documented technical standards of Wuhe Folk Songs in Wuhe, Anhui. Within the documented technical tradition of Wuhe Folk Songs in Wuhe, Anhui: Wuhe folk songs circulate chiefly in the lower reaches of the middle course of the Huai River in the northeast of Anhui province; centred on Wuhe, they have spread to more than a dozen counties and cities in Anhui and Jiangsu and to parts of Shandong. They are of many kinds and rich in repertoire, made up mainly of xiaodiao (minor tunes), labour chants and yangge (field songs). A general survey has counted more than 160 folk songs, of which the xiaodiao are the most numerous and the most distinctive. Wuhe lies at the meeting point of northern Huai, southern Huai and northern Jiangsu, so it is both influenced by the Central Plains culture and permeated by the Wu and Chu cultures. Wuhe folk songs therefore carry the ku register and ku intonation and the bold, unrestrained manner of northern Huai, but at the same time have steady rhythms and gently undulating melodic lines; they are strongly lyrical and display the artistic quality of hardness and gentleness in balance. Wuhe folk songs are performed chiefly by singing and by bai kou (speech delivery without melody), and also take the forms of solo, antiphonal duet, shuo chang (narrated singing) and small-group performance. The mode is most often the zhi mode, but in many xiaodiao the modes alternate within the melody. Si Ji Song Huai Bei, for instance, opens in the gong mode, moves into the zhi mode, and yet ends its final line on the yu note, giving an unexpected sense of freshness; this rich play of modes has formed a distinctive style in Wuhe folk songs. Wuhe folk songs were originally sung without accompaniment and gradually developed into accompanied singing, the accompanying instruments being mainly erhu, suona, dizi, sheng and wooden clappers. The erhu is locally called “ermengzi” and is made with snake skin or snakehead fish skin; in some places a home-made liuqin is used in place of the erhu for accompaniment. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Zhai Shi Liu": Wuhe folk songs have representative works such as Zhai Shi Liu and Da Cai Tai that have never ceased to be sung, and many notable performers emerged in the course of their long transmission. "Da Cai Tai": Wuhe folk songs have representative works such as Zhai Shi Liu and Da Cai Tai that have never ceased to be sung, and many notable performers emerged in the course of their long transmission. "Si Ji Song Huai Bei": A representative tune of Wuhe folk songs; it opens in the gong mode, moves into the zhi mode and closes its final line on the yu note, a distinctive play of modal colour. "Three main genres": A general survey has counted more than 160 folk songs, divided into three main groups — xiaodiao (minor tunes), labour chants and yangge (field songs) — of which the xiaodiao are the most numerous and the most distinctive.
Zhai Shi Liu
Wuhe folk songs have representative works such as Zhai Shi Liu and Da Cai Tai that have never ceased to be sung, and many notable performers emerged in the course of their long transmission.
Da Cai Tai
Wuhe folk songs have representative works such as Zhai Shi Liu and Da Cai Tai that have never ceased to be sung, and many notable performers emerged in the course of their long transmission.
Si Ji Song Huai Bei
A representative tune of Wuhe folk songs; it opens in the gong mode, moves into the zhi mode and closes its final line on the yu note, a distinctive play of modal colour.
Three main genres
A general survey has counted more than 160 folk songs, divided into three main groups — xiaodiao (minor tunes), labour chants and yangge (field songs) — of which the xiaodiao are the most numerous and the most distinctive.
03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status
In 2025, Xue Shengyou was announced in the sixth batch of national representative bearers for Wuhe Folk Songs, with Wuhe, Anhui as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Wuhe Folk Songs in Wuhe, Anhui: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2008 (batch 2), with Wuhe, Anhui as its declared area, and Wuhe 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
Wuhe folk songs have a comparatively long history and reached their height in the Ming dynasty.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Xue Shengyou | Wuhe, Anhui | — | 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。