Bai Wentai
01 · Lineage & Regional School
Bai Wentai, Male, Han, from Tancheng, Shandong, is a sixth-batch national representative bearer of Lunanwudadiao (Ⅱ-103). The tradition is documented in Tancheng, Shandong. Within the regional tradition and school record of Lunanwudadiao in Tancheng, Shandong: The melodies of the Tanma five great tunes are roundabout and gentle, the tempo slow and steady, the words elegant and generous, and they are much loved by the local people. The Tanma five great tunes are mostly sung by a single person, accompanied by folk string and wind instruments and by such percussion objects as porcelain dishes, porcelain bowls and bamboo chopsticks struck to mark the beat; in musical structure they mainly comprise two types, the “interlude form” and the “main-tune form”, and in performing form they are divided into seated singing and group singing. Man Jiang Hong, which is sung in Donggang District of Rizhao City and the surrounding area, stands at the head of the five great tunes of southern Shandong and is known as the “delicate tune” and the “elegant song”; its main tune consists of six sections and a coda, slow and lyrical, ornate and antique, and its interludes are light and lively and varied in rhythm. Man Jiang Hong is most often improvised in joyous song at banquets after the fishermen return from the sea, and it is also the tune sung when the dry-land boat dance is performed, hence its other name, the “dry-boat tune”. The five great tunes of southern Shandong have a long history; their origin should be traced to the Ming and Qing xiaoqu that evolved from the xiaoling and the santao of Yuan qu.
02 · Mastery & Signature Works
The bearer record for Bai Wentai is anchored in the documented technical standards of Lunanwudadiao in Tancheng, Shandong. Within the documented technical tradition of Lunanwudadiao in Tancheng, Shandong: The five tunes Man Jiang Hong, Ling Ling Diao, Da Ji Sheng Cao, Huai Diao and Da Diao are popularly called the “five great tunes of southern Shandong”; among the Lunan five-great-tune music current in Shandong, the Tanma five great tunes and the Rizhao Man Jiang Hong are the most representative. The Tanma five great tunes, also called Huai Diao, Wu Da Diao or Tanma Diao, are active in Tancheng County, Linyi City, Shandong Province, centred on Tancheng Town and Matou Town and spreading through the whole of southeastern Shandong, reaching even Guangrao in northern Shandong and Lianyungang in Jiangsu Province. The Tanma five great tunes comprise five tune patterns — Huai Diao, Da Diao, Ling Ling Diao, Man Jiang Hong and Da Ji Sheng Cao; it is said that all but Ling Ling Diao were brought in from the Jianghuai region. The Tanma five great tunes are mostly sung by a single person, accompanied by folk string and wind instruments and by such percussion objects as porcelain dishes, porcelain bowls and bamboo chopsticks struck to mark the beat. In musical structure they mainly comprise two types, the “interlude form” and the “main-tune form”, and in performing form they are divided into seated singing and group singing. Man Jiang Hong, which is sung in Donggang District of Rizhao City and the surrounding area, stands at the head of the five great tunes of southern Shandong and is known as the “delicate tune” and the “elegant song”. Its main tune consists of six sections and a coda, slow and lyrical, ornate and antique in manner; the interludes are light and lively, varied in rhythm and give an unrestrained expression to feeling. Man Jiang Hong is most often improvised in joyous song at banquets after the fishermen return from the sea, and its performing form is highly distinctive. In the Donggang area Man Jiang Hong is also sung when the dry-land boat dance is performed, which is why it is also called the “dry-boat tune”. Man Jiang Hong is accompanied mainly by such instruments as the dongxiao flute, the erhu, the sanxian and the qianqin, and its representative works include Four Longings and others. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Gengdu Yuqiao (Ploughing, Reading, Fishing and Woodcutting)": The five tune patterns in turn contain works such as Five Views, Four Longings, Seven Abundances, Seven Praises and Eight Regrets; 130 of them survive today, and dedicated collections such as Ploughing, Reading, Fishing and Woodcutting, Meeting the Affectionate and The Grand View Garden have been edited and published. "Yu Duoqing (Meeting the Affectionate)": The five tune patterns in turn contain works such as Five Views, Four Longings, Seven Abundances, Seven Praises and Eight Regrets; 130 of them survive today, and dedicated collections such as Ploughing, Reading, Fishing and Woodcutting, Meeting the Affectionate and The Grand View Garden have been edited and published. "Daguanyuan (The Grand View Garden)": The five tune patterns in turn contain works such as Five Views, Four Longings, Seven Abundances, Seven Praises and Eight Regrets; 130 of them survive today, and dedicated collections such as Ploughing, Reading, Fishing and Woodcutting, Meeting the Affectionate and The Grand View Garden have been edited and published. "Si Pan (Four Longings)": Man Jiang Hong is accompanied mainly by such instruments as the dongxiao flute, the erhu, the sanxian and the qianqin, and its representative works include Four Longings and others.
Gengdu Yuqiao (Ploughing, Reading, Fishing and Woodcutting)
The five tune patterns in turn contain works such as Five Views, Four Longings, Seven Abundances, Seven Praises and Eight Regrets; 130 of them survive today, and dedicated collections such as Ploughing, Reading, Fishing and Woodcutting, Meeting the Affectionate and The Grand View Garden have been edited and published.
Yu Duoqing (Meeting the Affectionate)
The five tune patterns in turn contain works such as Five Views, Four Longings, Seven Abundances, Seven Praises and Eight Regrets; 130 of them survive today, and dedicated collections such as Ploughing, Reading, Fishing and Woodcutting, Meeting the Affectionate and The Grand View Garden have been edited and published.
Daguanyuan (The Grand View Garden)
The five tune patterns in turn contain works such as Five Views, Four Longings, Seven Abundances, Seven Praises and Eight Regrets; 130 of them survive today, and dedicated collections such as Ploughing, Reading, Fishing and Woodcutting, Meeting the Affectionate and The Grand View Garden have been edited and published.
Si Pan (Four Longings)
Man Jiang Hong is accompanied mainly by such instruments as the dongxiao flute, the erhu, the sanxian and the qianqin, and its representative works include Four Longings and others.
03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status
In 2025, Bai Wentai was announced in the sixth batch of national representative bearers for Lunanwudadiao, with Tancheng, Shandong as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Lunanwudadiao in Tancheng, Shandong: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2008 (batch 2), with Tancheng, Shandong as its declared area, and Tancheng 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
The five great tunes of southern Shandong have a long history; their origin should be traced to the Ming and Qing xiaoqu that evolved from the xiaoling and the santao of Yuan qu.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| He Juanlin | Rizhao, Shandong | 05-2110 | Other regional school |
| Bai Wentai | Tancheng, Shandong | — | 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。