Zhou Lijuan
01 · Lineage & Regional School
Zhou Lijuan, Female, Han, from Nanhui, Shanghai, is a sixth-batch national representative bearer of Pipa Art (Ⅱ-119). The tradition is documented in Nanhui, Shanghai. Within the regional tradition and school record of Pipa Art in Nanhui, Shanghai: The pipa is the essence of the art of Chinese national music, and the pipa of the Pudong school is an important school within pipa art, whose influence has reached every corner of the globe. In the long course of its historical evolution the pipa underwent a transformation from being held horizontally and plucked with a plectrum to being held upright and played with the fingers. The Tang dynasty was the high period of the art of the horizontally held, plectrum-plucked pipa; by the Ming and Qing dynasties pipa artists had made great contributions to the composition of pipa pieces and especially of large suites, and many famous pipa playing schools had formed. In the 1930s Mr Liu Tianhua made bold reforms to the pipa and originated the thirteen-fret six-phase pipa. The pipa of the Pudong school is a school of pipa playing art created by several generations of pipa masters in Nanhui district of Shanghai city by absorbing the essence of the playing of their predecessors; its founder was Ju Shilin of Huinan town in Nanhui county during the Qianlong reign of the Qing dynasty. In the Qianlong and Jiaqing reigns of the Qing dynasty the position of the Pudong school was formally established; its transmitters were distributed mainly in Nanhui county in the Pudong area of Shanghai, and the range of their activity extended to Shanghai and the whole of the Jiangnan region, and even as far as the capital. Shen Haochu, a transmitter of the fourth generation, devoted himself to studying the essentials of the playing of his predecessors and in 1929 printed the Yangzhengxuan pipa score in gongche notation, making an important contribution to the further development of the pipa of the Pudong school. This score was transcribed into staff notation by his student Lin Shicheng and was reissued in 1983. Mr Lin Shicheng, a transmitter of the fifth generation, was appointed professor of pipa at the Central Conservatory of Music in 1956; he trained a large number of influential students, so that the influence of the pipa of the Pudong school reached every corner of the globe.
02 · Mastery & Signature Works
The bearer record for Zhou Lijuan is anchored in the documented technical standards of Pipa Art in Nanhui, Shanghai. Within the documented technical tradition of Pipa Art in Nanhui, Shanghai: The pipa is an ancient plucked string instrument of China; the two characters “pipa” are first found in Xu Shen's Shuowen Jiezi of the Eastern Han. “Pi” and “ba” are two playing techniques of this traditional instrument, corresponding to what are now called “tan” (to pluck) and “tiao” (to strike upwards with the thumb); the instrument was named after the technique and was called “piba”, which was later written as “pipa”. From the Qin and Han to the Sui and Tang the pipa was the general name for a number of plucked string instruments. After the founding of the People's Republic of China the development of the pipa reached a new peak. Today, besides solo playing and the national instrumental ensemble, the pipa is also the principal instrument of such genres as Jiangnan sizhu, Guangdong music, Chaozhou xianshi and Fujian Nanyin. Chen Zijing, a transmitter of the pipa of the third generation of the Pudong school, was summoned by the Qing court to the capital to teach Prince Chun; he was granted a third-rank hat and girdle and received the title “the finest pipa under heaven”. The pipa of the Pudong school has nevertheless continued without interruption among the people. The playing technique of the pipa of the Pudong school is highly individual: the tremolo and roll on all four strings, the doubling of strings, the large and small divisions, the sweep and the flick, the dragging glissando, the pinched plucking and the pinched sweep, together with a variety of vibrato techniques and gong-and-drum strokes, are all its salient features. The Pudong school has many representative pieces, including the literary suites such as Sunset Flute and Drum, Elegant Rhymes of the Martial World and The Moon Is High, the large pieces such as Yangchun Baixue and Pu'an Zhou, the martial suites such as Ambush from Ten Sides, Wild Geese Alighting on the Sandy Shore and General's Order, as well as more than thirty newly composed pieces such as The Flower Fair, Dance of Youth and Students' Drill. Among them the martial pieces are magnificent in momentum and the literary pieces are calm and fine; the martial pieces generally call for the large pipa, with a full bow and very great force, and in this process some playing methods characteristic of the Shanghai school have been preserved. To revitalise the pipa playing art of the Pudong school, the strength of the people alone is plainly not enough; all sections of society must pool their wisdom and efforts and work out a great plan together. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Sunset Flute and Drum": The Pudong school has many representative pieces, including the literary suites such as Sunset Flute and Drum, Elegant Rhymes of the Martial World and The Moon Is High, the large pieces such as Yangchun Baixue and Pu'an Zhou, the martial suites such as Ambush from Ten Sides, Wild Geese Alighting on the Sandy Shore and General's Order, as well as more than thirty newly composed pieces such as The Flower Fair, Dance of Youth and Students' Drill. "Elegant Rhymes of the Martial World": The Pudong school has many representative pieces, including the literary suites such as Sunset Flute and Drum, Elegant Rhymes of the Martial World and The Moon Is High, the large pieces such as Yangchun Baixue and Pu'an Zhou, the martial suites such as Ambush from Ten Sides, Wild Geese Alighting on the Sandy Shore and General's Order, as well as more than thirty newly composed pieces such as The Flower Fair, Dance of Youth and Students' Drill. "The Moon Is High": The Pudong school has many representative pieces, including the literary suites such as Sunset Flute and Drum, Elegant Rhymes of the Martial World and The Moon Is High, the large pieces such as Yangchun Baixue and Pu'an Zhou, the martial suites such as Ambush from Ten Sides, Wild Geese Alighting on the Sandy Shore and General's Order, as well as more than thirty newly composed pieces such as The Flower Fair, Dance of Youth and Students' Drill. "Yangchun Baixue": The Pudong school has many representative pieces, including the literary suites such as Sunset Flute and Drum, Elegant Rhymes of the Martial World and The Moon Is High, the large pieces such as Yangchun Baixue and Pu'an Zhou, the martial suites such as Ambush from Ten Sides, Wild Geese Alighting on the Sandy Shore and General's Order, as well as more than thirty newly composed pieces such as The Flower Fair, Dance of Youth and Students' Drill.
Sunset Flute and Drum
The Pudong school has many representative pieces, including the literary suites such as Sunset Flute and Drum, Elegant Rhymes of the Martial World and The Moon Is High, the large pieces such as Yangchun Baixue and Pu'an Zhou, the martial suites such as Ambush from Ten Sides, Wild Geese Alighting on the Sandy Shore and General's Order, as well as more than thirty newly composed pieces such as The Flower Fair, Dance of Youth and Students' Drill.
Elegant Rhymes of the Martial World
The Pudong school has many representative pieces, including the literary suites such as Sunset Flute and Drum, Elegant Rhymes of the Martial World and The Moon Is High, the large pieces such as Yangchun Baixue and Pu'an Zhou, the martial suites such as Ambush from Ten Sides, Wild Geese Alighting on the Sandy Shore and General's Order, as well as more than thirty newly composed pieces such as The Flower Fair, Dance of Youth and Students' Drill.
The Moon Is High
The Pudong school has many representative pieces, including the literary suites such as Sunset Flute and Drum, Elegant Rhymes of the Martial World and The Moon Is High, the large pieces such as Yangchun Baixue and Pu'an Zhou, the martial suites such as Ambush from Ten Sides, Wild Geese Alighting on the Sandy Shore and General's Order, as well as more than thirty newly composed pieces such as The Flower Fair, Dance of Youth and Students' Drill.
Yangchun Baixue
The Pudong school has many representative pieces, including the literary suites such as Sunset Flute and Drum, Elegant Rhymes of the Martial World and The Moon Is High, the large pieces such as Yangchun Baixue and Pu'an Zhou, the martial suites such as Ambush from Ten Sides, Wild Geese Alighting on the Sandy Shore and General's Order, as well as more than thirty newly composed pieces such as The Flower Fair, Dance of Youth and Students' Drill.
03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status
In 2025, Zhou Lijuan was announced in the sixth batch of national representative bearers for Pipa Art, with Nanhui, Shanghai as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Pipa Art in Nanhui, Shanghai: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2008 (batch 2), with Nanhui, Shanghai as its declared area, and Shanghai Pudongxin District Culture Art Zhidao Center (Shanghai Pudongxin District Qunzhong Culture Art Gallery, Shanghai Pudongxin District Dianyingfaxingfangying Management Station) 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
In the long course of its historical evolution the pipa underwent a transformation from being held horizontally and plucked with a plectrum to being held upright and played with the fingers. The Tang dynasty was the high period of the art of the horizontally held, plectrum-plucked pipa; by the Ming and Qing dynasties pipa artists had made great contributions to the composition of pipa pieces and especially of large suites, and many famous pipa playing schools had formed.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yin Rongzhu | Chongming, Shanghai | 03-0876 | Other regional school |
| Lin Jiaqing | Nanhui, Shanghai | 03-0877 | Same declared area |
| Zhu Dazhen | Pinghu, Zhejiang | 03-0878 | Other regional school |
| Zhou Lijuan | Nanhui, Shanghai | — | This page |
| Wang Zhen | Chongming, Shanghai | — | Other regional school |
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。