Wang Zhen

01 · Lineage & Regional School

Wang Zhen, Female, Han, from Chongming, Shanghai, is a sixth-batch national representative bearer of Pipa Art (Ⅱ-119). The tradition is documented in Chongming, Shanghai. Within the regional tradition and school record of Pipa Art in Chongming, Shanghai: Today the pipa playing art of the Yingzhou ancient-tune school of Chongming is famous throughout the country and has become one of the four pipa schools acknowledged by the music world. The repertory of the Yingzhou ancient-tune school consists mostly of small literary pieces, each of which describes one scene or one thing; they may be played independently or combined in a suite, which is unique among the pipa schools of China. The Yingzhou ancient-tune pipa takes the vigour and grandeur of the northern pipa school and the essence of the beauty and softness of the southern pipa school, forming a character that is enduring and plain, fresh and beautiful and setting it apart; it is one of the famous pipa schools of China. 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. From the late Qing dynasty to the early Republican period the Yingzhou ancient-tune school produced such representative transmitters as Wang Dongyang, Huang Xiuting and Shen Zhaozhou. In 1916 Shen Zhaozhou compiled and published the score of the Yingzhou Ancient Tunes, containing forty-five pieces: twenty-two slow pieces such as Flying Flowers Touching the Green, seventeen fast pieces such as Venting a Grievance, five literary pieces such as Yearning for Spring, and one martial piece, Ambush from Ten Sides. In the 1940s the transmitters of the Yingzhou ancient-tune school in Chongming county — Yang Xudong, Zhou Nianwen and Zhao Zhishan — were outstanding in skill and were known together as the “Three Great Masters of the Pipa”.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

The bearer record for Wang Zhen is anchored in the documented technical standards of Pipa Art in Chongming, Shanghai. Within the documented technical tradition of Pipa Art in Chongming, 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. The pipa playing art of the Yingzhou ancient-tune school originated and has long been current on Chongming Island of Shanghai city, and has a history of more than three hundred years. At the end of the Ming dynasty and the beginning of the Qing dynasty, Jia Gongda, Fan Zhengkui, Li Liancheng, Song Huiyu and others blended the northern and southern pipa playing styles, taking over the old pieces while creating new ideas of their own, and gradually formed the Yingzhou ancient-tune school. The Yingzhou ancient-tune school requires of its pipa fingering that “the pinching be sparse but vigorous and the tremolo be dense but clear”, and holds that “slow playing must not break off, fast playing must not become confused; elegant and correct music must not sound too high and the beat must not be hurried”. Its tremolo is distinguished by the “outward-down stroke”; its timbre is fine and soft, it is good at expressing quiet, elegant feeling, and it shows a leisurely, delicate charm. In the music world of the country only eight to ten pieces of the Yingzhou ancient-tune school are played in teaching, so that for a school with forty-five pieces its full character cannot by any means be displayed as it should be. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Yingzhou Ancient Tunes": In 1916 Shen Zhaozhou compiled and published the score of the Yingzhou Ancient Tunes, containing forty-five pieces: twenty-two slow pieces such as Flying Flowers Touching the Green, seventeen fast pieces such as Venting a Grievance, five literary pieces such as Yearning for Spring, and one martial piece, Ambush from Ten Sides. "Flying Flowers Touching the Green": In 1916 Shen Zhaozhou compiled and published the score of the Yingzhou Ancient Tunes, containing forty-five pieces: twenty-two slow pieces such as Flying Flowers Touching the Green, seventeen fast pieces such as Venting a Grievance, five literary pieces such as Yearning for Spring, and one martial piece, Ambush from Ten Sides. "Venting a Grievance": In 1916 Shen Zhaozhou compiled and published the score of the Yingzhou Ancient Tunes, containing forty-five pieces: twenty-two slow pieces such as Flying Flowers Touching the Green, seventeen fast pieces such as Venting a Grievance, five literary pieces such as Yearning for Spring, and one martial piece, Ambush from Ten Sides. "Yearning for Spring": In 1916 Shen Zhaozhou compiled and published the score of the Yingzhou Ancient Tunes, containing forty-five pieces: twenty-two slow pieces such as Flying Flowers Touching the Green, seventeen fast pieces such as Venting a Grievance, five literary pieces such as Yearning for Spring, and one martial piece, Ambush from Ten Sides.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

In 2025, Wang Zhen was announced in the sixth batch of national representative bearers for Pipa Art, with Chongming, Shanghai as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Pipa Art in Chongming, Shanghai: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2008 (batch 2), with Chongming, Shanghai as its declared area, and Shanghai Chongming District 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

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. Wangzhen (Chongming, Shanghai) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Wangzhen · China ICH Official Archive