Li Shaowei
01 · Lineage & Regional School
Li Shaowei, Male, Zhuang, from Chongzuo, Guangxi, is a sixth-batch national representative bearer of Zhuang Tianqinyishu (Ⅱ-186). The tradition is documented in Chongzuo, Guangxi. Within the regional tradition and school record of Zhuang Tianqinyishu in Chongzuo, Guangxi: Chongzuo City lies in the Zuojiang River basin in the southwest of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and borders Vietnam. The Zhuang, Han, Yao and other peoples live there, and the Zhuang account for 89.43% of the total population. The tianqin uses a gourd as its sound box, peach wood for its neck and pegs, and has two or three strings; it has a remote origin. After the Zhuang ancestors created the tianqin they used the sound of the instrument to commune with heaven and earth and the voice of song to express feeling; its artistic form has been handed down through generations in the villages of the Zuojiang River basin and on the China-Vietnam border, and it spread to neighbouring counties and districts along with the movements of the tianqin masters.
02 · Mastery & Signature Works
The bearer record for Li Shaowei is anchored in the documented technical standards of Zhuang Tianqinyishu in Chongzuo, Guangxi. Within the documented technical tradition of Zhuang Tianqinyishu in Chongzuo, Guangxi: Zhuang tianqin art is also called 'singing tian', 'plucking tian' and 'dancing tian'. It is a traditional song-and-dance music form that combines singing, plucking and dancing, and it is transmitted in Longzhou, Pingxiang, Ningming, Daxin, Tiangeng and Fusui of Chongzuo City in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, in Fangcheng District of Fangchenggang City, and in the areas of the Vietnamese Dai, Nong and Tai peoples along the China-Vietnam border. Zhuang tianqin art has a remote origin. The Zhuang ancestors created the tianqin, used the sound of the instrument to commune with heaven and earth and the voice of song to express feeling, and after generations of transmission and development it gradually evolved, on the basis of music-and-dance of folk belief rituals, into an art of song and dance music. The tianqin is a plucked instrument, with a gourd as its sound box, peach wood for its neck and pegs, and two or three strings. Seated singing and plucking is the basic form of tianqin art, performed at weddings, full-month celebrations, longevity feasts and festivals. On such occasions the performer sits cross-legged on a mat, with a string of bells tied to the big toe of the right foot, and shakes the bells to mark the beat and accompany the singing. The common performing forms are one person singing with plucking or several people singing together with plucking. The performers call themselves 'tianqin masters'; the performing space is the family hall at home, the market ground of the Nongdong festival, and the like. The content of the singing and plucking is improvised by the tianqin master according to the nature of the ritual and the circumstances of the host family, singing the 'Longevity Song' at a longevity feast, the 'Full-Month Song' at a full-month celebration and the 'Opening the Door Tune' on entering the house; the content is rich and vivid, and it bears the typical marks of Zhuang folk oral literature. The dance in tianqin art is called 'dancing tian', and it is generally performed at the Spring Festival and at the Nongdong festival. When the tianqin master comes to the 'Joyful Tune', the assistant dances the 'Fan Dance', everyone joins in, and the atmosphere of the festival is carried to its height. Tianqin art joins song, dance and music, using the techniques of plucking, plectrum playing, running, sweeping, percussion, double note, glissando, together with the shaking and trembling of a bronze bell, to set off the singing and to form a polyphonic music of singing and instrumental playing. Traditional melodies include the 'Opening the Door Tune', 'Clearing the Road Tune', 'Teasing the Sky', 'Relieving Melancholy Tune', 'Releasing the Geese', 'Galloping Horse Tune', 'Joyful Tune' and others. In recent years tianqin art has gradually taken to the stage and become an effective form of dissemination for Zhuang performance art. Every year related cultural exchange performances are held with Vietnam, so that the art becomes a bridge of cultural exchange. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Joyful Tune and Fan Dance": When the tianqin master comes to the 'Joyful Tune', the assistant dances the 'Fan Dance', everyone joins in, and the atmosphere of the festival is carried to its height. "Blessing and opening songs": The content of the singing and plucking is improvised by the tianqin master according to the nature of the ritual and the circumstances of the host family, singing the 'Longevity Song' at a longevity feast, the 'Full-Month Song' at a full-month celebration and the 'Opening the Door Tune' on entering the house. "Seated singing with bell percussion": Seated singing and plucking is the basic form of tianqin art, performed at weddings, full-month celebrations, longevity feasts and festivals; the performer sits cross-legged on a mat, with a string of bells tied to the big toe of the right foot, and shakes the bells to mark the beat and accompany the singing. "Tianqin masters and venues": The performers call themselves 'tianqin masters'; the performing space is the family hall at home, the market ground of the Nongdong festival, and the like; the common performing forms are one person singing with plucking or several people singing together with plucking.
Joyful Tune and Fan Dance
When the tianqin master comes to the 'Joyful Tune', the assistant dances the 'Fan Dance', everyone joins in, and the atmosphere of the festival is carried to its height.
Blessing and opening songs
The content of the singing and plucking is improvised by the tianqin master according to the nature of the ritual and the circumstances of the host family, singing the 'Longevity Song' at a longevity feast, the 'Full-Month Song' at a full-month celebration and the 'Opening the Door Tune' on entering the house.
Seated singing with bell percussion
Seated singing and plucking is the basic form of tianqin art, performed at weddings, full-month celebrations, longevity feasts and festivals; the performer sits cross-legged on a mat, with a string of bells tied to the big toe of the right foot, and shakes the bells to mark the beat and accompany the singing.
Tianqin masters and venues
The performers call themselves 'tianqin masters'; the performing space is the family hall at home, the market ground of the Nongdong festival, and the like; the common performing forms are one person singing with plucking or several people singing together with plucking.
03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status
In 2025, Li Shaowei was announced in the sixth batch of national representative bearers for Zhuang Tianqinyishu, with Chongzuo, Guangxi as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Zhuang Tianqinyishu in Chongzuo, Guangxi: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2021 (batch 5), with Chongzuo, Guangxi as its declared area, and Chongzuo Mass Art 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 tianqin uses a gourd as its sound box, peach wood for its neck and pegs, and has two or three strings; it has a remote origin. After the Zhuang ancestors created the tianqin they used the sound of the instrument to commune with heaven and earth and the voice of song to express feeling; its artistic form has been handed down through generations in the villages of the Zuojiang River basin and on the China-Vietnam border, and it spread to neighbouring counties and districts along with the movements of the tianqin masters.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Li Shaowei | Chongzuo, Guangxi | — | 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。