Lizhangxi

01 · Lineage & Regional School

Lizhangxi, Male, Han, from Fenyang, Shanxi, is a sixth-batch national representative bearer of Yangge Dance (Ⅲ-2). The tradition is documented in Fenyang, Shanxi. Within the regional tradition and school record of Yangge Dance in Fenyang, Shanxi: Fenyang ground yangge is a folk art transmitted in Fenyang City and Xiaoyi City, Shanxi Province; it is divided into the civil field and the martial field, with civil-field ground yangge mainly sung and martial-field ground yangge mainly danced. It originated in the labour life of transplanting rice seedlings and tilling the fields, and at the same time is related to the eulogistic songs and exorcistic songs sung in ancient times when the god of agriculture was sacrificed to in prayer for a good harvest, for blessings, and for the warding off of calamity. Yangge has abundant movements and diverse forms; it is vivid and lively, uninhibited and ardent, and is what ordinary people love to see and hear. Since the Qing dynasty it has circulated widely throughout the country, becoming a form of folk dance that has taken deep root in people's hearts. It originated in the court art of the Tang dynasty, and was later carried to Lizhuang Village in Fenyang, the fief of the descendants of Prince Fenyang Guo Ziyi, where it gradually developed. In Fenyang martial-field ground yangge the performers are strikingly made up, and the dance forms evolved from martial arts movements and set routines, giving them a rich and highly varied repertoire of sequences. The bang performers have basic set routines such as "calling the bang", "bow-and-horse stance", "tiger stance" and "fierce tiger pouncing on a sheep"; the small-gong performers have "heavenly maiden scattering flowers", "stepping while lifting the gong" and "lifting the braid chain"; and the waist-drum performers have "phoenix spreading one wing" and "a stick of incense rising toward heaven".

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

The bearer record for Lizhangxi is anchored in the documented technical standards of Yangge Dance in Fenyang, Shanxi. Within the documented technical tradition of Yangge Dance in Fenyang, Shanxi: Yangge, also called "twisting yangge", is a representative form of folk dance among China's Han nationality. In its long course of development, yangge continually absorbed the forms and techniques of folk arts such as folk songs, folk martial arts, acrobatics and opera, and gradually developed from simple singing into a collective song-and-dance performance. Its principal sequences include "opening grand array", "two dragons emerging from the water", "the snake shedding its skin", "garlic braid", "single hooking the heart", "crosswise flower", "thirty-six linked hooks" and "two dragons drawn in tandem". The instrumental performance is full of graceful charm, effortless wit and open, expansive movement, and carries a strong flavour of everyday life and local soil. The origin of Fenyang ground yangge can be traced back to the court art of the Tang dynasty; it was brought into the area of Lizhuang Village in Fenyang, the fief of the descendants of Prince Fenyang Guo Ziyi, and took root there. Its martial field brings martial set routines into dance, while its civil field is sung in folk song tunes; the two complement each other on the same stage, and in the shehuo troupes of the central Shanxi plain they form a style of their own. Even today they remain a fixed programme in the New Year and festival entertainments honouring the gods in the Fenyang and Xiaoyi area. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Civil and martial Di Yangge": The two branches of Fenyang Di Yangge, the civil one chiefly sung and the martial one chiefly danced, current in Fenyang and Xiaoyi in Shanxi. "Basic stances of the flower-staff hand": The basic stances of the flower-staff hand in martial Fenyang Yangge, their movements evolved directly from martial-arts postures. "Movements of the gong and waist-drum hands": The small-gong hand's scattering flowers, stepping gong-lift and braid-chain flick, and the waist-drum hand's phoenix single wing and incense to heaven, all graceful and full of wit. "Main routines of Fenyang Yangge": The main routines of Fenyang Yangge, including the Opening Array, Twin Dragons Emerging and Snake Shedding Skin, among others.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

In 2025, Lizhangxi was announced in the sixth batch of national representative bearers for Yangge Dance, with Fenyang, Shanxi as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Yangge Dance in Fenyang, Shanxi: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2008 (batch 2), with Fenyang, Shanxi as its declared area, and Fenyang 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. Lizhangxi (Fenyang, Shanxi) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Lizhangxi · China ICH Official Archive