Wang Yuanqing

01 · Lineage & Regional School

Wang Yuanqing, Male, Han, from Yanqing, Beijing, is a sixth-batch national representative bearer of Yangge Dance (Ⅲ-2). The tradition is documented in Yanqing, Beijing. Within the regional tradition and school record of Yangge Dance in Yanqing, Beijing: Yanqing land boat is widely distributed among the townships of Yanqing, and teams are generally organized by village; performances are commonly given at New Year festivals such as the Spring Festival and the Lantern Festival, as well as at temple fairs and large-scale celebrations. One boat is usually ridden by two people, the body is framed in bamboo and wood and draped with painted cloth canopies, and a "boatman" holding an oar is set in front of the boat to match the dancers' movement. The grouping and spinning changes of several boats are a direct expression of a troupe's strength. According to the Longqing Zhi gazetteer compiled in the Ming dynasty, the Yanqing land boat can be traced back as far as the middle of the Ming dynasty, more than four hundred years ago. In the 1930s the three-boat form was developed, and was afterwards widely popularized.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

The bearer record for Wang Yuanqing is anchored in the documented technical standards of Yangge Dance in Yanqing, Beijing. Within the documented technical tradition of Yangge Dance in Yanqing, Beijing: Yanqing land boat belongs to the yangge family; it is a traditional dance performing art prevalent in Yanqing, Beijing, and is usually exhibited at New Year festivals, temple fairs and large-scale celebratory events. Yanqing County (today Yanqing District) is a remote outlying county in the northwest of Beijing, and land-boat dance is widely distributed among the townships of Yanqing. Over its long history it has been both inherited and developed. It was originally a large boat, ridden and danced by two people together. On the eve of the founding of the People's Republic of China nine boats appeared one after another in Yanqing, and this performance form afterwards became the main type of Yanqing land boat. The story plots enacted by Yanqing land boat are vivid and moving, with a clear theme and strong artistic appeal, and they enjoy a deep social foundation among the folk; the themes include "The Legend of the White Snake", "Liang Hongyu Fights the Jin Troops" and "The Eight Immortals Cross the Sea". Its dance performance combines firmness and gentleness, having both the bold and uninhibited character of the north and the delicacy and softness of the south. Its performance characteristics can be summed up in four words: fast, steady, floating and turning. "Fast" requires the performer to hold the upper body erect and the legs pressed together, using the running-round-the-stage step of the operatic stage to convey a boat travelling swift as a shuttle and fast as the wind; "steady" requires that in moving forward the boat body neither sways nor wobbles, giving the impression of a mirror-flat level and a boat gliding smoothly on; "floating" means that the land boat carrying two riders weighs as much as 80 jin (about 40 kilograms), yet must run as lightly as a small boat; "turning" means that one boat must have both clockwise and anticlockwise turns, and that with several boats the spinning changes are varied, including the single turn, the double turn, the three-person turn, and even self-turn combined with circling turns. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "The Legend of the White Snake": One of the stories enacted by Yanqing land boats, built on the water-borne episodes of the White Snake legend and deeply rooted in local taste. "Liang Hongyu Resists the Jin": One of the enacted stories, drawn from the Song heroine Liang Hongyu's river battle and naturally suited to the boat prop. "The Eight Immortals Cross the Sea": One of the enacted stories, its theme of eight immortals displaying their powers used to showcase boat formations and turns. "Fast, steady, drifting, turning": The four hallmarks: speed through upright carriage and tight legs, steadiness without sway, drift despite a boat of some forty kilos, and turning both clockwise and anticlockwise.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

In 2025, Wang Yuanqing was announced in the sixth batch of national representative bearers for Yangge Dance, with Yanqing, Beijing as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Yangge Dance in Yanqing, Beijing: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2014 (batch 4), with Yanqing, Beijing as its declared area, and Beijing Yanqing District Museum (Beijing Yanqing District Cultural Relics Management Office) 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. Wangyuanqing (Yanqing, Beijing) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Wangyuanqing · China ICH Official Archive