Wang Chengde

01 · Lineage & Regional School

Wang Chengde, Male, Han, from Huludao, Liaoning, is a sixth-batch national representative bearer of Drum Dance (Ⅲ-42). The tradition is documented in Huludao, Liaoning. Within the regional tradition and school record of Drum Dance in Huludao, Liaoning: The Liaoxi Taiping Drum is a form of entertainment for local women during the Spring Festival. Local people once summed up the characteristics of the Liaoxi Taiping Drum's movements in four lines: "steady even steps and a level head, bowing left and bowing right with a nimble waist. The Liaoxi Taiping Drum reflects the production and living conditions of women of the various ethnic groups in western Liaoning; its drum notation is rich and its carriage graceful, and it possesses playfulness, competitiveness, entertainment value and broad popular appeal, full of the flavour of life and marked by strong regional character. It is a product of the intermingling of many national cultures, and has historical, cultural, artistic and social value that cannot be ignored. From the western side of the Liaohe Plain to the foot of Shanhaiguan, from the foot of Yiwulu Mountain to the shore of the Bohai Sea — in Xinmin, Heishan, Beizhen, Yi County, Jinzhou, Lianshan, Xingcheng, Suizhong, Jianchang, Fuxin, Zhangwu, Chaoyang, Beipiao, Jianping, Lingyuan, as well as Kulun and Kailu in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, traces of the Liaoxi Taiping Drum can all be found. The Liaoxi Taiping Drum is said to have originated in the Tang dynasty and to have flourished in the Qing dynasty. It is handed down generation by generation through oral teaching among women, and its documented lines of transmission can be traced back through four generations. During the fourteen years of puppet and Japanese occupation, the Taiping Drum was classed as witchcraft and was banned, coming close to being wiped out.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

The bearer record for Wang Chengde is anchored in the documented technical standards of Drum Dance in Huludao, Liaoning. Within the documented technical tradition of Drum Dance in Huludao, Liaoning: The Liaoxi Taiping Drum is a folk dance for women's self-amusement transmitted in western Liaoning, and has a history of six or seven hundred years to the present. According to what the older people say, in the past every village would sound the Taiping Drum around the time of the Spring Festival. The Liaoxi Taiping Drum has healthy content, lively form, rich drumbeat and graceful carriage, and is much loved by women of the various ethnic groups in western Liaoning. Its drumbeat patterns can be roughly divided into 6 categories, and its striking methods and uses number 22. Its drum notation is rich, with more than 300 varieties current among the people. In performance the dancer holds a single-skin drum in the left hand and a drumstick in the right, dancing as she beats; the rhythm is bright and lively and rich in variation. The dance movements of the Liaoxi Taiping Drum mostly portray women's labour and life, natural scenery and local customs; it can be played by one person or by several. Limited by clothing and by women's physical strength, the Liaoxi Taiping Drum has no great leaping or jumping movements and concentrates instead on walking and turning, insisting that the walking be "fast" and the turning be "airy". Because it has to travel on a circular path from beginning to end, the steps must be even, the waist supple, the head and shoulders level, and the long skirt and the hem of the robe spread out. Only speed can bring out the drummer's skill, so quick hands, quick feet and quick spinning are required. Travelling on a circular path is itself a revolving motion, and requires lightness, fluency, openness and naturalness, popularly called "bowing the circle", "willow in the wind" and "waves on calm water". It insists on displaying a floating style while walking and turning without a pause, keeping the face unchanged and the breath short. Turning round and round in every direction, tumbling, rolling, pouncing and kicking, all in one gust of wind. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Three hundred drum scores": Its drumming falls into six categories with twenty-two striking methods and some three hundred scores circulating among the people. "Round-worship and willow sway": Moving round a circle is itself a turn, and the local names for its qualities are round-worship, willow sway and wave within steadiness. "The single-skin drum and whip": The dancer holds a single-skinned drum in the left hand and a whip in the right, dancing as she beats; there are no great leaps, only walking and turning. "Banned for fourteen years": Arising in the Tang and flourishing in the Qing, it passed down orally between women and was banned as witchcraft during the fourteen years of Japanese occupation.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

In 2025, Wang Chengde was announced in the sixth batch of national representative bearers for Drum Dance, with Huludao, Liaoning as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Drum Dance in Huludao, Liaoning: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2021 (batch 5), with Huludao, Liaoning as its declared area, and Suizhong County Culture Tourism Shiwu Service 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. Wangchengde (Huludao, Liaoning) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Wangchengde · China ICH Official Archive