Zhaxiwangla
01 · Lineage & Regional School
Zhaxiwangla, Male, Tibetan, from Lazi, Tibet, is a sixth-batch national representative bearer of Duixie (Ⅲ-82). The tradition is documented in Lazi, Tibet. Within the regional tradition and school record of Duixie in Lazi, Tibet: Duixie, popular in the Tibetan areas, is the earliest circle dance to appear with six-string lute accompaniment; it was originally distributed in the Yarlung Zangbo River basin, in the area west of Shigatse and in the Ngari region, and afterwards gradually became widespread throughout Tibet. Dui refers to the higher places of Tibet, including the area from Lazi to Dingri County in the Shigatse region of the upper Yarlung Zangbo River and parts of Ngari; xie means song and dance. Duixie is a folk art combining song and dance, narrative singing and instrumental performance that is popular among the people of this region. The traditional duixie performance form is the same as the Qiang people's saling and the dance forms in the murals of the palace and fort ruins of the Guge kingdom; male and female dancers cross their joined hands in front of or behind the body, by which it is distinguished from other circle dance forms.
02 · Mastery & Signature Works
The bearer record for Zhaxiwangla is anchored in the documented technical standards of Duixie in Lazi, Tibet. Within the documented technical tradition of Duixie in Lazi, Tibet: Duixie is divided into a southern school and a northern school. The performance of people of the Duinan area belongs to the southern school and is relatively graceful; the performance of people of the Duibei area belongs to the northern school and tends towards the bold and magnificent. A duixie performance can be divided into a first and a second part: the first is mainly singing, with a slow rhythm and melodious dance postures; the second is mainly dancing, with a lively rhythm and free and easy postures rich in appeal. Duixie is widely transmitted in Tibet and has a history of more than seven hundred years. It is most flourishing in Shigatse, commonly seen in open spaces, on the streets, in courtyards and among the linka groves. Duixie transmitted in Lazi County uses the six-string lute as its accompanying instrument, and the performers play, sing and dance at the same time. The number of performers may be large or small: one person may play, sing and dance alone, or two or more people may combine playing, singing and dancing. In Lazi County 80 per cent of the people can play and sing the six-string lute, and whenever there is a major festival celebration the county holds duixie performances. In the course of its long development, through the refinement and standardization of the people and the artists, the Lazi duixie gradually formed a set of conventionalized performance patterns which, by difference in content and form, can be divided into more than fifty types. The Lazi duixie has rich content, beautiful melody, lively performance rhythm and smooth, free and easy movement; it has three principal performing postures — behind the head, at the waist and in front of the chest — presents a distinctive artistic style, and enjoys extremely high fame throughout the Tibet region and beyond, at home and abroad. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "The southern and northern lines": Two lines are distinguished, the southern being graceful and the northern robust, differing in melodic direction, the force of the steps and the carriage of the upper body. "Three performing postures": Three principal postures, behind the head, at the waist and before the chest, combine with shifting plucking positions of the zhanian to produce the form's distinctive style. "More than fifty types": Through long polishing by villagers and artists it became a codified performing pattern divisible into more than fifty types by content and form. "The zhanian and playing while singing": The Lhatse form is accompanied by the six-string zhanian and performed while plucking, singing and dancing; over eighty per cent of the county's people can play it.
The southern and northern lines
Two lines are distinguished, the southern being graceful and the northern robust, differing in melodic direction, the force of the steps and the carriage of the upper body.
Three performing postures
Three principal postures, behind the head, at the waist and before the chest, combine with shifting plucking positions of the zhanian to produce the form's distinctive style.
More than fifty types
Through long polishing by villagers and artists it became a codified performing pattern divisible into more than fifty types by content and form.
The zhanian and playing while singing
The Lhatse form is accompanied by the six-string zhanian and performed while plucking, singing and dancing; over eighty per cent of the county's people can play it.
03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status
In 2025, Zhaxiwangla was announced in the sixth batch of national representative bearers for Duixie, with Lazi, Tibet as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Duixie in Lazi, Tibet: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2008 (batch 2), with Lazi, Tibet as its declared area, and Lazi County Culture and Tourism Bureau (Lazi County Cultural Relics Bureau) 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 traditional duixie performance form is the same as the Qiang people's saling and the dance forms in the murals of the palace and fort ruins of the Guge kingdom; male and female dancers cross their joined hands in front of or behind the body, by which it is distinguished from other circle dance forms.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Laba | Lazi, Tibet | 03-0945 | Same declared area |
| Chenbangwen | Ganzi, Sichuan | 05-2276 | Other regional school |
| Zhaxiwangla | Lazi, Tibet | — | 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。