Wang Ying
01 · Lineage & Regional School
Wang Ying, Female, Han, from Xinchang, Zhejiang, is a sixth-batch national representative bearer of Xinchangdiaoqiang (Ⅳ-8). The tradition is documented in Xinchang, Zhejiang. Within the regional tradition and school record of Xinchangdiaoqiang in Xinchang, Zhejiang: Xinchang diaoqiang is centred on Xinchang in Zhejiang and is spread in Shaoxing, Shangyu, Shengzhou County and Ninghai in eastern Zhejiang. Xinchang lies in the mountainous area of eastern Zhejiang, where the environment was relatively sealed, and diaoqiang was therefore able to preserve itself in this one corner of the country. Ninghai pingdiao is a branch of it, and local forms such as Yue opera, Taizhou Lutan, Rui'an gaoqiang and Shao opera all drew nourishment to some degree from its repertoire, vocal styles and performance. It is regarded as the sole surviving relic of Yuyao qiang, one of the “Four Great Vocal Styles” of Ming-dynasty Nanxi. The repertoire of Xinchang diaoqiang is rich: it includes plays derived from mulian opera, Nanxi, Yuan-dynasty zaju and Ming- and Qing-dynasty chuanqi, as well as historical story plays and modern plays newly written in recent times. With warfare incessant in the late Qing and early Republican period, and new operatic forms rising one after another, Xinchang diaoqiang fell into decline.
02 · Mastery & Signature Works
The bearer record for Wang Ying is anchored in the documented technical standards of Xinchangdiaoqiang in Xinchang, Zhejiang. Within the documented technical tradition of Xinchangdiaoqiang in Xinchang, Zhejiang: Xinchang diaoqiang is one of the ancient vocal styles of Chinese opera; it is also called diaoqiang, Shaoxing gaodiao or Xinchang gaoqiang. Centred on Xinchang, it is spread in Shaoxing, Xiaoshan, Shangyu, Yuyao, Shengzhou County and Ninghai in eastern Zhejiang. In the early Qing, Xinchang diaoqiang entered its period of full prosperity and spread outward with Hangzhou as its centre. In the artistic archives of diaoqiang there are as many as 159 manuscript copies of old plays predating the late Qing, among which Yuan-dynasty zaju plays such as “Bei Xixiang”, “Han Gong Qiu” and “Zhuang Xiang Ji” are possessed by diaoqiang alone, and are extremely precious. The Xinchang Diaoqiang Theatre is the only artistic troupe in the country able to perform “Bei Xixiang”, and its performance of “Han Gong Qiu” also preserves the original appearance of the Yuan qu. Mulian opera in diaoqiang occupies an important position in China's mulian opera system; of the 167 diaoqiang mulian items, as many as 72 are not found in any other operatic form. In diaoqiang singing there are devices such as dry singing, chorus backing and dieban; at the end of each sung line a chorus commonly takes up one or several characters, or the last few characters of the line are repeated a beat late to a different melody; the chorus is purely by voice, and the melody of successive lines tends to slide downward. Diaoqiang uses no wind or string accompaniment, relying only on percussion to support the performance; later, influenced by Kunqu and Lutan, a flute and a banhu were used to accompany a small number of excerpt plays (zhezixi). The accompanying band of diaoqiang is extremely simple, consisting of only six people, who play the drum, the clappers, the small gong and the like. The role types of diaoqiang are known as “three hua, four bai, five dan hall”: the three hua are dahualian, erhualian and xiaohualian; the four bai are laosheng, zhengsheng, fumo and xiaosheng; the five dan hall are laodan, zhengdan, tiedan, xiaodan and wudan. Its performance is noted for its exquisite refinement, and it has specialty skills such as raising a chair on the palm, holding a candle and kicking off the boots with the back turned. Xinchang lies in the mountainous area of eastern Zhejiang, where the environment was relatively sealed, and diaoqiang was therefore able to preserve itself in this one corner of the country. Diaoqiang deeply influenced the surrounding operatic forms: Ninghai pingdiao is a branch of it, and local forms such as Yue opera, Taizhou Lutan, Rui'an gaoqiang and Shao opera all drew nourishment to some degree from its repertoire, vocal styles and performance. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "The Northern West Chamber": In the artistic archives of diaoqiang there are as many as 159 manuscript copies of old plays predating the late Qing, among which Yuan-dynasty zaju plays such as “Bei Xixiang”, “Han Gong Qiu” and “Zhuang Xiang Ji” are possessed by diaoqiang alone, and are extremely precious. "Autumn in the Han Palace": In the artistic archives of diaoqiang there are as many as 159 manuscript copies of old plays predating the late Qing, among which Yuan-dynasty zaju plays such as “Bei Xixiang”, “Han Gong Qiu” and “Zhuang Xiang Ji” are possessed by diaoqiang alone, and are extremely precious. "The Make-up Casket": In the artistic archives of diaoqiang there are as many as 159 manuscript copies of old plays predating the late Qing, among which Yuan-dynasty zaju plays such as “Bei Xixiang”, “Han Gong Qiu” and “Zhuang Xiang Ji” are possessed by diaoqiang alone, and are extremely precious.
The Northern West Chamber
In the artistic archives of diaoqiang there are as many as 159 manuscript copies of old plays predating the late Qing, among which Yuan-dynasty zaju plays such as “Bei Xixiang”, “Han Gong Qiu” and “Zhuang Xiang Ji” are possessed by diaoqiang alone, and are extremely precious.
Autumn in the Han Palace
In the artistic archives of diaoqiang there are as many as 159 manuscript copies of old plays predating the late Qing, among which Yuan-dynasty zaju plays such as “Bei Xixiang”, “Han Gong Qiu” and “Zhuang Xiang Ji” are possessed by diaoqiang alone, and are extremely precious.
The Make-up Casket
In the artistic archives of diaoqiang there are as many as 159 manuscript copies of old plays predating the late Qing, among which Yuan-dynasty zaju plays such as “Bei Xixiang”, “Han Gong Qiu” and “Zhuang Xiang Ji” are possessed by diaoqiang alone, and are extremely precious.
03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status
In 2025, Wang Ying was announced in the sixth batch of national representative bearers for Xinchangdiaoqiang, with Xinchang, Zhejiang as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Xinchangdiaoqiang in Xinchang, Zhejiang: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2006 (batch 1), with Xinchang, Zhejiang as its declared area, and Xinchang County Tiaoqiang Safeguarding Transmission Development 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
It is regarded as the sole surviving relic of Yuyao qiang, one of the “Four Great Vocal Styles” of Ming-dynasty Nanxi. The repertoire of Xinchang diaoqiang is rich: it includes plays derived from mulian opera, Nanxi, Yuan-dynasty zaju and Ming- and Qing-dynasty chuanqi, as well as historical story plays and modern plays newly written in recent times.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zhang Huaqin | Xinchang, Zhejiang | 02-0440 | Same declared area |
| Cai Dejin | Xinchang, Zhejiang | 02-0441 | Same declared area |
| Lvyueming | Xinchang, Zhejiang | 05-2311 | Same declared area |
| Wang Ying | Xinchang, Zhejiang | — | 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。