Ma Huimin

01 · Lineage & Regional School

Ma Huimin, Male, Han, from Zhongguopingjuyuan, Beijing, is a sixth-batch national representative bearer of Pingju Opera (Ⅳ-51). The tradition is documented in Zhongguopingjuyuan, Beijing. Within the regional tradition and school record of Pingju Opera in Zhongguopingjuyuan, Beijing: The China Pingju Opera Theatre carries on the traditions of the western-route and eastern-route schools of Pingju; its productions retain a great deal of the content of Beijing traditional culture, and at the same time it has inherited, developed and formed artistic schools such as Bai (Yushuang), Xin (Fengxia), Wei (Rongyuan), Zhang (Defu) and Ma (Tai). The Tianjin Pingju Opera Theatre is likewise strong, and it has both inherited and developed the four great schools of Li (Jinshun), Liu (Cuixia), Bai (Yushuang) and Ai (Lianjun) very well. Pingju was originally called "bengbeng xi" or "luozi xi", was also known as "pingqiang bangzi xi" and was abbreviated as "ping xi", and it formally took the name "Pingju" in 1935. Cheng Zhaocai was the founder of Pingju and its first playwright; his representative works Ma Guafu Kai Dian (The Widow Ma Opens an Inn), Hua Wei Mei (The Flower as Matchmaker), Yang Sanjie Gao Zhuang (Yang Sanjie's Suit) and others have become the classic preserved repertoire of Pingju.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

The bearer record for Ma Huimin is anchored in the documented technical standards of Pingju Opera in Zhongguopingjuyuan, Beijing. Within the documented technical tradition of Pingju Opera in Zhongguopingjuyuan, Beijing: It circulates in Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei and the Northeast, and has a broad popular basis. Around 1910, the bengbeng xi artists headed by Cheng Zhaocai took as their base the antiphonal "lianhualuo" of the Luanzhou area in eastern Hebei, absorbing the vocal music and the performance art of northeastern errenzhuan, Peking opera, shadow puppetry and dagu; in performance they used a complete set of Hebei Bangzi instruments for accompaniment, and thus the basic style of Pingju was formed. In the course of practice this newly emergent Pingju art was continually developed and perfected and became steadily more mature. The music of Pingju belongs to the banqiang (metrical) system; its ban patterns include jianban, dabban, da anban, xiao anban, sanchui, daoban, duoban and liushuiban and at the same time there is also fandiao (reverse mode). The accompanying instruments fall into three kinds, bowed and plucked, percussion and wind: the bowed and plucked include the banhu, erhu, sanxian and the like, the percussion include the ban (clappers), digu (low side drum), tanggu (hall drum), diluo (small gong) and daluo (large gong), and the wind include the dizi, suona and the like. The vocal styles of Pingju draw on the music of Peking opera and of bangzi, and are divided into a male voice and a female voice. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Ma Guafu Kai Dian (The Widow Ma Opens an Inn)": Cheng Zhaocai was the founder of Pingju and its first playwright; his representative works Ma Guafu Kai Dian (The Widow Ma Opens an Inn), Hua Wei Mei (The Flower as Matchmaker), Yang Sanjie Gao Zhuang (Yang Sanjie's Suit) and others have become the classic preserved repertoire of Pingju. "Hua Wei Mei (The Flower as Matchmaker)": Cheng Zhaocai was the founder of Pingju and its first playwright; his representative works Ma Guafu Kai Dian (The Widow Ma Opens an Inn), Hua Wei Mei (The Flower as Matchmaker), Yang Sanjie Gao Zhuang (Yang Sanjie's Suit) and others have become the classic preserved repertoire of Pingju. "Yang Sanjie Gao Zhuang (Yang Sanjie's Suit)": Cheng Zhaocai was the founder of Pingju and its first playwright; his representative works Ma Guafu Kai Dian (The Widow Ma Opens an Inn), Hua Wei Mei (The Flower as Matchmaker), Yang Sanjie Gao Zhuang (Yang Sanjie's Suit) and others have become the classic preserved repertoire of Pingju.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

In 2025, Ma Huimin was announced in the sixth batch of national representative bearers for Pingju Opera, with Zhongguopingjuyuan, Beijing as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Pingju Opera in Zhongguopingjuyuan, Beijing: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2008 (batch 2), with Zhongguopingjuyuan, Beijing as its declared area, and Zhongguoping Theatre Co., Ltd., Beijing Liu XiuRongPing Troupe 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. Mahuimin (Zhongguopingjuyuan, Beijing) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Mahuimin · China ICH Official Archive