Qu Dengmei

01 · Lineage & Regional School

Qu Dengmei, Female, Han, from Wei, Hebei, is a sixth-batch national representative bearer of Yangge Opera (Ⅳ-70). The tradition is documented in Wei, Hebei. Within the regional tradition and school record of Yangge Opera in Wei, Hebei: Yuxian yangge is popular in Zhangjiakou in Hebei, northern Shanxi and some banners and counties of Inner Mongolia; through long fusion with Shanxi bangzi and the language of Yuzhou it has formed a regional character combining a bangzi-tune framework with yangge vocal colour, with the Yuxian cultural centre as the project's protection body. Yuxian yangge was strongly influenced by Shanxi bangzi, absorbing not only its robed-and-belted grand plays but also its musical system, and thus forming various ban patterns evolved from bangzi tunes. Drawing on the Hebei volume of the Annals of Chinese Xiqu, it took shape in the shehuo singing around Yuzhou in the mid-Qing, and by the late Qing and early Republic there were already professional troupes; lying at the Hebei–Shanxi border, it absorbed much of Shanxi bangzi's ban patterns and grand plays and gradually grew from a “two-small-role play” into a local genre with a full range of roles.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

The bearer record for Qu Dengmei is anchored in the documented technical standards of Yangge Opera in Wei, Hebei. Within the documented technical tradition of Yangge Opera in Wei, Hebei: Yuxian yangge, also called “Yuzhou bangzi” and “Yuju”, arose in Yuxian and is popular in Zhangjiakou in Hebei, northern Shanxi and some banners and counties of Inner Mongolia, a genre much loved by the people of its areas. Early Yuxian yangge was sung in “xundiao” (folk songs), consisting mainly of “two-small-role” (xiaosheng and xiaodan) or “three-small-role” (xiaosheng, xiaodan and xiaochou) plays, often performed in rural shehuo. Its roles are complete, divided into hong (laosheng), hei (large and second painted faces), sheng, dan and chou. Its singing is in the Yuxian dialect and mostly uses a combination of true and falsetto voice. The xiaosheng and dan can sing “xundiao”, the “hong” rarely and the “hei” never. Among the bangzi-tune patterns, apart from the special singing of the “hei” role, the vocal structures of the other roles are broadly similar. In long stage practice Yuxian yangge has accumulated more than two hundred plays, among which Huilong Ge and Da Waguan are representative. At the same time, the old artists are leaving one after another and young people are mostly unwilling to learn so archaic an art of vocal style and conventions. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Huilong Ge (The Returning Dragon Pavilion)": A representative play among the more than two hundred accumulated by Yuxian yangge. "Da Waguan (Smashing the Crock)": A representative play among the more than two hundred accumulated by Yuxian yangge.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

In 2025, Qu Dengmei was announced in the sixth batch of national representative bearers for Yangge Opera, with Wei, Hebei as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Yangge Opera in Wei, Hebei: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2008 (batch 2), with Wei, Hebei as its declared area, and Wei County Cultural 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. Qudengmei (Wei, Hebei) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Qudengmei · China ICH Official Archive