Wu Shenghua

01 · Lineage & Regional School

Wu Shenghua, Male, Dong, from Liping, Guizhou, is a sixth-batch national representative bearer of Dong Opera (Ⅳ-83). The tradition is documented in Liping, Guizhou. Within the regional tradition and school record of Dong Opera in Liping, Guizhou: Although Dong opera has developed slowly, its ethnic and local characteristics are distinct and it has a deep popular base. Dong opera probably arose between the Jiaqing and Daoguang reigns of the Qing dynasty, founded by Wu Wencai, a Dong singing master from Ladong Village in Liping County; it has a history of more than 150 years to the present day.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

The bearer record for Wu Shenghua is anchored in the documented technical standards of Dong Opera in Liping, Guizhou. Within the documented technical tradition of Dong Opera in Liping, Guizhou: On the basis of the long narrative chanting-and-singing songs of the Dong, Wu Wencai adapted the Han narrative text "Erdu Mei" (Second Plum Blossom) into the first Dong opera, Mei Liangyu. Afterwards Dong opera continually absorbed nourishment from other operatic genres such as Gui opera, Caidiao, Qiyang opera and Guizhou huadeng opera, was gradually raised and refined, and finally evolved into an independent genre in which performance joins speech and song, with rich melodies and a style of its own. Dong opera is performed mainly in the Dong villages of Liping, Congjiang and Rongjiang counties in Guizhou Province, Tongdao in Hunan Province, and Sanjiang and Longsheng counties in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Its principal melodies include the Pingban (also called Putongban, the common pattern, or Huqinban, the huqin pattern) and the Aidiao (also called Kudiao, the weeping tune), together with the Xianqiang and the Xiqu Da Ge, the great opera song; the accompanying instruments include the erhu, the ox-leg fiddle, the Dong pipa, the yueqin, the low hu, the yangqin, the bamboo flute and the lusheng, with drums, gongs, cymbals and small gongs used for the opening of the show and for the entrances and exits of characters. The performance of Dong opera is plain and simple; costumes and props are ordinary everyday articles of the ethnic group, or everyday articles lightly embellished. In performance two people generally sing antiphonally in the Dong language; each time the last line has been sung the performers trace the figure "∞" during the musical interlude to exchange positions, and then go on with the next line, repeating this back and forth until the passage is finished. Dong opera has no strict division of role types; only the chou role has a distinctive set of conventions, for whichever direction it enters from it may only hop inward, and this is popularly called the "hopping chou step". Mei Liangyu, Mao Hong Yuying, Liu Zhiyuan, Jiangnu Wanliang, Zhulang Niangmei and the like are traditional Dong opera plays, of which Zhulang Niangmei has been filmed as a picture. In the Dong areas, most villages have amateur Dong opera troupes organised by the people themselves. But with social change and the development of modern media, Dong opera no longer holds an absolute advantage in the entertainment life of the people. The Dong have no script of their own; in the past drama masters memorised entire plays, sometimes several of them, and then passed them on to the actors, while some used Chinese characters to record the sounds and borrowed Chinese writing to record traditional Dong opera. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Mei Liangyu": Mei Liangyu, Mao Hong Yuying, Liu Zhiyuan, Jiangnu Wanliang, Zhulang Niangmei and the like are traditional Dong opera plays, of which Zhulang Niangmei has been filmed as a picture. "Mao Hong Yuying": Mei Liangyu, Mao Hong Yuying, Liu Zhiyuan, Jiangnu Wanliang, Zhulang Niangmei and the like are traditional Dong opera plays, of which Zhulang Niangmei has been filmed as a picture. "Liu Zhiyuan": Mei Liangyu, Mao Hong Yuying, Liu Zhiyuan, Jiangnu Wanliang, Zhulang Niangmei and the like are traditional Dong opera plays, of which Zhulang Niangmei has been filmed as a picture. "Jiangnu Wanliang": Mei Liangyu, Mao Hong Yuying, Liu Zhiyuan, Jiangnu Wanliang, Zhulang Niangmei and the like are traditional Dong opera plays, of which Zhulang Niangmei has been filmed as a picture.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

In 2025, Wu Shenghua was announced in the sixth batch of national representative bearers for Dong Opera, with Liping, Guizhou as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Dong Opera in Liping, Guizhou: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2006 (batch 1), with Liping, Guizhou as its declared area, and Liping County Intangible Cultural Heritage Safeguarding 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. Wushenghua (Liping, Guizhou) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Wushenghua · China ICH Official Archive