Li Huilin
01 · Lineage & Regional School
Li Huilin, Male, Han, from Wei, Hebei, is a sixth-batch national representative bearer of Siguxian (Ⅳ-94). The tradition is documented in Wei, Hebei. Within the regional tradition and school record of Siguxian in Wei, Hebei: Wei county's sixian is an important branch of southern Hebei sixian, popular in Wei county and the counties of southern Handan, sharing an origin with the Guantao, Julu and Feixiang troupes yet diverging from them, and mostly performing at rural temple fairs and festivals. It first developed out of folk flower-drum opera, came from Shandong to Hebei in the early nineteenth century, and on the basis of folk ditties absorbed the nourishment of such genres as luantan, Peking opera and Hebei bangzi, gradually evolving into its present scale.
02 · Mastery & Signature Works
The bearer record for Li Huilin is anchored in the documented technical standards of Siguxian in Wei, Hebei. Within the documented technical tradition of Siguxian in Wei, Hebei: Southern Hebei sixian, also called “four strings”, is one of the local operatic genres of Hebei; its chief accompanying instrument, the big xian also called the “sihu”, has four silk strings, from which the genre takes its name. Southern Hebei sixian circulates in the counties of Julu, Guantao, Wei and Feixiang and reaches as far as Beijing, Tianjin, Shandong and Henan, with a history of more than two hundred years. Its roles of sheng, dan, jing and chou are complete; early on it mostly played small domestic plays of folk life, and after gradual development it also staged traditional historical plays and serial grand plays. Its singing is long and unhurried, gentle and flowing, with male and female voices distinguished. The characters' language is restrained and humorous, easy to understand, much loved by audiences. Its repertory is numerous, among which Liu Jinding Descends to Southern Tang, Empress He Curses the Court, Entering the Palace Twice and Upstairs to Kill Xiren are representative works. Southern Hebei sixian is led by the sihu (big xian); its roles of sheng, dan, jing and chou are complete, mostly staging small domestic plays of folk life early on and later also traditional historical plays and serial grand plays, its singing distinguishing male and female voices and its recitation using the southern Hebei dialect. It is led by the sihu, its percussion following the drum-and-gong patterns of the bangzi system and its singing commonly using such ban styles as erliu and liushui, long and unhurried and easy to understand. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Liu Jinding Descends to Southern Tang": A representative work among the numerous plays of southern Hebei sixian. "Empress He Curses the Court": A representative work among the numerous plays of southern Hebei sixian. "Entering the Palace Twice": A representative work among the numerous plays of southern Hebei sixian. "Upstairs to Kill Xiren": A representative work among the numerous plays of southern Hebei sixian.
Liu Jinding Descends to Southern Tang
A representative work among the numerous plays of southern Hebei sixian.
Empress He Curses the Court
A representative work among the numerous plays of southern Hebei sixian.
Entering the Palace Twice
A representative work among the numerous plays of southern Hebei sixian.
Upstairs to Kill Xiren
A representative work among the numerous plays of southern Hebei sixian.
03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status
In 2025, Li Huilin was announced in the sixth batch of national representative bearers for Siguxian, with Wei, Hebei as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Siguxian 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
Historical origin
It first developed out of folk flower-drum opera, came from Shandong to Hebei in the early nineteenth century, and on the basis of folk ditties absorbed the nourishment of such genres as luantan, Peking opera and Hebei bangzi, gradually evolving into its present scale.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jiehuiqian | Julu, Hebei | 05-2425 | Other regional school |
| Li Yujiang | Feixiang, Hebei | 05-2426 | Other regional school |
| Li Huilin | Wei, Hebei | — | 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。