Zhang Li
01 · Lineage & Regional School
Zhang Li, Female, Han, from Suzhou, Anhui, is a sixth-batch national representative bearer of Zhuizi Opera (Ⅳ-97). The tradition is documented in Suzhou, Anhui. Within the regional tradition and school record of Zhuizi Opera in Suzhou, Anhui: Suzhou zhuizi opera centres on Suzhou city, Anhui, and is popular in the counties of northern Anhui and in eastern Henan and northern Jiangsu; its singing takes the tunes of Henan zhuizi as its basis and blends northern Anhui dialect and folk music, forming a style using both “big mouth” and “small mouth”. Drawing on the Anhui volume of the Annals of Chinese Xiqu and local Suzhou materials, zhuizi opera was formed by combining the narrative singing of Henan zhuizi with folk ditties of northern Anhui; professional troupes formed in the Suzhou area in the middle of the twentieth century, and it is one of the principal local operatic genres of Anhui.
02 · Mastery & Signature Works
The bearer record for Zhang Li is anchored in the documented technical standards of Zhuizi Opera in Suzhou, Anhui. Within the documented technical tradition of Zhuizi Opera in Suzhou, Anhui: Zhuizi opera comes from the narrative-singing art of zhuizi and is named for its chief accompanying instrument, the “zhuizi xian” (today called “zhuihu”), and is widely found in Henan, Hebei, Anhui, Shanxi and Beijing. Zhuizi was formed by the combination of the narrative-singing daoing, Yingge Liu Shu, sanxian shu and zhuizi shu popular in Henan, Hebei and northern Anhui; zhuizi opera takes the tunes of Henan zhuizi as its basis and absorbs some performing methods of Peking opera and Yu opera, finally forming a local operatic genre of a style all its own. Its traditional musical singing includes “guoban”, “yinzi”, “pingqiang”, “great and small hanyun”, “wuzi qian”, “shizi yun” and “kuaiban zha”, and may be sung solo, as a duet or divided among several singers, flowing and gentle in style and easy to understand, much welcomed by audiences. Its principal instrument, the zhuiqin also called “zhuihu”, is a bowed instrument converted from the small sanxian, played mostly with portamento and other strokes, its tone melodious and its expressiveness extremely rich. Besides this it has such accompanying instruments as the erhu, erxian, flute, sheng, suona and cello. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "The Injustice to Dou E": One of the representative plays of the inheritor, noted for its singing. "The Small Vegetable Garden": One of the representative plays of the inheritor, a modern Suzhou zhuizi opera. "The “Big Mouth” and “Small Mouth” Singing Methods": The traditional singing methods of Suzhou zhuizi opera: the “big mouth” uses dantian breath and chest resonance, the “small mouth” forms a crisp, fluid, pretty and fair style.
The Injustice to Dou E
One of the representative plays of the inheritor, noted for its singing.
The Small Vegetable Garden
One of the representative plays of the inheritor, a modern Suzhou zhuizi opera.
The “Big Mouth” and “Small Mouth” Singing Methods
The traditional singing methods of Suzhou zhuizi opera: the “big mouth” uses dantian breath and chest resonance, the “small mouth” forms a crisp, fluid, pretty and fair style.
03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status
In 2025, Zhang Li was announced in the sixth batch of national representative bearers for Zhuizi Opera, with Suzhou, Anhui as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Zhuizi Opera in Suzhou, Anhui: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2008 (batch 2), with Suzhou, Anhui as its declared area, and Anhui Suzhou Zhuizi 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
Historical origin
Drawing on the Anhui volume of the Annals of Chinese Xiqu and local Suzhou materials, zhuizi opera was formed by combining the narrative singing of Henan zhuizi with folk ditties of northern Anhui; professional troupes formed in the Suzhou area in the middle of the twentieth century, and it is one of the principal local operatic genres of Anhui.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zhu Yuemei | Suzhou, Anhui | 03-1097 | Same declared area |
| Cui Yansheng | Shenze, Hebei | 05-2427 | Other regional school |
| Zhang Li | Suzhou, Anhui | — | 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。