Zushuxian
01 · Lineage & Regional School
Zushuxian, Male, Han, from Hua, Henan, is a sixth-batch national representative bearer of Erjiaxian (Ⅳ-113). The tradition is documented in Hua, Henan. Within the regional tradition and school record of Erjiaxian in Hua, Henan: Hua county erjiaxian centres on Hua county, Henan, and is popular in the northern Henan counties of Hua, Xun and Changyuan and in south-western Shandong and southern Hebei, its troupes mostly part-farming and part-artistic and its performances attached to rural temple fairs and festivals. Drawing on the Henan volume of the Annals of Chinese Xiqu and local Hua county materials, erjiaxian was first a cotton-spinning ditty and, through the artists' development and creation, formed on the basis of such folk performing forms as “huagu dingxiang”, “da wuyin” and “sigen xian”; by the mid-Qing it was already current in northern Henan, south-western Shandong and southern Hebei, named for being played with a four-string sihu clamping horsehair, with a history of more than three centuries; because Hua county had many temple fairs it became an important area of erjiaxian circulation in northern Henan.
02 · Mastery & Signature Works
The bearer record for Zushuxian is anchored in the documented technical standards of Erjiaxian in Hua, Henan. Within the documented technical tradition of Erjiaxian in Hua, Henan: Erjiaxian, also called “liangjiaxian”, is a local operatic genre of long history widely found in the four provinces of Jiangsu, Shandong, Henan and Anhui, named because the four strings of its chief accompanying instrument, the sihu, separately clamp the two strands of horsehair on the bow. Its singing music belongs to the “xuansuo vocal” system combining the banqiang and qupai forms, its chief feature being the alternation of true and falsetto voice, its qupai mostly drawn from folk music and many still fairly primitive. The erjiaxian around Hua county is mostly performed by semi-professional troupes at temple fairs, festivals and the farming slack, its repertory mainly “three-small plays” on subjects of folk life, sung with alternating true and falsetto voice, led by the sihu with erhu, banhu and percussion besides. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "The Traditional “Three-Small Plays”": Hua county erjiaxian is mainly “three-small plays” on subjects of folk life, performed by semi-professional troupes at temple fairs and festivals. "The Pedlar Opens the Box": One of the representative plays of erjiaxian, often staged in northern Henan and south-western Shandong. "The Silk Floss Ruse": One of the representative plays of erjiaxian.
The Traditional “Three-Small Plays”
Hua county erjiaxian is mainly “three-small plays” on subjects of folk life, performed by semi-professional troupes at temple fairs and festivals.
The Pedlar Opens the Box
One of the representative plays of erjiaxian, often staged in northern Henan and south-western Shandong.
The Silk Floss Ruse
One of the representative plays of erjiaxian.
03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status
In 2025, Zushuxian was announced in the sixth batch of national representative bearers for Erjiaxian, with Hua, Henan as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Erjiaxian in Hua, Henan: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2008 (batch 2), with Hua, Henan as its declared area, and Hua County Erjiaxian 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 Henan volume of the Annals of Chinese Xiqu and local Hua county materials, erjiaxian was first a cotton-spinning ditty and, through the artists' development and creation, formed on the basis of such folk performing forms as “huagu dingxiang”, “da wuyin” and “sigen xian”; by the mid-Qing it was already current in northern Henan, south-western Shandong and southern Hebei, named for being played with a four-string sihu clamping horsehair, with a history of more than three centuries; because Hua county had many temple fairs it became an important area of erjiaxian circulation in northern Henan.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tian Aiyun | Kaifeng, Henan | 03-1124 | Other regional school |
| Li Jinghua | Dingtao, Shandong | 03-1125 | Other regional school |
| Song Ruitao | Dingtao, Shandong | 03-1126 | Other regional school |
| Fuhongwei | Bozhou, Anhui | 05-2448 | Other regional school |
| Wu Li | Bozhou, Anhui | — | Other regional school |
| Zushuxian | Hua, Henan | — | 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。