Fei Jianchu

01 · Lineage & Regional School

Fei Jianchu, Male, Han, from Hengyang, Hunan, is a sixth-batch national representative bearer of Qiju Opera (Ⅳ-128). The tradition is documented in Hengyang, Hunan. Within the regional tradition and school record of Qiju Opera in Hengyang, Hunan: Hengyang Qi opera centres on Hengyang city, Hunan, and is an important branch of the Yonghe school, popular in the Hengyang, Chenzhou and Yongzhou area; its troupes mostly perform at temple fairs and festivals, giving equal weight to high-pitched and tan-vocal plays, with the Hengyang city Qi opera troupe as the local professional body. In the mid-Ming Yiyang qiang came to Qiyang and combined with local folk songs and ditties to form the embryo of Qi opera.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

The bearer record for Fei Jianchu is anchored in the documented technical standards of Qiju Opera in Hengyang, Hunan. Within the documented technical tradition of Qiju Opera in Hengyang, Hunan: Qi opera, also called “Qiyang opera” and “Chunan opera”, is named for originating in Qiyang county, Hunan. In its development it formed the two schools of Yonghe and Baohe, both performing in Qiyang mandarin. Its singing embraces the high-pitched, Kun and tan vocal styles, its voice ringing and loud, accompanied by the high-pitched war drum, the cap-shaped dry drum and the hard-bow Qihu. Accordingly the xusheng uses a hoarse voice to show age, the xiaosheng a fine voice to show refinement, the dan a narrow voice to show charm, and the painted face a domineering or shouting voice to show roughness. Its facial designs usually take red, black and white as base colours, opening the face with mixed colour, expressing sharply characterised figures through bright tones, bold lines, delicate patterns and vivid suggestion. Its tan-vocal plays are rough and plain, broad in movement and stirring and deep in singing with a strong mountain flavour, while its high-pitched and Kun plays are fine, gentle and graceful with a cultured restraint. Its horse-riding dance convention, popularly called “ma lu”, is its most characteristic performing feature, each role changing the “ma lu” style according to character and plot so that it takes varied forms. Its repertory and qupai are rich, with more than nine hundred traditional plays and more than a thousand qupai now collated and printed. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Storming the Yan Mansion": One of the plays commonly staged by Hengyang Qi opera, in which the inheritor played Yan Wanyu. "Zhaojun Goes Beyond the Frontier": One of the plays commonly staged by Hengyang Qi opera, in which the inheritor played Wang Zhaojun. "Ma Lu (The Horse-Riding Dance Convention)": Qi opera's horse-riding dance convention, its most characteristic performing feature.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

In 2025, Fei Jianchu was announced in the sixth batch of national representative bearers for Qiju Opera, with Hengyang, Hunan as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Qiju Opera in Hengyang, Hunan: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2008 (batch 2), with Hengyang, Hunan as its declared area, and Hengyang Qi Ju Art Co., Ltd. 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. Feijianchu (Hengyang, Hunan) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Feijianchu · China ICH Official Archive