Chen Suzhen
01 · Lineage & Regional School
Chen Suzhen, Female, Han, from Haikou, Hainan, is a sixth-batch national representative bearer of Qiongju Opera (Ⅳ-130). The tradition is documented in Haikou, Hainan. Within the regional tradition and school record of Qiongju Opera in Haikou, Hainan: Haikou Qiong opera centres on Haikou city, Hainan, called “tu xi” and “Hainan opera” in the Qing and “zhai” around Haikou; since the twentieth century Haikou has become the centre of Qiong opera creation and performance, with such bodies as the Hainan provincial Qiong opera theatre and the Haikou city Qiong opera troupe based there, and an inheritor has also set up a personal-named Qiong opera art troupe. Qiong opera is the only local grand opera of Hainan, called “tu xi” or “Hainan opera” in the Qing, “zhai” around Qiongshan and Haikou, and “Qiongzhou opera” or “Qiongyin” by overseas Chinese. It is only recorded under the name “Qiong opera” from 1936, after which the name spread generally and has been used ever since. In the Xianfeng reign of the Qing the banghuang vocal styles came to Hainan and Qiong opera, on the basis of absorbing foreign operatic art, gradually developed and renewed into a local genre mainly of the banqiang system with a few qupai, sung in the Hainanese language. In the Republican period Qiong opera staged “civilised plays”, reformed its singing and moved towards realism.
02 · Mastery & Signature Works
The bearer record for Chen Suzhen is anchored in the documented technical standards of Qiongju Opera in Haikou, Hainan. Within the documented technical tradition of Qiongju Opera in Haikou, Hainan: At the same time plays written by Qiong opera artists appeared in large numbers. Around the twenty-third year of Guangxu (1897) military and brothel plays declined and merged into Qiong opera troupes, forming the civil-and-martial grand troupe system, in which Qiong opera divided into the two systems of civil-play and martial-play masters (laoguan). After the founding of New China Qiong opera entered a new period of reform and development, collating a great many traditional plays, arias, qupai and performing conventions, writing and staging a batch of new plays and creating a batch of distinctive new ban styles, its role system being simplified to the five great roles of sheng, dan, jing, chou and mo. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Zhang Wenxiu": One of the representative plays of Qiong opera. "On a Red Leaf": A representative play of Qiong opera, led and recorded for broadcast by an inheritor. "Searching the Academy": One of the traditional plays commonly staged by Qiong opera, led by an inheritor. "The Yuming Ban": A style named for the inheritor, whose bright and sweet voice and free, expansive and melodious vocal line gave it a character of its own and earned him the name “golden voice”.
Zhang Wenxiu
One of the representative plays of Qiong opera.
On a Red Leaf
A representative play of Qiong opera, led and recorded for broadcast by an inheritor.
Searching the Academy
One of the traditional plays commonly staged by Qiong opera, led by an inheritor.
The Yuming Ban
A style named for the inheritor, whose bright and sweet voice and free, expansive and melodious vocal line gave it a character of its own and earned him the name “golden voice”.
03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status
In 2025, Chen Suzhen was announced in the sixth batch of national representative bearers for Qiongju Opera, with Haikou, Hainan as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Qiongju Opera in Haikou, Hainan: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2008 (batch 2), with Haikou, Hainan as its declared area, and Haikou Mass Art Center (Haikou 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
Historical origin
Qiong opera is the only local grand opera of Hainan, called “tu xi” or “Hainan opera” in the Qing, “zhai” around Qiongshan and Haikou, and “Qiongzhou opera” or “Qiongyin” by overseas Chinese. It is only recorded under the name “Qiong opera” from 1936, after which the name spread generally and has been used ever since. In the Xianfeng reign of the Qing the banghuang vocal styles came to Hainan and Qiong opera, on the basis of absorbing foreign operatic art, gradually developed and renewed into a local genre mainly of the banqiang system with a few qupai, sung in the Hainanese language. In the Republican period Qiong opera staged “civilised plays”, reformed its singing and moved towards realism.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wang Yingrong | Qiongjuyuan, Hainan | 03-1144 | Other regional school |
| Chen Yuming | Haikou, Hainan | 03-1145 | Same declared area |
| Liang Jialiang | Qiongjuyuan, Hainan | 04-1691 | Other regional school |
| Chen Suzhen | Haikou, Hainan | — | 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。