Gao Xinfa
01 · Lineage & Regional School
Gao Xinfa, Male, Han, from Huzhou, Zhejiang, is a sixth-batch national representative bearer of Hu Opera (Ⅳ-141). The tradition is documented in Huzhou, Zhejiang. Within the regional tradition and school record of Hu Opera in Huzhou, Zhejiang: According to differences of local dialect and singing, the artists called themselves the “Huzhou group”, “Shuanglin group”, “Nanxun group” and “Zhenze group”; in singing the “eighteen and a half rhymes” accord with Wu dialect phonology, and the Wu dialect of Huzhou is used. It was named Hu opera in 1951. Drawing on the Zhejiang volume of the Annals of Chinese Xiqu and local Huzhou materials, it was based on Huzhou narrative-singing tanhuang and Huzhou qinshu and formed about the Daoguang-Xianfeng period of the Qing, being formally named “Hu opera” in 1951, with the Huzhou city Hu opera troupe as its professional performing body.
02 · Mastery & Signature Works
The bearer record for Gao Xinfa is anchored in the documented technical standards of Hu Opera in Huzhou, Zhejiang. Within the documented technical tradition of Hu Opera in Huzhou, Zhejiang: Hu opera, formerly called “Huzhou tanhuang” and also “small opera” and “flower drum”, is popular in Huzhou, Jiaxing and Hangzhou in Zhejiang, Wujiang and Yixing in Jiangsu and Guangde in Anhui. Its basis is Huzhou narrative-singing tanhuang and Huzhou qinshu, formed about the Daoguang-Xianfeng period of the Qing. It is led by the tanhuang erhu, with fresh tunes and elegant, fine performance, its arias including “small-opera tune”, “local tan tune” and “incense-burning tune” and forming a distinctive “eighteen and a half rhymes”. Its performing feature is the “yin-yang voice”, that is the male dan's method of alternating true and falsetto singing. Its speech is warm and soft with a rich Jiangnan water-town mood. It performs mainly civil plays, its early roles xiaosheng, xiaodan and xiaochou, later increased to “eight xiaosheng and eight xiaodan”. Its traditional repertory is said to be “ninety-six grand plays”, mostly on love and marriage, of which Yao Qilin, Borrowing the Yellow Bran, Meeting in the Nunnery and Selling the Sister to Marry are more often staged. After the founding of New China there were the newly written historical play The Song of the Great Wall and the modern play Flood Waves of Taihu. Its professional body is the Huzhou city Hu opera troupe, with some amateur troupes besides, such as the Wuxing tanhuang narrative-singing small-opera team, the Shuanglin small-opera troupe and Hu opera performing bodies in Deqing and Tongxiang known as “flower-drum opera” troupes. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Yao Qilin": One of the more commonly staged traditional plays of Hu opera. "Borrowing the Yellow Bran": One of the more commonly staged traditional plays of Hu opera. "Meeting in the Nunnery": One of the more commonly staged traditional plays of Hu opera. "Selling the Sister to Marry": One of the more commonly staged traditional plays of Hu opera.
Yao Qilin
One of the more commonly staged traditional plays of Hu opera.
Borrowing the Yellow Bran
One of the more commonly staged traditional plays of Hu opera.
Meeting in the Nunnery
One of the more commonly staged traditional plays of Hu opera.
Selling the Sister to Marry
One of the more commonly staged traditional plays of Hu opera.
03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status
In 2025, Gao Xinfa was announced in the sixth batch of national representative bearers for Hu Opera, with Huzhou, Zhejiang as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Hu Opera in Huzhou, Zhejiang: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2011 (batch 3), with Huzhou, Zhejiang as its declared area, and Huzhou Cultural Center (Huzhou 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
It was named Hu opera in 1951. Drawing on the Zhejiang volume of the Annals of Chinese Xiqu and local Huzhou materials, it was based on Huzhou narrative-singing tanhuang and Huzhou qinshu and formed about the Daoguang-Xianfeng period of the Qing, being formally named “Hu opera” in 1951, with the Huzhou city Hu opera troupe as its professional performing body.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Xu Lijuan | Huzhou, Zhejiang | 05-2466 | Same declared area |
| Gao Xinfa | Huzhou, Zhejiang | — | 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。