Li Yuying
01 · Lineage & Regional School
Li Yuying, Male, Han, from Funan, Anhui, is a sixth-batch national representative bearer of Haizi Opera (Ⅳ-143). The tradition is documented in Funan, Anhui. Within the regional tradition and school record of Haizi Opera in Funan, Anhui: Haizi opera centres on Funan county, Anhui, and is popular in the north-western Anhui townships of Funan, Yingshang and Linquan and in the Huaibin, Gushi, Shangcheng and Xi county area of Henan; it is named because in performance it starts the tune and runs the voice with the word “hai” or “ke” and often trails the voice with “hai” in sung lines. Haizi opera formed in the mid-Qing between the Jiaqing and Daoguang reigns and is popular in Funan, Yingshang and Linquan in north-western Anhui and in Huaibin, Gushi, Shangcheng and Xi county in Henan. After the founding of New China the Funan county haizi troupe staged such newly written short plays as One Ten-Thousandth of a Second and The Stubborn Team Leader, but the troupe was disbanded in 1982.
02 · Mastery & Signature Works
The bearer record for Li Yuying is anchored in the documented technical standards of Haizi Opera in Funan, Anhui. Within the documented technical tradition of Haizi Opera in Funan, Anhui: Haizi opera, also called “kezi opera”, “heizi opera” and “hazi opera”, is named because in performance it starts the tune and runs the voice with the word “hai” or “ke”, and often uses “hai” to trail the voice in the middle of sung lines. Early haizi opera was a narrative-singing form of “sitting and singing around the drum”, performing pieces with plot in “flower-tune ditties”; later it absorbed the tunes of lantern opera and folk ballads and gradually took operatic form. It uses the dialect of the Huai river basin, its performance form flexible, its musical structure mainly banqiang with qupai secondary, using choral support as well, so that singing, choral support and percussion form a trinity. Its arias divide into the two great categories of main tunes and flower tunes: the main tunes are the laosheng tune, the xiwazi and the kuwazi, and the flower tunes number sixty or seventy such as Lowering to Shaanxi, Releasing the Parrot, Delivering Goods and the Pagoda-Sacrifice tune. Traditional haizi opera used drum-and-gong accompaniment, adding string and bamboo instruments after the founding of New China. Its play forms are the full play, the zhezi excerpt and the three-small play. Its traditional repertory runs to more than a hundred pieces, the frequently staged ones including Beating the Peach Blossom, Standing by the Flower Wall and Squire Wang Divorces His Wife, still performed without decline. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Beating the Peach Blossom": One of the traditional plays frequently staged by haizi opera, performed without decline. "Standing by the Flower Wall": One of the traditional plays frequently staged by haizi opera. "Squire Wang Divorces His Wife": One of the traditional plays frequently staged by haizi opera.
Beating the Peach Blossom
One of the traditional plays frequently staged by haizi opera, performed without decline.
Standing by the Flower Wall
One of the traditional plays frequently staged by haizi opera.
Squire Wang Divorces His Wife
One of the traditional plays frequently staged by haizi opera.
03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status
In 2025, Li Yuying was announced in the sixth batch of national representative bearers for Haizi Opera, with Funan, Anhui as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Haizi Opera in Funan, Anhui: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2011 (batch 3), with Funan, Anhui as its declared area, and Funan County Cultural 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
Haizi opera formed in the mid-Qing between the Jiaqing and Daoguang reigns and is popular in Funan, Yingshang and Linquan in north-western Anhui and in Huaibin, Gushi, Shangcheng and Xi county in Henan. After the founding of New China the Funan county haizi troupe staged such newly written short plays as One Ten-Thousandth of a Second and The Stubborn Team Leader, but the troupe was disbanded in 1982.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Li Yuying | Funan, 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。