Chen Xiaolan
01 · Lineage & Regional School
Chen Xiaolan, Female, Han, from Fuzhou, Fujian, is a sixth-batch national representative bearer of Fuzhou Zeyi (Ⅴ-15). The tradition is documented in Fuzhou, Fujian. Within the regional tradition and school record of Fuzhou Zeyi in Fuzhou, Fujian: During the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom period, large numbers of refugees from Zhejiang, Anhui and Jiangxi fled to Fujian, and the performers who came with them gathered around Jingyuan Alley and Jiaochangyan in Fuzhou, singing in the streets with Jianghuai tunes, lianhualuo and Yiyang opera, which had a considerable influence on local zeyi. Beginning with the founding of the Fuzhou Zeyi Singers' Association by working artists in 1943, it took the name Fuzhou Zeyi. According to legend, Fuzhou Zeyi was created and developed by folk street singers on the basis of folk songs and tunes, with reference to folk shehuo festivities, and came into being around the Jiajing reign of the Ming dynasty. In the Qing dynasty a number of folk troupes centred on zeyi performance appeared, known as "she"; the famous ones include Dayunxiao, Jiayuntian, Yaletian and Tonglexuan. In 1960 the Fuzhou Quyi Troupe, likewise centred on zeyi performance, was founded, enabling this traditional art to be revived. In the second half of the 20th century many new programmes reflecting contemporary life appeared; the more influential were The Three Red Brothers, Splendid Rivers and Mountains, A Single Photograph and Longing for Return, and outstanding traditional pieces such as Sifan were also collated and performed. Since the beginning of the 21st century Fuzhou Zeyi has been in an endangered state: teahouse performance venues have disappeared entirely, and high-platform performances have fallen from more than four thousand a year in the 1930s to fewer than three hundred a year today.
02 · Mastery & Signature Works
The bearer record for Chen Xiaolan is anchored in the documented technical standards of Fuzhou Zeyi in Fuzhou, Fujian. Within the documented technical tradition of Fuzhou Zeyi in Fuzhou, Fujian: Fuzhou Zeyi is a traditional form of quyi singing, popular in Fuzhou City and in Minhou, Changle, Lianjiang and Fuqing counties in Fujian Province, and has spread to Taiwan Province and to the Hong Kong and Macao regions; it is also sung in the Fuzhou overseas Chinese settlements of countries such as Myanmar, Singapore and Indonesia. Its original name was zeyi chang. After the War of Resistance against Japan, zeyi performance gradually declined. In the early years after the founding of the People's Republic of China, the relevant departments gave support to Fuzhou Zeyi: a Fuzhou Zeyi Workers' Association was founded, five venues dedicated to zeyi performance were established, and performers were organised into performance teams and singing groups for public performance. Fuzhou Zeyi is sung and recited in the Fuzhou local dialect. The usual form of performance is for one or two people to accompany themselves on the erhu or the sanxian, singing mainly and interspersing spoken narration, while in other cases others accompany on the sanxian, yueqin, dihu and similar instruments. Long narrative programmes in this sung-and-recited form are called "pinghua"; the mode in which several people each play the erhu, sanxian, yueqin and dihu together with the ban gu, tanban, shuaiqing, single cymbals, transverse flute, sheng and small suona, accompanying themselves as they sing in a circle or take turns passing the singing along, is called "quantang". Zeyi performance within traditional shehuo shows is further accompanied by acrobatic movement routines such as the dry-land boat, stilt-walking, the tai-ge platform display, horseback performance and flourishing the lotus staff. The tune patterns of Fuzhou Zeyi's vocal styles fall into four categories: "douqiang", "jianghu", "ge" and "xiaodiao"; there are also folk tunes such as Cailian Drum, New Year Song, Crab Song and Shuluo. Its repertoire consists mainly of medium-length stories, supplemented by single-tune pieces. Traditional programmes are classified by the vocal tune patterns they use into four types: jianghu books, ge books, douqiang books and xiaodiao song-pieces. Representative jianghu-book programmes include The Pearl Pagoda and The Golden Tortoise Mother; representative "ge book" programmes include The Tale of the White Fan and The Tale of Tea-Picking; and representative douqiang-book programmes include The Purple Jade Hairpin, The Monkey's Complaint, The Lingzhi Grass and Wang Zhaojun. These programmes form the body of the Fuzhou Zeyi repertoire; in addition there is also "pingjian", in which various tunes are used in combination. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "The Three Red Brothers": In the second half of the 20th century many new programmes reflecting contemporary life appeared; the more influential were The Three Red Brothers, Splendid Rivers and Mountains, A Single Photograph and Longing for Return, and outstanding traditional pieces such as Sifan were also collated and performed. "Splendid Rivers and Mountains": In the second half of the 20th century many new programmes reflecting contemporary life appeared; the more influential were The Three Red Brothers, Splendid Rivers and Mountains, A Single Photograph and Longing for Return, and outstanding traditional pieces such as Sifan were also collated and performed. "A Single Photograph": In the second half of the 20th century many new programmes reflecting contemporary life appeared; the more influential were The Three Red Brothers, Splendid Rivers and Mountains, A Single Photograph and Longing for Return, and outstanding traditional pieces such as Sifan were also collated and performed. "Longing for Return": In the second half of the 20th century many new programmes reflecting contemporary life appeared; the more influential were The Three Red Brothers, Splendid Rivers and Mountains, A Single Photograph and Longing for Return, and outstanding traditional pieces such as Sifan were also collated and performed.
The Three Red Brothers
In the second half of the 20th century many new programmes reflecting contemporary life appeared; the more influential were The Three Red Brothers, Splendid Rivers and Mountains, A Single Photograph and Longing for Return, and outstanding traditional pieces such as Sifan were also collated and performed.
Splendid Rivers and Mountains
In the second half of the 20th century many new programmes reflecting contemporary life appeared; the more influential were The Three Red Brothers, Splendid Rivers and Mountains, A Single Photograph and Longing for Return, and outstanding traditional pieces such as Sifan were also collated and performed.
A Single Photograph
In the second half of the 20th century many new programmes reflecting contemporary life appeared; the more influential were The Three Red Brothers, Splendid Rivers and Mountains, A Single Photograph and Longing for Return, and outstanding traditional pieces such as Sifan were also collated and performed.
Longing for Return
In the second half of the 20th century many new programmes reflecting contemporary life appeared; the more influential were The Three Red Brothers, Splendid Rivers and Mountains, A Single Photograph and Longing for Return, and outstanding traditional pieces such as Sifan were also collated and performed.
03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status
In 2025, Chen Xiaolan was announced in the sixth batch of national representative bearers for Fuzhou Zeyi, with Fuzhou, Fujian as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Fuzhou Zeyi in Fuzhou, Fujian: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2006 (batch 1), with Fuzhou, Fujian as its declared area, and Fuzhou Pinghuachiyi Transmission Workshop (Fuzhou Qu Yi 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
Beginning with the founding of the Fuzhou Zeyi Singers' Association by working artists in 1943, it took the name Fuzhou Zeyi. According to legend, Fuzhou Zeyi was created and developed by folk street singers on the basis of folk songs and tunes, with reference to folk shehuo festivities, and came into being around the Jiajing reign of the Ming dynasty.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Qian Zhenhua | Fuzhou, Fujian | 02-0726 | Same declared area |
| Qiang Shuru | Fuzhou, Fujian | 02-0727 | Same declared area |
| Chen Xiaolan | Fuzhou, Fujian | — | 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。