Liu Jing
01 · Lineage & Regional School
Liu Jing, Female, Han, from Li, Hunan, is a sixth-batch national representative bearer of Gupenge (Ⅴ-32). The tradition is documented in Li, Hunan. Within the regional tradition and school record of Gupenge in Li, Hunan: Besides preserving ancient songs and ballads and ancient written texts such as the Shijing, it also applies a large number of local dialects and colloquial sayings in its sung text, which is irreplaceable for the study of Chinese folk literature and of language and script. The drum-on-basin song originated in the ancient Chu-region custom of beating the fou jar and the basin to make offerings to the spirits of the dead; it is now current in Changde City and Zhangjiajie City of Hunan Province, Jingzhou City of Hubei Province and other places. In the Tang dynasty it developed into a form in which stories about historical figures were sung in order to comfort the deceased and to teach the younger generation to repay kindnesses and practise filial piety. From the 1970s of the twentieth century onward its sentence patterns were gradually expanded, its texts fixed, and the form changed from singing to speech-and-song narration. This performance form has been handed down to the present through the master-apprentice system; from the 1980s onward it gradually entered performance venues such as teahouses, longevity halls and stages, and it developed two-person and multi-person performance on stage, with female performers beginning to enter the trade.
02 · Mastery & Signature Works
The bearer record for Liu Jing is anchored in the documented technical standards of Gupenge in Li, Hunan. Within the documented technical tradition of Gupenge in Li, Hunan: The drum-on-basin song is popularly called the "funeral drum" and the "filial drum", among other names. It is an ancient form of quyi whose principal form is the singing of stories accompanied by a beaten clapper. According to incomplete statistics, more than a thousand drum-on-basin pieces have been discovered, of which over 800 are traditional and close to 200 are newly composed; the language is lively and vivacious and the imagery is distinct. The drum-on-basin song is performed mostly by one person beating a drum and narrating in speech and song, with singing as the main element; it later developed into the case of two singers with two drums and of several singers standing with several drums. Its vocal style is plain and unadorned, its metrical patterns are rich and clear, and it gradually developed into a form for singing stories of historical figures in order to comfort the deceased and to teach the younger generation to carry on the tradition, repay kindnesses and practise filial piety. More than a hundred pieces in the song books of the drum-on-basin song of Li County and its surroundings have now been collated; they are accompanied by a large drum about half a person's height, set at an angle inside a wooden basin, and later an ordinary large drum one chi in diameter was used instead. The traditional mode of performance was carried out mostly inside the mourning hall, serving both to mourn the dead and to make offerings to their spirits, and it also added accompaniment on bronze gongs and bronze cymbals. The performance sequence is: first strike three rounds of the drum, sound the horn to open the singing, invite the deities, pacify the five directions, comfort the deceased, narrate and sing the main text, comfort the deceased and offer the libation of wine, see off the song boy, recite the words of praise, and send forth the spirit. The distinctive quality of the drum-on-basin song lies in the fact that its sung text is rhymed, mostly sustaining a single rhyme right through, and that it is characterized by improvised composition and singing. The Shijing, "Chen Feng · Yuanqiu", records "they strike the fou jar on the pit; the way of Yuanqiu". The drum-on-basin song was originally sung by one person with one drum while seated in the mourning hall, popularly called "sitting the funeral drum", and served exclusively to accompany the dead and keep vigil by the coffin. During the Jiaqing reign of the Qing dynasty, five-syllable lines were changed into seven-syllable lines. The drum-on-basin songs of Li County and its surroundings have varied subjects and rich content, and many of them extol virtue and advocate filial piety. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Seated wake drumming": Originally one singer and one drum seated in the mourning hall, a vigil form traceable to the Book of Songs. "Opening the wake ritual": The opening sequence of the Li county form: three drum rolls, the horn call, summons to the gods and the settling of the five directions. "Closing the wake ritual": The closing sequence after the main tale: offering wine, sending off the singers and releasing the soul. "The drum lodged in a wooden basin": A drum half a man tall set slantwise in a wooden basin, later replaced by an ordinary foot-wide drum.
Seated wake drumming
Originally one singer and one drum seated in the mourning hall, a vigil form traceable to the Book of Songs.
Opening the wake ritual
The opening sequence of the Li county form: three drum rolls, the horn call, summons to the gods and the settling of the five directions.
Closing the wake ritual
The closing sequence after the main tale: offering wine, sending off the singers and releasing the soul.
The drum lodged in a wooden basin
A drum half a man tall set slantwise in a wooden basin, later replaced by an ordinary foot-wide drum.
03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status
In 2025, Liu Jing was announced in the sixth batch of national representative bearers for Gupenge, with Li, Hunan as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Gupenge in Li, Hunan: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2014 (batch 4), with Li, Hunan as its declared area, and Li County 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
The drum-on-basin song originated in the ancient Chu-region custom of beating the fou jar and the basin to make offerings to the spirits of the dead; it is now current in Changde City and Zhangjiajie City of Hunan Province, Jingzhou City of Hubei Province and other places. In the Tang dynasty it developed into a form in which stories about historical figures were sung in order to comfort the deceased and to teach the younger generation to repay kindnesses and practise filial piety.
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
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。