Zhangdeligen
01 · Lineage & Regional School
Zhangdeligen, Male, Mongolian, from Zhaluteqi, Inner Mongolia, is a sixth-batch national representative bearer of Wuligeer (Ⅴ-40). The tradition is documented in Zhaluteqi, Inner Mongolia. Within the regional tradition and school record of Wuligeer in Zhaluteqi, Inner Mongolia: On the Horqin grasslands, for instance, “Huren uliger” is comparatively well developed, and in the course of history three schools of differing style formed around Menggen Gaolitau, Erdun Zhurihe and Buren Bayar; in Fuxin Mongol Autonomous County of Liaoning Province, by contrast, the transplanting and adaptation of uliger from Han stories is more widespread, and it has even brought forth new artistic forms such as “Fuxin Mongol opera”.
02 · Mastery & Signature Works
The bearer record for Zhangdeligen is anchored in the documented technical standards of Wuligeer in Zhaluteqi, Inner Mongolia. Within the documented technical tradition of Wuligeer in Zhaluteqi, Inner Mongolia: In Chinese the meaning of uliger is “storytelling”; because it is performed in the Mongolian language, it is also called “Mongolian-language storytelling”. Among the Mongolian people, uliger performed by mouth alone with no instrumental accompaniment is called “Yabugan uliger”, also known as “Hurui uliger”; uliger performed in narration and song with chor accompaniment is called “Chorin uliger”; and uliger performed in narration and song with four-string fiddle accompaniment is called “Huren uliger”. Uliger performed with instrumental accompaniment is usually sung and narrated by a single performer accompanying himself on a fiddle; the melodies of the vocal style are richly varied and highly flexible, and those with comparatively clear functional characteristics include [Zhengzhan diao], [Zeou diao], [Fengci diao], [Shanhe diao], [Ganlu diao] and [Shangchao diao]. The artistic accumulation of uliger is very deep; its numbers fall into short, medium and long, the long ones being the most compelling. “The Story of the Suppression of Mangus”, “The Five Tang Narratives” (that is, “The Narrative of Weeping at the Marriage”, “Whole Family Happiness”, “The Narrative of the Weeping Demon”, “The Narrative of Qibi”, “The Narrative of the Qiang and the Hu”), “Khubilai Khan”, “The Golden History”, “The Western Han”, “The Romance of the History of Yuan”, “The Romance of the History of Qing”, “Marshal Baiyina”, “Spring and Autumn and the Warring States”, “Great Western Liang”, “Northern Liao”, “Romance of the Three Kingdoms” and “Dream of the Red Chamber” are all classics among them. New numbers written and performed after the founding of the People’s Republic of China include “The Twenty-Five Thousand Li Long March”, “Liu Hulan”, “Huang Jiguang”, “The Woman Hero Guo Junqing”, “Children of the Grasslands”, “The Red Detachment of Women”, “The Red Lantern”, “Scaling the Tiger Mountain”, “The Lock of Linked Hearts”, “The Golden Avenue”, “The Xisha Women” and “Enterprise”. Historically the uliger performers who travelled between the great grasslands of Inner Mongolia and the Mongolian settlements of Northeast China were as numerous as the stars. For the broad masses of the Mongolian people, uliger is not only the principal way and means of their cultural life but also an important educational means for acquiring knowledge and cultivating the mind; in their eyes uliger occupies a very important place. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Three modes of the Mongolian tale-telling": Oral only, accompanied by the chuur fiddle, or accompanied by the four-string huur — three distinct modes of performance. "Functional melodies": Melodies are assigned to dramatic functions such as battle, courtship, satire, landscape, journey and court audience. "The long narrative cycles": The great long cycles, including the Five Chronicles of the Tang and the tale of the suppression of the Mangghus. "The four-string huur accompaniment": In the Khorchin grasslands the huur-accompanied mode flourishes, with the Jarud banner a stronghold of the style.
Three modes of the Mongolian tale-telling
Oral only, accompanied by the chuur fiddle, or accompanied by the four-string huur — three distinct modes of performance.
Functional melodies
Melodies are assigned to dramatic functions such as battle, courtship, satire, landscape, journey and court audience.
The long narrative cycles
The great long cycles, including the Five Chronicles of the Tang and the tale of the suppression of the Mangghus.
The four-string huur accompaniment
In the Khorchin grasslands the huur-accompanied mode flourishes, with the Jarud banner a stronghold of the style.
03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status
In 2025, Zhangdeligen was announced in the sixth batch of national representative bearers for Wuligeer, with Zhaluteqi, Inner Mongolia as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Wuligeer in Zhaluteqi, Inner Mongolia: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2006 (batch 1), with Zhaluteqi, Inner Mongolia as its declared area, and Zhalute Banner 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
Uliger is a Mongolian form of quyi storytelling; it took shape around the end of the Ming and the beginning of the Qing dynasty and has circulated widely in every part of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and in the Mongolian settlements of the neighbouring provinces of Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning. The subjects of uliger numbers draw on a very wide range of sources: some come from folk tales, such as “Taiyang Guniang”; some are the work of writers or performers, such as “Qingshi Yanyi”; some come from folk narrative poems and narrative songs, such as “Gada Meiren” and “Danabala”; some are composed out of events that actually happened in real life, such as “Hongtaiyang”, “Yanjiu Zhihai” and “Zhengqi de Linluo”; and some are transplanted and adapted from comparable Han forms or literary stories, such as “Romance of the Three Kingdoms”, “Investiture of the Gods” and “Yang Jinhua Duo Yin”.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Laosier | Zhaluteqi, Inner Mongolia | 02-0762 | Same declared area |
| Yangtielong | Fuxinmengguzuzizhi, Liaoning | 02-0763 | Other regional school |
| Hanyingfu | Fuxinmengguzuzizhi, Liaoning | 02-0764 | Other regional school |
| Baochaogezhu | Qianguoerluosimengguzuzizhi, Jilin | 02-0765 | Other regional school |
| Daiwode | Keerqinyouyizhongqi, Inner Mongolia | 04-1713 | Other regional school |
| Ganzhuer | Keerqinyouyizhongqi, Inner Mongolia | 05-2497 | Other regional school |
| Baizhalizeng | Tongliao, Inner Mongolia | 05-2498 | Other regional school |
| Zhangdeligen | Zhaluteqi, Inner Mongolia | — | 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。