Zhao Yan

01 · Lineage & Regional School

Zhao Yan, Male, Han, from China Broadcasting Performing Arts Troupe, is a sixth-batch national representative bearer of Xiangsheng (Comic Dialogue) (Ⅴ-47). The tradition is documented in China Broadcasting Performing Arts Troupe. Within the regional tradition and school record of Xiangsheng (Comic Dialogue) in China Broadcasting Performing Arts Troupe: In the performance text of paired xiangsheng, the performers are divided into two, jia and yi: jia is responsible for the dou gen, leading the comedy, and yi for the peng gen, providing the supporting part. It took shape in Beijing around the Xianfeng and Tongzhi reigns of the Qing dynasty, and afterwards spread widely through the northern regions, being most active in the Beijing-Tianjin area. It has now passed to the ninth generation.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

The bearer record for Zhao Yan is anchored in the documented technical standards of Xiangsheng (Comic Dialogue) in China Broadcasting Performing Arts Troupe. Within the documented technical tradition of Xiangsheng (Comic Dialogue) in China Broadcasting Performing Arts Troupe: Xiangsheng is one of the most widespread and most popular genres of narrative arts, distinguished by its humour, its satire and its strongly theatrical character. Xiangsheng performance was originally divided into two kinds. Those staged behind a curtain were called “an Chun” (hidden spring) and consisted mainly of ventriloquism items; those performed in public were called “ming Chun” (open spring) and consisted mainly of spoken items. The open-spring forms of xiangsheng performance include three types: dan kou xiangsheng, performed by a single person; dui kou xiangsheng, performed by two; and qun kou xiangsheng, performed collectively by three or more — of which the paired form is the most common. Judged by the way a piece is staged, paired xiangsheng further divides into types such as the weighted-lead form (yi tou chen), the evenly matched form (zi mu gen) and the rapid recitation form (guan kou). In recent years new forms with strong comic colouring have appeared, such as costumed xiangsheng and xiangsheng sketches. The traditional repertoire of xiangsheng is extraordinarily rich. Among the pieces preserved through editing and tidying are solo works such as Promotion Through Three Ranks, Pearl, Jade and White Broth, Straightening a Candle Wick and Little Immortal; paired works such as Praising Your House, A Funeral Gathering, A Full Manchu-Han Banquet, Yellow Crane Tower, Guan Yu Fights Qin Qiong, A Miscellany on Theatre and Guessing Lantern Riddles; and group works such as The Waistcoat and The Adamantine Legs. Tianjin xiangsheng forms a school of its own: centred on speech, marked by satire, fiery and vigorous, and rich in humour. Works with a particularly strong satirical edge such as Zhang Shouchen's The Ministry of Jokes, Xia Mogu's The Tooth Powder Bag, and Ma Sanli's Opening a Congee Factory, Selling Fake Tickets and Buying a Monkey are representative of the Tianjin style. Tianjin's wen gen (literary) xiangsheng also has a long historical tradition, and a number of different performing schools have emerged in turn. Taking the traditional piece Wen Zhang Hui alone, several stage scripts have been used by such performers as Zhang Shouchen, Ma Sanli and Su Wenmao, each with a style of its own on stage. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Hidden spring and open spring": Hidden-spring performances were ventriloquial and behind a curtain; open-spring ones, the ancestor of modern xiangsheng, were spoken in public. "Solo, double and group": Solo, paired and group forms, the paired version being the most common on stage today. "Three types of paired dialogue": Paired routines divide into the weighted-lead type, the evenly matched type and the rapid recitation type. "Solo classics": The standard solo items, alongside the paired and group pieces that make up the classical repertoire.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

In 2025, Zhao Yan was announced in the sixth batch of national representative bearers for Xiangsheng (Comic Dialogue), with China Broadcasting Performing Arts Troupe as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Xiangsheng (Comic Dialogue) in China Broadcasting Performing Arts Troupe: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2008 (batch 2), with China Broadcasting Performing Arts Troupe as its declared area, and Zhongguoguangbo Art 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

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

1. Zhaoyan (China Broadcasting Performing Arts Troupe) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Zhaoyan · China ICH Official Archive