Jiyuxiang
01 · Lineage & Regional School
Jiyuxiang, Female, Han, from Nanyang, Henan, is a sixth-batch national representative bearer of Sanxian Shu (Ⅴ-64). The tradition is documented in Nanyang, Henan. Within the regional tradition and school record of Sanxian Shu in Nanyang, Henan: It formed in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties and has a history of more than three hundred years. Nanyang sanxian shu has more than two hundred traditional repertoire items; Whipping the Reed Catkins, Zhang Liang Resigns from Court and Fengyi Ting (The Phoenix Pavilion) are among its representative works.
02 · Mastery & Signature Works
The bearer record for Jiyuxiang is anchored in the documented technical standards of Sanxian Shu in Nanyang, Henan. Within the documented technical tradition of Sanxian Shu in Nanyang, Henan: Sanxian shu, also called “sanxian jiaozishu”, is current in Qinxian, Wuxiang, Qinyuan and Xiangyuan in southeastern Shanxi, in Zuoquan and Yushe in central Shanxi, in Anze and Fushan in southern Shanxi, and in Nanyang, Henan and the areas around it. In its earliest form sanxian shu was performed by an actor who tied clappers to the leg and sang while holding a sanxian, a style known as “leg-clapper shu”. It later developed into a form in which one person holds a jiaozi and keeps time on an octagonal drum while singing, and another person works a bangzi with the foot and plucks the sanxian in accompaniment; a sheng, a hu and a zheng are sometimes added to the accompaniment. In its later stage, sanxian shu performances generally used a standing delivery, with all manner of stagecraft worked into the singing: the actors sang and danced at once, and the accompanists joined in to lend support, so that singing and answering alternated and the whole performance was full of interest. Nanyang sanxian shu is called in full “sanxian jiaozishu”; its vocal music belongs to the metrical-change system and can be roughly divided into two large classes, jiaozi qiang and guzi qiang. The whole vocal system is further divided into three schools: the middle-road style is marked by singing and playing in level strings, the west-road style by low-key vocal technique, and the east-road style by high-register vocal technique, all with the flavour of the folk songs of southern Henan. Nanyang sanxian shu has many metrical patterns, such as “man ban”, “er ba ban”, “san liu ban”, “liushui ban”, “kuai ban” and “zheng ban”; a performance usually begins in jiaozi qiang, turns midway into guzi qiang, finally turns back to jiaozi qiang and ends through “er liu ban” and “kuai ban”. The sanxian is the principal accompaniment instrument in Nanyang sanxian shu, and the player who holds it is commonly called the “xianzi jia”; besides accompanying, he also exchanges quick asides with the lead singer, conveys feeling and joins in to support the singing. The instruments that mark the rhythm include mainly the leg bangzi, the octagonal drum and the jiaozi; the jiaozi can both make the decorative sound that marks the rhythm and serve as a prop in the performance. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Whipping the Reed Catkins": Nanyang sanxian shu has more than two hundred traditional repertoire items; Whipping the Reed Catkins, Zhang Liang Resigns from Court and Fengyi Ting (The Phoenix Pavilion) are among its representative works. "Zhang Liang Resigns from Court": Nanyang sanxian shu has more than two hundred traditional repertoire items; Whipping the Reed Catkins, Zhang Liang Resigns from Court and Fengyi Ting (The Phoenix Pavilion) are among its representative works. "Fengyi Ting (The Phoenix Pavilion)": Nanyang sanxian shu has more than two hundred traditional repertoire items; Whipping the Reed Catkins, Zhang Liang Resigns from Court and Fengyi Ting (The Phoenix Pavilion) are among its representative works.
Whipping the Reed Catkins
Nanyang sanxian shu has more than two hundred traditional repertoire items; Whipping the Reed Catkins, Zhang Liang Resigns from Court and Fengyi Ting (The Phoenix Pavilion) are among its representative works.
Zhang Liang Resigns from Court
Nanyang sanxian shu has more than two hundred traditional repertoire items; Whipping the Reed Catkins, Zhang Liang Resigns from Court and Fengyi Ting (The Phoenix Pavilion) are among its representative works.
Fengyi Ting (The Phoenix Pavilion)
Nanyang sanxian shu has more than two hundred traditional repertoire items; Whipping the Reed Catkins, Zhang Liang Resigns from Court and Fengyi Ting (The Phoenix Pavilion) are among its representative works.
03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status
In 2025, Jiyuxiang was announced in the sixth batch of national representative bearers for Sanxian Shu, with Nanyang, Henan as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Sanxian Shu in Nanyang, Henan: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2008 (batch 2), with Nanyang, Henan as its declared area, and Nanyang Shuochang Troupe Yanyi Co., Ltd. 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
It formed in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties and has a history of more than three hundred years. Nanyang sanxian shu has more than two hundred traditional repertoire items; Whipping the Reed Catkins, Zhang Liang Resigns from Court and Fengyi Ting (The Phoenix Pavilion) are among its representative works.
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。