Lu Xianmo
01 · Lineage & Regional School
Lu Xianmo, Male, Tujia, from Wufengtujiazuzizhi, Hubei, is a sixth-batch national representative bearer of Nanqu (Ⅴ-71). The tradition is documented in Wufengtujiazuzizhi, Hubei. Within the regional tradition and school record of Nanqu in Wufengtujiazuzizhi, Hubei: Nanqu is also called "silk strings" and is popular in the area of Changyang Tujia Autonomous County and Wufeng Tujia Autonomous County, Hubei Province. Nanqu has a large number of titles, of which about two hundred and fifty have now been collected; they fall roughly into four classes: the first draws on novels and drama scripts, the second on folk stories and legends, the third on social entertainments and jesting verses, and the fourth is used for singing in praise of scenery and expressing the heart's feelings. Nanqu arose between the Qianlong and Guangxu reigns of the Qing dynasty and has a history of about two hundred years.
02 · Mastery & Signature Works
The bearer record for Lu Xianmo is anchored in the documented technical standards of Nanqu in Wufengtujiazuzizhi, Hubei. Within the documented technical tradition of Nanqu in Wufengtujiazuzizhi, Hubei: In the course of its long transmission, Nanqu continually absorbed musical elements from Tujia folk songs and from shadow puppetry, unifying the local spoken language with its melodic style and so forming a strong artistic appeal; it is praised in the world of music as "the fragrant mountain flower". Nanqu performance mainly adopts the seated-singing form, accompanied by instruments such as the small sanxian, erhu, sihu, yangqin, yueqin (colloquially "kuaizi") and yunban (also called "jianban" or "yazi"), with the small sanxian as the leading instrument. Accompanied by these instruments, Nanqu singing sounds all the more pleasing to the ear, displaying artistic features of gentle subtlety and beautiful lyricism. In performance it may be sung by one person accompanying himself, or sung in antiphonal duet by two or more actors taking different role types, or sung in unison by several people. During the performance one person may be assigned to play alone while another sings and beats the clapper; alternatively one person may beat the clapper while several others each play a sanxian at the same time, joining in with choral support when the melody is drawn out in the extended cadential run (tuoqiang). The lyrics of Nanqu consist mainly of seven-character lines, and its vocal music belongs to the tune-pattern (qupai) system. Thirty-one traditional vocal tune patterns of Changyang Nanqu survive to the present, divided into two classes, Nanqu and Beidiao. The basic tune patterns of the Nanqu class include [Nan Qu Tou], [Duo Zi], [Shang Xia Ju], [Wei Qiang], [Shu Ban], [Lang Ban], [Huo Hu Lu], [Bei Qiang] and [Hu Qiang], while of the Beidiao class only a single pattern, [Ji Sheng Diao], survives. Wufeng Nanqu has nearly thirty vocal tune patterns surviving today, together with a rich and varied body of titles and lyrics. The more than one hundred titles that survive draw mostly on historical novels and chuanqi stories, and "Cai Zi You Jiang" (The Scholar Roaming the River), "San Guo Ying Xiong" (Heroes of the Three Kingdoms), "Zhao Jun He Fan" (Zhaojun Going to the Border), "Da Yu Sha Jia" (Fishing and Slaying the Family) and "Hong Niang Di Jian" (Hongniang Delivering the Letter) are representative works among them. Nanqu is often sung at wedding ceremonies, birthday celebrations, banquets for honoured guests and gatherings of close friends; it carries a certain element of self-amusement, hence the saying that people "play silk strings" (wan sixian). Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Cai Zi You Jiang (The Scholar Roaming the River)": The more than one hundred titles that survive draw mostly on historical novels and chuanqi stories, and "Cai Zi You Jiang" (The Scholar Roaming the River), "San Guo Ying Xiong" (Heroes of the Three Kingdoms), "Zhao Jun He Fan" (Zhaojun Going to the Border), "Da Yu Sha Jia" (Fishing and Slaying the Family) and "Hong Niang Di Jian" (Hongniang Delivering the Letter) are representative works among them. "San Guo Ying Xiong (Heroes of the Three Kingdoms)": The more than one hundred titles that survive draw mostly on historical novels and chuanqi stories, and "Cai Zi You Jiang" (The Scholar Roaming the River), "San Guo Ying Xiong" (Heroes of the Three Kingdoms), "Zhao Jun He Fan" (Zhaojun Going to the Border), "Da Yu Sha Jia" (Fishing and Slaying the Family) and "Hong Niang Di Jian" (Hongniang Delivering the Letter) are representative works among them. "Zhao Jun He Fan (Zhaojun Going to the Border)": The more than one hundred titles that survive draw mostly on historical novels and chuanqi stories, and "Cai Zi You Jiang" (The Scholar Roaming the River), "San Guo Ying Xiong" (Heroes of the Three Kingdoms), "Zhao Jun He Fan" (Zhaojun Going to the Border), "Da Yu Sha Jia" (Fishing and Slaying the Family) and "Hong Niang Di Jian" (Hongniang Delivering the Letter) are representative works among them. "Da Yu Sha Jia (Fishing and Slaying the Family)": The more than one hundred titles that survive draw mostly on historical novels and chuanqi stories, and "Cai Zi You Jiang" (The Scholar Roaming the River), "San Guo Ying Xiong" (Heroes of the Three Kingdoms), "Zhao Jun He Fan" (Zhaojun Going to the Border), "Da Yu Sha Jia" (Fishing and Slaying the Family) and "Hong Niang Di Jian" (Hongniang Delivering the Letter) are representative works among them.
Cai Zi You Jiang (The Scholar Roaming the River)
The more than one hundred titles that survive draw mostly on historical novels and chuanqi stories, and "Cai Zi You Jiang" (The Scholar Roaming the River), "San Guo Ying Xiong" (Heroes of the Three Kingdoms), "Zhao Jun He Fan" (Zhaojun Going to the Border), "Da Yu Sha Jia" (Fishing and Slaying the Family) and "Hong Niang Di Jian" (Hongniang Delivering the Letter) are representative works among them.
San Guo Ying Xiong (Heroes of the Three Kingdoms)
The more than one hundred titles that survive draw mostly on historical novels and chuanqi stories, and "Cai Zi You Jiang" (The Scholar Roaming the River), "San Guo Ying Xiong" (Heroes of the Three Kingdoms), "Zhao Jun He Fan" (Zhaojun Going to the Border), "Da Yu Sha Jia" (Fishing and Slaying the Family) and "Hong Niang Di Jian" (Hongniang Delivering the Letter) are representative works among them.
Zhao Jun He Fan (Zhaojun Going to the Border)
The more than one hundred titles that survive draw mostly on historical novels and chuanqi stories, and "Cai Zi You Jiang" (The Scholar Roaming the River), "San Guo Ying Xiong" (Heroes of the Three Kingdoms), "Zhao Jun He Fan" (Zhaojun Going to the Border), "Da Yu Sha Jia" (Fishing and Slaying the Family) and "Hong Niang Di Jian" (Hongniang Delivering the Letter) are representative works among them.
Da Yu Sha Jia (Fishing and Slaying the Family)
The more than one hundred titles that survive draw mostly on historical novels and chuanqi stories, and "Cai Zi You Jiang" (The Scholar Roaming the River), "San Guo Ying Xiong" (Heroes of the Three Kingdoms), "Zhao Jun He Fan" (Zhaojun Going to the Border), "Da Yu Sha Jia" (Fishing and Slaying the Family) and "Hong Niang Di Jian" (Hongniang Delivering the Letter) are representative works among them.
03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status
In 2025, Lu Xianmo was announced in the sixth batch of national representative bearers for Nanqu, with Wufengtujiazuzizhi, Hubei as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Nanqu in Wufengtujiazuzizhi, Hubei: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2008 (batch 2), with Wufengtujiazuzizhi, Hubei as its declared area, and Wufeng Tujia Autonomous County 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
Nanqu arose between the Qianlong and Guangxu reigns of the Qing dynasty and has a history of about two hundred years.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lu Xianmo | Wufengtujiazuzizhi, Hubei | — | 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。