Chen Jingzhi
Mastery, Signature Works & Repertoire
Male, Han ethnicity, born in 1919 in Fengtai, Anhui. Chen Jingzhi began performing the flower-drum lantern at thirteen, playing lanhua under the stage name Yi Tiao Xian (A Single Thread). In 1939 he joined Song Tingxiang and Li Xuehong in combining the xianzi lantern popular in Yingshang and Huoqiu counties with the flower-drum lantern of Fengtai County; the resulting vocal style was so lovely and moving that people called it the Yi Tiao Xian tune. His performance was delicate and his movements light and graceful, and his fan and handkerchief flourishes were rich and varied; whether the bodily methods of trembling, bouncing and shaking and the three bends, or such steps as the mountain-climbing step, the small starting step and the elegant step, all possessed a powerful artistic charm. A folk doggerel praised the hold of his performance: see Yi Tiao Xian and go three days without food; when Yi Tiao Xian walks, ninety-nine lie down; when Yi Tiao Xian looks back, more than half of them rise. Chen Jingzhi devoted his whole life to performing, teaching and researching the art of the flower-drum lantern. His representative works in performance and creation include You Chun (Spring Outing), Qiang Ban Deng (Grabbing the Bench), Ye Hua Yao (Wildflower Ballad) and Huang Mao Ya Tou (The Sallow-Haired Girl).
Honors & Recognition
National representative bearer of Flower Drum Lantern (Fengtai Flower Drum Lantern), a second-batch national intangible cultural heritage project.
References & Archival Sources
Representative Items of This Bearer
Profile
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