Xi Lanlan
01 · Lineage & Regional School
Xi Lanlan, Female, Han, from Xihe, Gansu, is a sixth-batch national representative bearer of Qixi Festival (Ⅹ-4). The tradition is documented in Xihe, Gansu. Within the regional tradition and school record of Qixi Festival in Xihe, Gansu: The Qixi qiqiao folk custom of the Xihe area of Gansu Province has rich cultural connotations and distinctly regional characteristics; it is mainly transmitted in Xihe County in southeastern Gansu and in Yongxing and Yanguan in Li County. It appeared in the Han dynasty, developed through the Tang and Song periods, and reached its height in the Ming and Qing dynasties; it has a history of more than a thousand years.
02 · Mastery & Signature Works
The bearer record for Xi Lanlan is anchored in the documented technical standards of Qixi Festival in Xihe, Gansu. Within the documented technical tradition of Qixi Festival in Xihe, Gansu: Thanks to its unique geographical environment and deep historical and cultural accumulation, the qiqiao folk custom has been passed down in Xihe without decline. For a period after the founding of the People's Republic of China, this custom declined under suppression, but after the reform and opening up it was restored. The Xihe qiqiao folk activity is rich in content and varied in form; it begins on the evening of the 30th day of the sixth lunar month (the 29th in a short month) and ends on the evening of the seventh day of the seventh month, lasting seven days and eight nights, and the whole activity is divided into seven stages: zuo qiao (sitting in skill), ying qiao (welcoming skill), ji qiao (offering to skill), bai qiao (bowing to skill), yu qiao (amusing skill), bu qiao (divining by skill), and song qiao (sending off skill). The seven days and seven nights of Xihe qiqiao are held in stages, with the village community as the unit. In the "sitting in skill" stage, the girls each set up a table at home, with embroidery hoops and colored silks all ready, doing needlework while keeping watch deep into the night — this is the skill of quiet abiding. Next comes "welcoming skill": boys are sent to a neighboring village to make the invitation, with drums and music following, turning traffic between village communities into a public procession. "Offering to skill" means setting out offerings facing the Weaver Girl, with the qiqiao fruits and qiao steamed breads piled layer upon layer, and beyond the offerings a singer arranged to sing qiqiao songs. After the "bowing to skill" comes "amusing skill", which mostly takes the form of young men and women singing duets in little songs, dancing and making merry; when the numbers are large the scene is especially grand. "Divining by skill" uses a needle cast by a woman; whether it falls right into the eye of the needle determines that day's luck. "Sending off skill" falls on the final day: each family distributes qiqiao fruits to relatives and neighbors, and with the rites complete the festival ends. The seven stages follow one another in sequence, stretching what was a single night for farming households into a full week of communal life. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Sitting through the night at work": On the last night of the sixth month girls set up their embroidery and keep vigil, each household lit lamp by lamp. "Welcoming the festival": Boys are sent with drum and music to summon the neighbouring villages, and the returning procession is itself part of the rite. "Offering and the qiqiao cakes": The offering table is laid with fruit and moulded cakes pressed from patterns, the work of the women of the household. "Songs, play and the needle cast": Singers trade songs and cast a needle: hitting the eye of the needle marks the luck of the year.
Sitting through the night at work
On the last night of the sixth month girls set up their embroidery and keep vigil, each household lit lamp by lamp.
Welcoming the festival
Boys are sent with drum and music to summon the neighbouring villages, and the returning procession is itself part of the rite.
Offering and the qiqiao cakes
The offering table is laid with fruit and moulded cakes pressed from patterns, the work of the women of the household.
Songs, play and the needle cast
Singers trade songs and cast a needle: hitting the eye of the needle marks the luck of the year.
03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status
In 2025, Xi Lanlan was announced in the sixth batch of national representative bearers for Qixi Festival, with Xihe, Gansu as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Qixi Festival in Xihe, Gansu: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2008 (batch 2), with Xihe, Gansu as its declared area, and Xihe County Intangible Cultural Heritage Safeguarding 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
It appeared in the Han dynasty, developed through the Tang and Song periods, and reached its height in the Ming and Qing dynasties; it has a history of more than a thousand 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chen Qicai | Wenling, Zhejiang | 04-1956 | Other regional school |
| Xi Lanlan | Xihe, Gansu | — | 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。