Zhao Guangshun
01 · Lineage & Regional School
Zhao Guangshun, Male, Yao, from Chenzhoushizixing, Hunan, is a sixth-batch national representative bearer of Yao Panwang Festival (Ⅹ-14). The tradition is documented in Chenzhoushizixing, Hunan. Within the regional tradition and school record of Yao Panwang Festival in Chenzhoushizixing, Hunan: Zixing lies in the southeast of Hunan Province, at the junction of the three provinces of Hunan, Guangdong, and Jiangxi, in the upper reaches of the Leishui River in the Xiang River basin, at the western foot of the Luoxiao Mountains. The Yao Panwang Festival (Returning the Vow to King Pan) is recorded in Song dynasty classics such as Zhou Qufei's Lingwai Daida: "Every year in the tenth month, the Yao of the ridges gather to worship King Dubei before the temple." The ancestors of the Zixing Yao migrated and settled in Zixing 1,391 years ago, and the Yao Panwang Festival (Returning the Vow to King Pan) has continued ever since. In 1951, the Third Sub-delegation of the Central Visiting Delegation made explicit records of the "Great Returning of the Vow to King Pan" and the "Small Returning of the Vow to King Pan" among the Zixing Yao. Since the 1990s, the Yao people have raised funds to repair the King Pan temples, and the Panwang Festival (Returning the Vow to King Pan) has been restored and transmitted.
02 · Mastery & Signature Works
The bearer record for Zhao Guangshun is anchored in the documented technical standards of Yao Panwang Festival in Chenzhoushizixing, Hunan. Within the documented technical tradition of Yao Panwang Festival in Chenzhoushizixing, Hunan: The Yao Panwang Festival (Returning the Vow to King Pan) is a folk activity, with commemorating King Pan as its main content, transmitted mainly in the Yao-inhabited areas of Chapu Yao Village, Tangdong Subdistrict, Zixing City, Chenzhou City, Hunan Province, and in Huilongshan Yao Township and Bamianshan Yao Township. Within its territory, rivers and mountains crisscross, the trees are lush and green, and the waters and mountains are joined together. The Zixing Yao Panwang Festival (Returning the Vow to King Pan) consists of the "Returning of the Vow to King Pan" and the Panwang Festival song gathering. Every year on the sixteenth day of the tenth lunar month, the Zixing Yao commemorate King Pan through sacrificial rites, song, and dance. The Panwang Festival (Returning the Vow to King Pan) is divided into two major parts, the upper and the lower. The upper part, "Tengxiang Liangyuan," includes "Raising the Incense to Invite the Saints," "Mounting the Cloud Terrace," and the offerings of "Ju River" and "Crossing the Ocean" (returning the round-basket vow); in the rites, the shigong masters dance the King Pan Dance, the Bronze Bell Dance, and the Sacrifice to the Soldiers Dance, among others. The lower part, "Dapai Liangyuan," includes slaughtering a pig to worship the ancestors (returning the whole-pig great vow), "Catching the Yellow-Flower Lad" (returning the marriage vow), "Laying the Small Table" (returning the rat vow), performing nuo opera in the Qingyun Hall, and hanging the red gauze curtain (returning the marriage vow). All the ancestral gods and spirits of the Yao people are respectfully invited to take part in the recreational activities of the Panwang Festival (Returning the Vow to King Pan), and the Panwang Grand Song, which remembers Yao life, is sung. The rites of the Panwang Festival (Returning the Vow to King Pan) are presided over by shigong masters, with song mothers and song masters, boys and girls, and others as important participants. The Yao Panwang Festival (Returning the Vow to King Pan) has distinct ethnic cultural characteristics, a marked consciousness of honoring ancestors and being grateful, and a deep popular foundation; with its unique sacrificial ritual propriety and rich cultural content, it records the life and emotions of the Yao people, and its character of group transmission is highly distinctive. The Zixing Yao Panwang Festival (Returning the Vow to King Pan) is a folk activity that strengthens centripetal force and maintains unity. It incorporates every aspect of the history, culture, social customs, ethics and morality, and knowledge of production and life of the Zixing Yao, as well as the sentiments of honoring ancestors, being grateful, and taking the family and the nation as one; it has the functions of praying for longevity and abundant harvests, averting disasters and removing misfortunes, and ensuring the continuation of descendants. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Offering incense and inviting the deities": The first step of the upper section: incense is raised and the deities and ancestors are formally invited with set formulas. "Ascending the cloud platform": A staged ascent on a temporary platform, singing the road upward while the congregation looks on from below. "Calling back from the river and crossing the sea": A vow category in which the ritual master enacts a sea crossing, with household goods loaded aboard a boat-shaped prop. "Slaughtering the pig for the ancestors": The pig is killed in honour of the ancestors and the meat shared out, each table knowing which vow its meal answers.
Offering incense and inviting the deities
The first step of the upper section: incense is raised and the deities and ancestors are formally invited with set formulas.
Ascending the cloud platform
A staged ascent on a temporary platform, singing the road upward while the congregation looks on from below.
Calling back from the river and crossing the sea
A vow category in which the ritual master enacts a sea crossing, with household goods loaded aboard a boat-shaped prop.
Slaughtering the pig for the ancestors
The pig is killed in honour of the ancestors and the meat shared out, each table knowing which vow its meal answers.
03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status
In 2025, Zhao Guangshun was announced in the sixth batch of national representative bearers for Yao Panwang Festival, with Chenzhoushizixing, Hunan as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Yao Panwang Festival in Chenzhoushizixing, Hunan: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2021 (batch 5), with Chenzhoushizixing, Hunan as its declared area, and Zixing City 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
The Yao Panwang Festival (Returning the Vow to King Pan) is recorded in Song dynasty classics such as Zhou Qufei's Lingwai Daida: "Every year in the tenth month, the Yao of the ridges gather to worship King Dubei before the temple." The ancestors of the Zixing Yao migrated and settled in Zixing 1,391 years ago, and the Yao Panwang Festival (Returning the Vow to King Pan) has continued ever since.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Panliangan | Shaoguan, Guangdong | 02-0773 | Other regional school |
| Zhao Youfu | Hezhou, Guangxi | 04-1959 | Other regional school |
| Zhao Guangshun | Chenzhoushizixing, Hunan | — | This page |
| Deng Jingwan | Shaoguan, Guangdong | — | Other regional school |
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。