Zhou Xingguang

01 · Lineage & Regional School

Zhou Xingguang, Male, Han, from Pujiang, Zhejiang, is a sixth-batch national representative bearer of Taige (Ⅹ-87). The tradition is documented in Pujiang, Zhejiang. Within the regional tradition and school record of Taige in Pujiang, Zhejiang: Taige (raised pavilions) originated in god-welcoming festival processions in the Central Plains, later spreading gradually to the southeast coast and the northwest, where it flourished for a time in the Qing dynasty; in the course of transmission it combined with local conditions and formed distinct characteristics. The Pujiang Yinghui began in the Song dynasty and reached its peak in the Qing dynasty. In the tenth month of the twenty-ninth year of the Daoguang reign of the Qing dynasty (1849), a Yinghui procession was held at Qingshan Rock in Tonghua Township, an event of unprecedented splendor.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

The bearer record for Zhou Xingguang is anchored in the documented technical standards of Taige in Pujiang, Zhejiang. Within the documented technical tradition of Taige in Pujiang, Zhejiang: Taige, also known as taijiao (carried roles), taige (raised songs), gaotai (raised platforms), naoge, naoge (head pavilions) and gaozhuang (high costumes), is a folk parade performance form in traditional festival activities. In a taige performance, several children dress as characters from traditional opera and, following the plot, form striking tableaux fixed to the iron pillars and supports of a square pavilion, which bearers then carry forward. Traditional taige tableaux mostly draw on plays such as The Butterfly Lovers, Tianxian Pei (The Fairy Couple), Legend of the White Snake, Journey to the West, Zhaojun Goes to the Frontier, The Blue Bridge Rendezvous, The Yellow Crane Tower and The Fisherman's Revenge. The tableaux stand about 3 to 5 meters high; the pavilions range from three to five tiers, generally with one person on each tier, though some have four people on the bottom tier, five or six in the middle tiers and one on the top tier. In a taige parade, generally four pavilions are used, and at most six or even eight; each pavilion is carried forward by four or eight bearers. Taige fuses painting, opera, colored paper framing and paper sculpture into a single art form; its tableaux are elegant and its scenes spectacular, much loved by the broad masses, and it has flourished among the people for a long time without decline. The Pujiang Yinghui is a highly distinctive folk festival procession, said to have originated in sacrificial rites honoring Lord Hu (Hugong Dadi); it has long been popular in Huangzhai, Qianwu, Tonghua (now part of Lanxi) and other places in Pujiang County, Zhejiang Province. Taige parading is one of the important activities of the Pujiang Yinghui; for this reason the Pujiang Yinghui is also called “taige”, and it wins its reputation through strangeness and thrills. The Pujiang taige consists of five parts: the procession table, the carrying poles, the table railings, the table bearers and the child performers who stand on the table. For each table, several lively and pretty boys and girls aged three to five are chosen to play characters from traditional opera stories, standing suspended in the air or flying above the table; the tableaux take traditional opera figures as their basis and subject them to further artistic design. Each procession table is carried by four to sixteen young and strong men, and while walking the performers must also change their poses. The Pujiang Yinghui names each procession after the story shown on its table, such as “Sun Wukong Borrows the Fan”, “Cleaving the Mountain to Save His Mother”, “Jiang Taigong Fishing”, “Three Invitations to Lihua”, “Borrowing the Umbrella” and “The Grand Peach Banquet”; one table is one play. The Yinghui procession opens with copper and iron cannons, led by dragon-and-tiger flags, long banners and ceremonial canopies, with great gongs clearing the way; the procession tables and the shijinban (multi-instrument ensembles) follow closely behind. The procession is huge in scale and spectacular in momentum. As times have changed, the connotations of the Yinghui have shifted, and it has gradually become a celebration at festivals and various folk ceremonies. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Each table is a play": Tables take their names from their story, so each carries a complete play. "Firecrackers and banners leading the way": Guns and crackers open the way, banners and canopies lead, gongs sound and the tables follow. "Changing poses while the table moves": Four to sixteen young men bear each table, and the costumed players change pose on the move. "Aerial and dispersed table design": Players stand on the table or float in the air, modelled on traditional opera figures and further stylised.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

In 2025, Zhou Xingguang was announced in the sixth batch of national representative bearers for Taige, with Pujiang, Zhejiang as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Taige in Pujiang, Zhejiang: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2008 (batch 2), with Pujiang, Zhejiang as its declared area, and Pujiang 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

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

1. Zhouxingguang (Pujiang, Zhejiang) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Zhouxingguang · China ICH Official Archive