Lei Mingzhen
01 · Lineage & Regional School
Lei Mingzhen, Female, Han, from Qu, Sichuan, is a sixth-batch national representative bearer of Sanhuicaitinghui (Ⅹ-104). The tradition is documented in Qu, Sichuan. Within the regional tradition and school record of Sanhuicaitinghui in Qu, Sichuan: After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Sanhui decorated pavilion gathering became the principal form of local folk cultural activity, playing an important role in the cultural life of the masses. The decorated pavilion gathering (CaiTingHui) began to take shape in Sanhui in the early years of the Qing dynasty, and gradually flourished from the mid-to-late Qing through the Republican era.
02 · Mastery & Signature Works
The bearer record for Lei Mingzhen is anchored in the documented technical standards of Sanhuicaitinghui in Qu, Sichuan. Within the documented technical tradition of Sanhuicaitinghui in Qu, Sichuan: The Sanhui decorated pavilion gathering is a traditional folk cultural activity circulating in Sanhui Town, Qu County, Sichuan Province; it takes decorated pavilion forms and performance as its main features, and is performed annually from the sixteenth to the eighteenth day of the third lunar month in the streets or on squares. Sanhui Town lies on the western side of the northern section of the Huaying Mountains in eastern Sichuan, spanning the Zhou, Ba, and Qu rivers; with developed transport, abundant products, gathered merchants, and a brisk economy, the pavilion gathering arose and developed in this special geographical environment. The decorated pavilion is the most prominent performance form of the gathering. In performance, on a platform of about four square meters stands a pole with a slender, segmented base column whose sections join end to end; brackets (iron rings) on the pole extend horizontally and at angles. As the classical description has it, "children are dressed in theatrical makeup and bound to the carriage pole, carried in procession by mechanism rings that turn," so that the figures and stories of drama or of life are portrayed, stacked into three to five layers, eight to ten meters high, with "four men carrying it along, parading the great streets and disporting at the wharves." During the performance the pavilion sways gently, seeming about to fall yet never falling, displaying the qualities of "height, thrill, peril, wonder, and ingenuity," transfixing the audience and filling them with amazement. Besides the decorated pavilion, the gathering includes more than ten other folk performance forms, such as dragon lanterns, lion dances, and stilt walking. During the pavilion gathering, "men and women come forth to view and revel, filling the streets and blocking the lanes; women and men from neighboring jurisdictions travel hundreds of li without hesitation to join the grand event — the whole land appears as if struck with madness." Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Carrying the pavilion through the streets": The climax of the festival: the multi-tiered frame of actors is carried along the street, swaying precariously yet never falling. "The three-day festival period": The festival is fixed on the 16th to 18th of the third lunar month, moving between street and square as the audience follows. "Bamboo frame and ring-driven mechanism": A bamboo frame and iron rings form the moving joints that let the costumed figures turn and lean without the structure falling apart. "Dragon lanterns, lions and stilt walkers": More than a dozen other folk forms join the procession, so ground teams and the pavilion share the same street.
Carrying the pavilion through the streets
The climax of the festival: the multi-tiered frame of actors is carried along the street, swaying precariously yet never falling.
The three-day festival period
The festival is fixed on the 16th to 18th of the third lunar month, moving between street and square as the audience follows.
Bamboo frame and ring-driven mechanism
A bamboo frame and iron rings form the moving joints that let the costumed figures turn and lean without the structure falling apart.
Dragon lanterns, lions and stilt walkers
More than a dozen other folk forms join the procession, so ground teams and the pavilion share the same street.
03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status
In 2025, Lei Mingzhen was announced in the sixth batch of national representative bearers for Sanhuicaitinghui, with Qu, Sichuan as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Sanhuicaitinghui in Qu, Sichuan: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2008 (batch 2), with Qu, Sichuan as its declared area, and Qu County Cultural Center (Qu County Art Museum, Qu County Intangible Cultural Heritage Safeguarding Center, Qu County Yeyu Sports Xuexiao) 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 decorated pavilion gathering (彩亭会) began to take shape in Sanhui in the early years of the Qing dynasty, and gradually flourished from the mid-to-late Qing through the Republican era.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wang Anda | Qu, Sichuan | 03-1487 | Same declared area |
| Lei Mingzhen | Qu, Sichuan | — | 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。