Wei Jianting
01 · Lineage & Regional School
Wei Jianting, Male, Zhuang, from Nanningshimashan, Guangxi, is a sixth-batch national representative bearer of Zhuang Huigu Customs (Ⅹ-176). The tradition is documented in Nanningshimashan, Guangxi. Within the regional tradition and school record of Zhuang Huigu Customs in Nanningshimashan, Guangxi: The Zhuang assembly-drum custom was formed by the Zhuang people of the Hongshui River basin in the course of rice farming; by beating assembly drums it creates a lively atmosphere, achieving the aims of dispelling evil and welcoming auspiciousness and of competing in entertainment. It includes drum making, inviting the drum, opening the drum, drumming, and unloading the drum, and takes Mashan County, Guangxi, as its core distribution area. Local people often gather by village in one place to compete in drumming, hence the later name "assembly drum" (hui gu). The Zhuang assembly-drum custom took shape in the Song dynasty, flourished in the Qing dynasty, and has a history of more than one thousand years to date.
02 · Mastery & Signature Works
The bearer record for Wei Jianting is anchored in the documented technical standards of Zhuang Huigu Customs in Nanningshimashan, Guangxi. Within the documented technical tradition of Zhuang Huigu Customs in Nanningshimashan, Guangxi: The Zhuang are a farming people who cultivate rice; among the people there circulate legends of the "sky-reaching drum," in which assembly drums replaced frogs in reporting the news of rain to the Thunder God, and of the "evil-dispelling drum," in which assembly drums imitate thunder to drive away evil spirits. With the drum as the lead, accompanied by gongs and cymbals and struck by many people at once, the sound is majestic and powerful, and it is praised as the "mighty gongs and drums of the South." In the eyes of the Zhuang people, the assembly drum symbolizes authority and strength; it must be made by an experienced and highly respected drum master, using tall trees such as camphor, and when the tree is felled and the axe first raised, incense must be burned to worship the tree god. Traditionally, the assembly-drum custom mostly takes place during the Spring Festival. Every year on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, the male members of the whole family gather to "invite the drum" and re-secure the drumhead; the first loud drum sound struck when the drum is opened is taken as auspicious, and on New Year's Eve the drum is wiped with warm water. From the first to the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, every village has drummers beating drums at the village entrance; the village elder worships the Earth God and the Thunder God, and after the first round of drums is struck, each household takes turns beating the drum to pray for peace and prosperity for the country and the people, with dragon and lion performances adding to the celebration. By the 16th of the first lunar month, the drumhead is removed and hung in a cool, dry place high up, while the drum body is used to store grain, to be reassembled and used again the following year. Thereafter, for the birth of a child, marriage, harvest celebrations, and receiving guests after a house move, people all celebrate with assembly drums and enjoy drumming competitions; the Zhuang assembly-drum custom has permeated every aspect of the Zhuang people's lives. In recent years, the Zhuang assembly drum has developed not only into a mass performance program and a competition event, but also into one of the important cultural symbols of the Zhuang people, featuring at celebrations such as the Shanghai World Expo, the Guangxi Ethnic Traditional Sports Games, the Nanning International Folk Song Arts Festival, and the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Mashan County has become the "Home of Chinese Assembly Drums." The Zhuang assembly-drum custom has a long history, wide influence, diverse forms, and rich content, and is an organic combination of ethnic memory and cultural identity. It integrates drum making and drum-use customs, condensing the cultural connotations of the Zhuang people's celebration of festivals, marriage and child-rearing, and folk exhibitions, as well as the rice-farming economy and the belief that all things have spirits; it reflects the life force and unique creativity that the Zhuang people have unleashed in the course of adapting to their environment; it is an important component of Chinese drum culture and has positive significance in promoting rural cultural revitalization, advancing the integration of culture and tourism, and helping to raise incomes and achieve prosperity. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Making the drum and worshipping the tree spirit": Only a respected master may make the drum from camphor wood, and incense is burned to the tree spirit before the first cut is struck. "Fetching and tightening the drum": On the twenty-third of the twelfth month the men gather to refit the drum skin, and the first clear beat after tightening is taken as the good omen. "Cleaning the drum and the first beat": The drum is washed inside and out with warm water on New Year's Eve, and the new year opens only after the elders have worshipped the earth and thunder gods. "Beating at the village gate from the first to the fifteenth": For the first fifteen days drummers stand at the village gate in turn, drum beating passing from household to household, with dragons and lions joining in.
Making the drum and worshipping the tree spirit
Only a respected master may make the drum from camphor wood, and incense is burned to the tree spirit before the first cut is struck.
Fetching and tightening the drum
On the twenty-third of the twelfth month the men gather to refit the drum skin, and the first clear beat after tightening is taken as the good omen.
Cleaning the drum and the first beat
The drum is washed inside and out with warm water on New Year's Eve, and the new year opens only after the elders have worshipped the earth and thunder gods.
Beating at the village gate from the first to the fifteenth
For the first fifteen days drummers stand at the village gate in turn, drum beating passing from household to household, with dragons and lions joining in.
03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status
In 2025, Wei Jianting was announced in the sixth batch of national representative bearers for Zhuang Huigu Customs, with Nanningshimashan, Guangxi as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Zhuang Huigu Customs in Nanningshimashan, Guangxi: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2021 (batch 5), with Nanningshimashan, Guangxi as its declared area, and Mashan County 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 Zhuang assembly-drum custom took shape in the Song dynasty, flourished in the Qing dynasty, and has a history of more than one thousand years to date.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wei Jianting | Nanningshimashan, Guangxi | — | 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。