Zhang Baoying

01 · Lineage & Regional School

Zhang Baoying, Female, Han, from Henan, is a second-batch national representative bearer of Yuju (Henan Opera) (Ⅳ-23). The tradition is documented in Henan. Within the regional tradition and school record of Yuju (Henan Opera) in Henan: Yuju is popular mainly in Henan Province and is circulated throughout the country. Owing to differences of locality and speech it has formed different vocal styles within Henan, such as Yudong Diao, Xiangfu Diao, Yuxi Diao, Shahe Diao and Gaodiao: Yudong Diao centres on the Shangqiu area and makes much use of falsetto with a high register; Yuxi Diao centres on the Luoyang area, is sung mainly in the natural voice and carries its melodic line downward; Xiangfu Diao is current in the Kaifeng area, while Shahe Diao is current on both banks of the Shahe River in southeastern Henan. The various schools resemble and differ from one another both in repertory and in performing style. Yuju has now been transmitted for more than a hundred years, and as early as the Qianlong reign of the Qing dynasty it had already become a highly influential operatic genre in Henan.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

Female, Han ethnicity, born in 1940 in Changge, Henan. She is known for her mastery of tragedy; her vocal delivery is rounded and full, uniting expressive voice with deep feeling. Her representative works include Tao Hua An (The Peach Blossom Nunnery) and Bao Qing Tian (Lord Bao). Within the documented technical tradition of Yuju (Henan Opera) in Henan: Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Beheading the Son": Yuju has abundant repertory resources, among them close to a thousand traditional plays. In past times there was the saying "three thousand in the Tang, eight hundred in the Song, and the Three Kingdoms can never be exhausted", and such traditional plays as Beheading the Son, The Shepherd's Scroll, Liu Quan Carrying the Melon, Embracing the Pipa, The Execution of Guo Huai, The Red Monk Descends the Mountain, The Great Sacrifice, Borrowing the Wife, The Matchmaker, Hua Mulan, Mu Guiying Takes Command, The Flower Spear Duel and Magistrate Tang Judges the Imperial Decree have long remained on the stage without decline. "The Shepherd's Scroll": Yuju has abundant repertory resources, among them close to a thousand traditional plays. In past times there was the saying "three thousand in the Tang, eight hundred in the Song, and the Three Kingdoms can never be exhausted", and such traditional plays as Beheading the Son, The Shepherd's Scroll, Liu Quan Carrying the Melon, Embracing the Pipa, The Execution of Guo Huai, The Red Monk Descends the Mountain, The Great Sacrifice, Borrowing the Wife, The Matchmaker, Hua Mulan, Mu Guiying Takes Command, The Flower Spear Duel and Magistrate Tang Judges the Imperial Decree have long remained on the stage without decline. "Liu Quan Carrying the Melon": Yuju has abundant repertory resources, among them close to a thousand traditional plays. In past times there was the saying "three thousand in the Tang, eight hundred in the Song, and the Three Kingdoms can never be exhausted", and such traditional plays as Beheading the Son, The Shepherd's Scroll, Liu Quan Carrying the Melon, Embracing the Pipa, The Execution of Guo Huai, The Red Monk Descends the Mountain, The Great Sacrifice, Borrowing the Wife, The Matchmaker, Hua Mulan, Mu Guiying Takes Command, The Flower Spear Duel and Magistrate Tang Judges the Imperial Decree have long remained on the stage without decline. "Embracing the Pipa": Yuju has abundant repertory resources, among them close to a thousand traditional plays. In past times there was the saying "three thousand in the Tang, eight hundred in the Song, and the Three Kingdoms can never be exhausted", and such traditional plays as Beheading the Son, The Shepherd's Scroll, Liu Quan Carrying the Melon, Embracing the Pipa, The Execution of Guo Huai, The Red Monk Descends the Mountain, The Great Sacrifice, Borrowing the Wife, The Matchmaker, Hua Mulan, Mu Guiying Takes Command, The Flower Spear Duel and Magistrate Tang Judges the Imperial Decree have long remained on the stage without decline.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

A national representative bearer of Yuju (Henan Opera), a second-batch national intangible cultural heritage project; honorary principal of the Anyang School of Culture and Arts in Henan Province; and a first-grade actor. At fifteen Zhang Baoying was admitted to the Anyang Municipal Yuju Troupe, and in 1959 she became a disciple of Cui Lantian. For nearly fifty years she has devoted herself to the art of the Cui school, developing and innovating on the basis of inheritance in keeping with the characteristics of her own voice and forming a distinctive artistic style of her own. Her disciples and successors are to be found throughout the country, and she is known as the leading figure of the New Cui school.

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. Zhang Baoying · National Representative Bearer Archive