Chen Zhiming

01 · Lineage & Regional School

In 1976 Chen Zhiming joined the Shimei Professional Gezaixi Troupe in Longhai to learn the art, studying under Hong Benzhong; in 1986 he joined the Xiamen Gezaixi Troupe. Within the regional tradition and school record of Gezaixi Opera in Xiamen, Fujian: Gezai opera is a southern Fujian dialect operatic genre founded on Minnan gezai songs and formed by absorbing the artistic resources of such operatic genres as Liyuan opera, Beiguan opera, Gaojia opera, Chaozhou opera and Beijing opera. In addition, it absorbs local Taiwanese folk ditties and part of the operatic music of these genres as a supplement. Gezai opera (Taiwanese opera) arose in the interior of Taiwan island in the early twentieth century, soon reached Xiamen, and spread rapidly across the southern Fujian region and to the places of Southeast Asia where overseas Chinese had settled.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

Male, Han ethnicity, born in 1964 in Longhai, Fujian Province. Through years of study he gained a proficient command of the performance techniques and characteristics of the sheng, dan, jing, mo, and chou role types in Gezaixi. His representative works include Bai Lu Nüshen (The Egret Goddess) and Shao Jianghai. Within the documented technical tradition of Gezaixi Opera in Xiamen, Fujian: Gezai opera in its beginnings consisted mainly of antiphonal singing between one man and one woman; it later developed into a mature operatic form with the three role lines of sheng, dan and chou, combining spoken parts (ke), singing (qu) and recitation (bai). Its sheng line includes xiaosheng, laosheng, wensheng and wusheng; the dan line includes kudan and zhengdan; the chou line includes such role types as sanhua and laopo. All the role types sing in the true voice, and the kudan role is the most distinctive among them. The content of Gezai opera consists chiefly of singing folk tales. Its repertoire works include Chen San and Wu Niang, Liu Xiu Restores the Kingdom, The Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea, The Life of Ji Gong and Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai, and most of them stress loyalty, filial piety, integrity and righteousness. There is generally no fixed script, and to this day performance still follows the practice in which the “play-teacher” expounds the story and assigns the roles for performance. Gezai opera has much spoken text and little singing, and its metrics are free. Among its more than one hundred traditional tune patterns are the melodious and high-pitched [Qizi diao] seven-syllable tune, the [Da diao] great tune and the [Beisi diao] recalling tune, as well as the folk-ballad, declamatory [Taiwan zainian diao] miscellaneous-chant tune, and still more various crying tunes full of melancholy and sorrow. The principal accompanying instruments of Gezai opera are the yehu, the large sanxian, the jinghu, the suona, the single-skin drum, the gong and the naobo. According to the differences in performance form and theatre type, it is divided into such forms as the ground-swept Gezai arrays, the open-air stage Gezai opera and the indoor stage Gezai opera; as radio, film, television and other mass media have risen, broadcast Gezai opera, Gezai opera films and televised Gezai opera have also appeared one after another. Since its birth, performing troupes and artists on the two sides of the Taiwan Strait have exchanged performances continuously. As a precious art form created and possessed in common by the people of both sides, Gezai opera has become an important bond linking the spiritual culture of the people of the two sides. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Chen San and Wu Niang": The content of Gezai opera consists chiefly of singing folk tales. Its repertoire works include Chen San and Wu Niang, Liu Xiu Restores the Kingdom, The Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea, The Life of Ji Gong and Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai, and most of them stress loyalty, filial piety, integrity and righteousness. There is generally no fixed script, and to this day performance still follows the practice in which the “play-teacher” expounds the story and assigns the roles for performance. "Liu Xiu Restores the Kingdom": The content of Gezai opera consists chiefly of singing folk tales. Its repertoire works include Chen San and Wu Niang, Liu Xiu Restores the Kingdom, The Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea, The Life of Ji Gong and Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai, and most of them stress loyalty, filial piety, integrity and righteousness. There is generally no fixed script, and to this day performance still follows the practice in which the “play-teacher” expounds the story and assigns the roles for performance. "Ba Xian Guo Hai (The Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea)": The content of Gezai opera consists chiefly of singing folk tales. Its repertoire works include Chen San and Wu Niang, Liu Xiu Restores the Kingdom, The Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea, The Life of Ji Gong and Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai, and most of them stress loyalty, filial piety, integrity and righteousness. There is generally no fixed script, and to this day performance still follows the practice in which the “play-teacher” expounds the story and assigns the roles for performance. "Ji Gong Zhuan (The Life of Ji Gong)": The content of Gezai opera consists chiefly of singing folk tales. Its repertoire works include Chen San and Wu Niang, Liu Xiu Restores the Kingdom, The Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea, The Life of Ji Gong and Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai, and most of them stress loyalty, filial piety, integrity and righteousness. There is generally no fixed script, and to this day performance still follows the practice in which the “play-teacher” expounds the story and assigns the roles for performance.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

National representative bearer of Gezaixi Opera, a second-batch national intangible cultural heritage project; a first-grade actor.

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. Chen Zhiming · National Representative Bearer Archive