Shi Wanfu

01 · Lineage & Regional School

Shi Wanfu, Male, Han, from Kangbao, Hebei, is a second-batch national representative bearer of Errentai (Ⅳ-73). The tradition is documented in Kangbao, Hebei. Within the regional tradition and school record of Errentai in Kangbao, Hebei: Taking Hohhot as the dividing line, the style schools of Errentai fall into a western route and an eastern route. Errentai is a folk small opera popular in the central and western regions of Inner Mongolia and in northern Shanxi, northern Shaanxi and Zhangjiakou in Hebei. Taking Hohhot as the dividing line, it is split into a western route and an eastern route: western-route Errentai was originally called Menggu qu and was mainly popular in Hohhot, Baotou, Bayannur and Yeke Zhao as well as the Yulin and Xinzhou areas, while eastern-route Errentai was first called "bengbeng" or simply Errentai and was mainly popular in Ulanqab, Yanbei and Zhangjiakou. Kangbao belongs to the eastern route; the meeting of the Bashang grasslands and the accents of Shanxi-Shaanxi immigrants gave local Errentai a character of its own in both vocal style and spoken delivery, and it moved by stages from a small play-and-duet form to a form able to perform large-scale plays.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

Shi Wanfu joined the Kangbao County Troupe in 1971, where he served as secretary of the Youth League branch and as leader of the orchestra with responsibility for the drum; in 1986 he became head of the troupe and secretary of its Party branch, in 1988 he was appointed secretary of the Party branch of the Kangbao County Culture Bureau and deputy head of its arts section, in 1996 he became director of the Kangbao County Cultural Centre, and he now serves as artistic director of the Kangbao County Errentai Song-and-Dance Troupe. Building on the heritage of traditional Errentai, he organised the troupe's leading creative artists to conduct careful research and bold experimentation, enabling Errentai, which had previously staged only short plays and duet songs, to develop into a form capable of performing full-length works. Representative works for which he organised and drafted the musical design include Gaoyuan Jilang (Waves on the Plateau) and Qiang Caishen (Seizing the God of Wealth). Within the documented technical tradition of Errentai in Kangbao, Hebei: Errentai is a folk small opera popular in the central and western regions of Inner Mongolia and in northern Shanxi, northern Shaanxi and Zhangjiakou in Hebei. Its original melodies are local folk songs: vocal styles developed from Han folk songs of the central and western regions of Inner Mongolia such as [Da Ying Tao] (Cherry-Striking), [Ya Gao Mian] (Pressing Cake Flour) and [Da Hou Tao] (Back-Harness); vocal styles developed from northern Shanxi folk songs such as [Zou Xi Kou] (Walking the West Pass), [Wu Ge Fang Yang] (Fifth Brother Herding Sheep) and [Zhen Zhu Dao Juan Lian] (Pearls Rolling Up the Blind); vocal styles developed from northern Shaanxi folk songs such as [Song Da Ge] (Seeing Off the Elder Brother), [Shi Li Dun] (Ten-Li Mound) and [Xiu He Bao] (Embroidering the Purse); vocal styles developed from Mongolian folk songs such as [Ala Ben Hua] and [Wang Ai Zhao]; the northern Hebei folk song [Shi Dui Hua] (Ten Flower Pairs); and Jianghuai folk songs such as Jasmine Flower and Beauty Yu. The paizi qu (banner tunes) also draw on many Jinju (Shanxi opera) tune patterns, folk wind-and-percussion music and religious music. Western-route Errentai was originally called Menggu qu and was mainly popular in the city of Hohhot, the city of Baotou, Bayannur League, Yeke Zhao League, the Yulin area and the Xinzhou area; eastern-route Errentai was first called "bengbeng" or simply Errentai and was mainly popular in Ulanqab League, the Yanbei area and the Zhangjiakou area. Traditional Errentai repertoire deals mainly with labour and production, exposes the darkness of the old society and sings of marriage and love; some plays tell mythological and historical stories. Western-route Errentai has plays such as Money-Striking, Cherry-Striking, Back-Harness, Climbing the Mountain Top and Ala Ben Hua, while eastern-route Errentai has Return from South of the Pass, Leading the Donkey, Picking Sichuan Pepper, Selling Malt Sugar and Lanzhou City. The performing forms of Errentai fall into three large categories: yingma xi, daibian xi and duichang. Yingma xi stresses singing, recitation and acting and demands a good voice from the performer; daibian xi stresses dance performance; duichang is sung alternately by two performers. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Money-Striking": Western-route Errentai has plays such as Money-Striking, Cherry-Striking, Back-Harness, Climbing the Mountain Top and Ala Ben Hua, while eastern-route Errentai has Return from South of the Pass, Leading the Donkey, Picking Sichuan Pepper, Selling Malt Sugar and Lanzhou City. "Cherry-Striking": Western-route Errentai has plays such as Money-Striking, Cherry-Striking, Back-Harness, Climbing the Mountain Top and Ala Ben Hua, while eastern-route Errentai has Return from South of the Pass, Leading the Donkey, Picking Sichuan Pepper, Selling Malt Sugar and Lanzhou City. "Back-Harness": Western-route Errentai has plays such as Money-Striking, Cherry-Striking, Back-Harness, Climbing the Mountain Top and Ala Ben Hua, while eastern-route Errentai has Return from South of the Pass, Leading the Donkey, Picking Sichuan Pepper, Selling Malt Sugar and Lanzhou City. "Climbing the Mountain Top": Western-route Errentai has plays such as Money-Striking, Cherry-Striking, Back-Harness, Climbing the Mountain Top and Ala Ben Hua, while eastern-route Errentai has Return from South of the Pass, Leading the Donkey, Picking Sichuan Pepper, Selling Malt Sugar and Lanzhou City.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

Male, Han ethnicity, born in 1955 in Kangbao, Hebei, he is a second-batch national representative bearer of Errentai, a national intangible cultural heritage project. He has also consistently emphasised the training of successors, recruiting more than eighty Errentai students in three successive intakes.

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. Shi Wanfu · National Representative Bearer Archive