Wang Xiangrong

01 · Lineage & Regional School

Wang Xiangrong, Male, Han, from Yulin, Shaanxi, is a third-batch national representative bearer of Northern Shaanxi Folk Songs (Ⅱ-73). The tradition is documented in Yulin, Shaanxi. Within the regional tradition and school record of Northern Shaanxi Folk Songs in Yulin, Shaanxi: Northern Shaanxi folk songs arise directly out of everyday production and life and are closely bound to the local people's speech and intonation, regional character, living environment and emotional life. They are high and rugged, plain and candid yet roundabout and lingering, showing the distinctive regional style of the Loess Plateau; they differ both from the folk songs of the Guanzhong and Central Plains areas and from the grassland folk songs — the musical form of the xintianyou, that representative variety of Northern Shaanxi folk song, with its “double-sentence, upper-and-lower structure” is entirely unlike the folk-song forms of other places. As a product of the long-term fusion of nomadic and agrarian cultures in the history of northern Shaanxi, Northern Shaanxi folk songs were formed early; the xintianyou songs, for example, arose in the middle Zhou period and took stable shape by the Han dynasty, becoming one of the ancient folk-song forms of China.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

He is a man of the Han ethnic group, born in June 1952 in Fugu County, Shaanxi Province. Both his parents were well-known local performers of errentai and shanqu, so he grew up steeped in music and became familiar with many folk tunes; through long practice in singing he gradually became a celebrated singer of northern Shaanxi folk songs. His singing is graceful in melodic line, bold in spirit, full-bodied and free in its control of rise and fall, and it carries strong artistic power. Drawing widely on the strengths of many traditions, he can sing shanqu, the pashandiao climbing melody, errentai and other forms at will. He has sung insert songs for many films, among them Wo Shi Wai Xing Ren (I Am an Alien), and his high, far-carrying voice has been heard in more than twenty provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities of China and in more than twenty countries and regions around the world. In 2006 the China Record Corporation released an album of Wang Xiangrong singing northern Shaanxi folk songs. Within the documented technical tradition of Northern Shaanxi Folk Songs in Yulin, Shaanxi: Northern Shaanxi folk songs are a collective name for the various folk songs current on the Loess Plateau in the north of Shaanxi Province. They are rich in variety, including chiefly the xintianyou, shanqu, paishandiao, boatmen's work songs, dayangge diao, dry-boat tunes, wine songs, ertai, Yulin xiaoqu, Qingjian daoqing, traditional xiaodiao and many custom songs, more than 27,000 pieces in all. During the Agrarian Revolution, the War of Resistance against Japan and the War of Liberation, Northern Shaanxi folk songs played a very important role. Many Northern Shaanxi songs from the revolutionary period directly reflect the history of China's revolutionary struggle; taken together they can form a complete revolutionary epic. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Dongfanghong (The East Is Red)": Northern Shaanxi folk songs have extremely high artistic value and research value in folklore and history; their representative works The East Is Red, Lan Hua, Thirty Li Shop and Driving the Pack Animals are known throughout the country, have been extensively adapted and arranged, and occupy a certain place in the history of music in New China. "Lanhua (Lan Hua Flower)": Northern Shaanxi folk songs have extremely high artistic value and research value in folklore and history; their representative works The East Is Red, Lan Hua, Thirty Li Shop and Driving the Pack Animals are known throughout the country, have been extensively adapted and arranged, and occupy a certain place in the history of music in New China. "Sanshilipu (Thirty Li Shop)": Northern Shaanxi folk songs have extremely high artistic value and research value in folklore and history; their representative works The East Is Red, Lan Hua, Thirty Li Shop and Driving the Pack Animals are known throughout the country, have been extensively adapted and arranged, and occupy a certain place in the history of music in New China. "Ganshengling (Driving the Pack Animals)": Northern Shaanxi folk songs have extremely high artistic value and research value in folklore and history; their representative works The East Is Red, Lan Hua, Thirty Li Shop and Driving the Pack Animals are known throughout the country, have been extensively adapted and arranged, and occupy a certain place in the history of music in New China.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

National representative bearer of Northern Shaanxi Folk Songs, a third-batch national intangible cultural heritage project. He regards the transmission of northern Shaanxi folk songs as his bounden duty and is committed to training successors to the tradition.

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. Wang Xiangrong · National Representative Bearer Archive