Chen Jimin

01 · Lineage & Regional School

Chen Jimin, Male, Unspecified, from Quanzhou, Fujian, is a third-batch national representative bearer of Liyuan Opera (Ⅳ-2). The tradition is documented in Quanzhou, Fujian. Within the regional tradition and school record of Liyuan Opera in Quanzhou, Fujian: It is divided into three schools: Xiaoliyuan (the 'seven-member troupe', qizi ban) and, within Daliliyuan, the 'Shanglu' (Upper Road) and 'Xianan' (Lower South) schools; each school has its own reserve repertoire known as the 'eighteen shed-heads' (shiba pengtou), preserving 25 nanxi plays including Zhu Wen, Liu Wenlong, Cai Bojie, and Wang Kui. Liyuan opera has preserved both documentary and living materials of Song and Yuan dynasty drama, from which the important characteristics of nanxi culture and of the regional culture of southern Fujian can be discerned. Liyuan opera originated in Quanzhou during the Song and Yuan dynasties; together with the nanxi (southern drama) of Zhejiang it is jointly known as the 'Min-Zhe sound' for 'performing the sung and recited vocal styles of the Southern Song play-texts'. With a history of more than eight hundred years to the present day, it is acclaimed as a 'living fossil of the ancient southern drama'. Unlike the 'one table and two chairs' arrangement of the general opera stage, only a long bench was placed at the rear of the shed (peng); the props (qiemo) of the Southern Song dynasty zaju Yanyao Suan (The Eye-Medicine Quack) can still be seen today in the performances of the jing (painted face) and chou (clown) role types of Liyuan opera.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

Male, Han ethnicity, born in May 1945 in Quanzhou, Fujian Province. In 1957 he was admitted to the Fujian Southern Min Experimental Xiqu Troupe, where he studied jiao chui bai under Cai Youben and drumming technique under the Liyuan Opera master Li Xiaoyou; in 1960 he became a disciple of Lin Shicheng, the celebrated Liyuan Opera drum master, and systematically studied the traditional Liyuan Opera art of directing the drum. His drumming technique is superb and his ability to coordinate with all the other departments exceptionally strong. Because of his outstanding drum direction in Dong Sheng Yu Li Shi (Scholar Dong and Lady Li), the Nineteenth Fujian Provincial Drama Joint Performance created a special drum-direction award for him. He is not only accomplished in stage performance but also attaches great importance to the theoretical systematization of Liyuan Opera drum technique; the papers he co-authored were included in works such as the Dictionary of Chinese Music and Collected Essays on the Arts, and he has over the years documented and organized the drum techniques of traditional repertoire. Within the documented technical tradition of Liyuan Opera in Quanzhou, Fujian: Liyuan opera circulated widely in Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, and Xiamen in Fujian, in the Chaoshan region of Guangdong, and in the Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan regions, as well as in the settlements throughout Southeast Asia where Minnan-speaking overseas Chinese reside. Liyuan opera has preserved many of the plays, vocal styles, and performance regulations of the Song and Yuan dynasty nanxi. Liyuan opera still exists on the stage today, and has essentially preserved its original, unadorned style of theatre. It has a complete set of strictly regulated performance forms; its basic movements are known as the 'eighteen-step kemo' (the eighteen fundamental movement formulae), which every role type must observe. Liyuan opera music has preserved the nanxi practice of accompaniment chiefly by drum, xiao (vertical flute), and strings; its vocal style derives from the singing of the ancient music of the Jin and Tang dynasties and is sung in the Quanzhou pronunciation, with many notes sung to a single syllable, and belongs to the qupai (fixed-tune) system; to this day it still uses the ancient tune-pattern names such as Mokedoule (The Mo Reed Tune) and Nishang Yuyi Qu (The Melody of Rainbow Skirts and Feather Robes). The pipa used in Liyuan opera is the nanpa (southern pipa), held horizontally and plucked, similar in construction to Tang dynasty instruments; the manner of stringing is a survival of the Jin dynasty xiqin tradition; the dongxiao is the chiba (a flute one chi and eight cun long) of the Tang dynasty; and the percussion is led by the nan gu (pressed-foot drum), played in a distinctive manner. The 'shed' (peng) is the traditional performance space of Liyuan opera; before a performance, a 'shed-offering' (xian peng) ceremony must be held, in which Tian Du Yuan Shuai (Marshal Tian Du), the patron patriarch of the players, is worshipped; only afterwards do the actors begin to apply their makeup and perform the 'jia guan' (official of promotion) dance. In terms of historical and cultural significance, Liyuan opera is an intangible, comprehensive treasury of the arts. With the changes of the times, the audience of Liyuan opera has dwindled day by day, and the survival of the genre has fallen into serious crisis. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Zhu Wen": It is divided into three schools: Xiaoliyuan (the 'seven-member troupe', qizi ban) and, within Daliliyuan, the 'Shanglu' (Upper Road) and 'Xianan' (Lower South) schools; each school has its own reserve repertoire known as the 'eighteen shed-heads' (shiba pengtou), preserving 25 nanxi plays including Zhu Wen, Liu Wenlong, Cai Bojie, and Wang Kui. "Liu Wenlong": It is divided into three schools: Xiaoliyuan (the 'seven-member troupe', qizi ban) and, within Daliliyuan, the 'Shanglu' (Upper Road) and 'Xianan' (Lower South) schools; each school has its own reserve repertoire known as the 'eighteen shed-heads' (shiba pengtou), preserving 25 nanxi plays including Zhu Wen, Liu Wenlong, Cai Bojie, and Wang Kui. "Cai Bojie": It is divided into three schools: Xiaoliyuan (the 'seven-member troupe', qizi ban) and, within Daliliyuan, the 'Shanglu' (Upper Road) and 'Xianan' (Lower South) schools; each school has its own reserve repertoire known as the 'eighteen shed-heads' (shiba pengtou), preserving 25 nanxi plays including Zhu Wen, Liu Wenlong, Cai Bojie, and Wang Kui. "Wang Kui": It is divided into three schools: Xiaoliyuan (the 'seven-member troupe', qizi ban) and, within Daliliyuan, the 'Shanglu' (Upper Road) and 'Xianan' (Lower South) schools; each school has its own reserve repertoire known as the 'eighteen shed-heads' (shiba pengtou), preserving 25 nanxi plays including Zhu Wen, Liu Wenlong, Cai Bojie, and Wang Kui.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

National representative bearer of Liyuan Opera, a third-batch national intangible cultural heritage project.

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 Jimin · National Representative Bearer Archive