Shangdangbangzi

01 · Historical Records

In the Daoguang reign it was called local native opera; when it went to the provincial capital of Taiyuan to perform in 1934 it was known as Shangdang gongdiao; in 1954 it was definitively named Shangdang bangzi. It was already flourishing in the middle and later years of the Qianlong reign of the Qing dynasty; in the Jiaqing and Daoguang reigns troupes multiplied, famous actors emerged in numbers, plays vied with one another in abundance and schools of style blossomed in all directions, and the genre entered a period of vigorous development. The stage setting of Shangdang bangzi observes the convention of she da chao (setting up the great court), and its facial-makeup patterns are highly distinctive in their own way.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

Shangdang bangzi is one of the four great bangzi genres of Shanxi Province and is popular in south-eastern Shanxi. It sings mainly bangzi tunes, while also performing Kunqu, pihuang, luoluo qiang and juan opera, popularly summed up as kun, bang, luo, juan and huang. Statistics show that Shangdang bangzi has more than seven hundred traditional plays, of which nearly six hundred are bangzi plays, more than ninety are pihuang plays, more than ten are Kunqu plays and several each are luoluo qiang plays and juan plays; representative repertoire includes San Guan Pai Yan (The Banquet at the Three Passes), Tian Bo Lou (The Heavenly Billow Tower), Yan Men Guan (Yanmen Pass), Chuang Youzhou (Breaking into Youzhou), Dong Jia Ling (Dongjialing Ridge), Qiao Yuan An (The Case of the Wondrous Marriage), Duo Qiu Kui (Seizing the Autumn Champion), Gan Quan Gong (The Ganquan Palace), Dong Men Hui (The Meeting at the East Gate) and Xu Gong An (The Case of Lord Xu), some of which are peculiar to Shangdang bangzi alone. Its vocal system combines the qupai (tune-pattern) type with the banqiang (set-metre) type, but the banqiang type predominates; its ban patterns include daban, zhong si-li, si-li, daban, daoban, sanban and gunqiang, of which si-li and daban are the most used and the most distinctive. In performance men and women sing in the same register and to the same pitch, the male voice being taken in falsetto. The principal accompanying instruments are the juqin, the erba and the huhu, known as the three principal instruments. The role types of Shangdang bangzi are chiefly the four of sheng, dan, jing and chou, and the basic performance convention of each role type is called the san ba (three grips); when it is applied the performer throws out the chest and lifts the head, moving in a steady and powerful way. Its performance style is bold in line and large in contour, going straight in and straight out, concise and lively; in the course of its later development it was gradually influenced by Beijing opera and underwent some change. The dan role also has a form of makeup called po mian (broken face), which carries over a legacy of Yuan zaju: with white powder a single horizontal stroke is drawn across the right eyelid of a character of bad conduct in the play, or a small orchid or chrysanthemum is painted on the character's right cheekbone. Shangdang bangzi contains a variety of vocal systems, from which the historical evolution and change of xiqu vocal systems can be examined.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

From the Xianfeng reign of the Qing dynasty until the eve of the War of Resistance against Japan, Shangdang bangzi entered its heyday, with more than two hundred troupes and the formation of two markedly distinctive artistic schools, the zhoufu school and the lufu school, and the emergence of such famous masters as Zhao Qinghai, Lang Buxiang, Shen Huilu and many others.

Other submitting regions for the same item: Shangdangbangzi.

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

At present, under the impact of modern culture and the economic tide, Shangdang bangzi has lost a large part of its audience, performance standards have gradually declined, many troupes have been forced to disband, successors are scarce, the future of the troupes is worrying, and measures to support and protect it are urgently needed. Ma Zhengrui (as recorded in the official dossier of the associated inheritor): male, Han, born in 1939, a native of Zezhou, Shanxi. In 1958 Ma Zhengrui was seconded on loan to the Minfeng opera troupe of Jincheng County for apprenticeship and performance; there he sought instruction from the noted Shangdang xusheng Shen Yindong and from Yan Fasheng and Chen Yufu, and inherited the art of the Shen school in full. He later became a disciple of Guo Jinshun and received his true transmission. From 1992, when he became principal of the Jincheng School of Culture and Arts, he has devoted himself to training successors to Shangdang bangzi; his performance is graceful and natural, his vocal style fine and elegant, expressing feeling through the voice. Representative works include Zhan Huatang and others. Representative inheritor of Shangdang bangzi in the second national-level batch of national-level intangible cultural heritage projects; a first-class actor. Wu Guohua (as recorded in the official dossier of the associated inheritor): female, Han, born in October 1959, a native of Gaoping County, Shanxi Province. A national first-class actor, and an expert enjoying the special government allowance of the State Council. Influenced by her family from childhood, in 1973 she entered the Jin-dongnan opera school, specialising in the qingyi and xiaodan roles. She has worked in the Shangdang bangzi troupe of Jincheng City since 1982; her husband Zhang Baoping is also a noted Shangdang xusheng. She has inherited and carried forward the art of Shangdang bangzi; her vocal style is soft and pleasing to the ear, vigorous and forceful, and her performance is fine and delicate, penetrating deeply into the characters she portrays. Representative works include Jie Liang, Sha Xi, Sha Miao, Xun Fu, Famensi, San Guan Pai Yan and Chu Ding Zhong Yuan. Representative inheritor of Shangdang bangzi in the third national-level batch of national-level intangible cultural heritage projects. In her long stage practice she has felt keenly the importance of training successors; dozens of young actors trained under her guidance have for the most part become the backbone of performance, and in recent years she has also taken an active part in bringing intangible cultural heritage into schools.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:

• Ma Zhengrui 02-0474
• Wu Guohua 03-0992
• Zhang Aizhen 03-0993
• Zhang Baoping 03-0994
• Zhang Zhiming 03-0995
• Guo Xiaoming 04-1607
• Chen Suqin

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

1. Shangdangbangzi (Jincheng, Shanxi) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Ma Zhengrui · National Representative Bearer Archive
3. Wu Guohua · National Representative Bearer Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗