Shangdangbangzi
01 · Historical Records
It took shape around the turn of the Ming and Qing dynasties and in the late Daoguang reign of the Qing was officially called “local native opera”. In 1934 it performed in Taiyuan and was renamed “Shangdang gongdiao”, while local people called it the “great opera”. Only in 1954, at the First Shanxi Provincial Opera Exhibition, was it named Shangdang bangzi. Shangdang bangzi and Shangdang luozi both come from the ancient Shangdang region; drawing on local opera annals, after 1949 the two developed along separate lines, and when the Jin-dongnan region was divided into Jincheng and Changzhi cities in 1985 the Shangdang bangzi troupes were for a time concentrated in Jincheng, so that Changzhi came to rely on the Changzhi Shangdang Bangzi Troupe founded in 1994 as its new professional mainstay.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Shangdang bangzi is one of the four great bangzi genres of Shanxi, popular in the ancient Shangdang commandery of south-eastern Shanxi. It sings mainly bangzi tunes and also Kunqu, pihuang, luo and juan opera, known together as “Kun, bang, luo, juan, huang” (of which luo and juan are now rarely performed). It has a full range of role types, with the sheng, jing, qingyi and wu-xiaosheng roles dominant and the xiaosheng, xiaodan and xiaochou roles of lesser importance. The basic performance convention of every role type is called the “three grips” (san ba), which when applied raise the head and chest and round the wrist and arm, expressing a steady, powerful and strongly rhythmic performing style. Its repertory is rich, with more than seven hundred traditional pieces. Its “three grips” convention is supported by bangzi clapping and by erxian and suona accompaniment; the survival of Kunqu and pihuang elements makes the genre a living specimen for studying the coexistence of multiple vocal systems in Shanxi.
Qiankun Dai (The Cosmic Girdle)
A traditional Shangdang bangzi piece and one of the representative works of the inheritor Zhang Zhiming.
Zhenzhu Ta (The Pearl Pagoda)
A traditional Shangdang bangzi piece and one of Zhang Zhiming's representative works.
Shou Jiang Wei (Winning Over Jiang Wei)
A traditional Shangdang bangzi piece on the winning over of Jiang Wei in the Three Kingdoms era and one of Zhang Zhiming's representative works.
Chuang Youzhou (Breaking into Youzhou)
A traditional Shangdang bangzi piece and one of Zhang Zhiming's representative works.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Shangdang bangzi is popular across the ancient Shangdang commandery and, according to region and lineage, has formed different singing styles in Zezhou (today's Jincheng) and Lufu (today's Changzhi), the Lufu school preserving the troupe traditions of Sanyi Ban and Leyi Ban; the Changzhi Shangdang Bangzi Troupe is the locality's professional transmission body.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Shangdangbangzi.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The troupe performs continuously in the countryside, persevering year after year, cultivating and consolidating Changzhi's audience and laying a foundation for the further development of Shangdang bangzi. Its seven hundred or more traditional pieces and its distinctive multi-vocal system give it high value for the history of xiqu and of music, and the Changzhi troupe sustains transmission by training young actors. Zhang Zhiming (as recorded in the official dossier of an associated inheritor): male, Han, born in October 1956 in Zhangzi county, Shanxi. He later followed such Shangdang masters as Wang Dongze, Hao Tongsheng and Hao Pinzhi to specialise in the xiaosheng role and also the xusheng. Handsome and dashing in appearance, his voice combines features of the “Sanyi Ban” and “Leyi Ban” of the Shangdang bangzi Lufu school; his singing is excited and high-pitched, bright and crisp, with both traditional flavour and his own distinct character. His representative works include Qiankun Dai, Zhenzhu Ta, Shou Jiang Wei, Hanyang Tang and Chuang Youzhou. He is a representative inheritor of Shangdang bangzi in the third batch of national intangible cultural heritage projects. He works personally to transmit and carry forward Shangdang bangzi and attends to training young actors, selecting outstanding performers from grassroots troupes and art schools and teaching them according to their abilities, arranging roles suited to each performer's characteristics.
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
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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