Hebei Bangzi
01 · Historical Records
In the middle of the Qing dynasty, Qinqiang and Shanxi bangzi that had flowed into Beijing combined with the dialects and folk music of the Hebei region, and Hebei Bangzi was formally formed during the Daoguang reign. After the 1930s Hebei Bangzi declined rapidly and came near to extinction, and only after the founding of the People's Republic of China did it begin to recover.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Hebei Bangzi is the most representative local vocal operatic genre of Hebei Province. It is also known as Jing Bangzi, Zhili Bangzi, Wei Bangzi, Qinqiang and so on. Hebei Bangzi has more than five hundred traditional plays, of which The Lotus Lantern, Qin Xianglian, Jinshui Bridge, Du Shiniang, The Butterfly Cup, The Injustice to Dou E, Teaching the Son, The Broken Bridge, Three Boardings of the Sedan Chair, Joyful Return Home, Beating the Golden Branch, Xun Guanniang, The Northern and Southern Union and Su Wu Herding Sheep have the greatest influence. The vocal music of Hebei Bangzi belongs to the ban-style system, with ban patterns such as manban (slow beat), erliu, liushui, jianban and kuban, together with fandiao (reverse mode) and various introductory and closing phrases; its principal accompanying instruments are the banhu, flute, bangzi and sheng. In performance the bangzi clapper marks the beat, and the tone, even while high and impassioned, constantly gives way to a gentle and plaintive melody; the genre is adept at expressing lofty and tragic feeling. Its accompanying instruments are divided into a civil section and a martial section: the civil section includes the banhu, flute, sanxian, suona, haidi and the like, and the martial section includes drums, clappers and large and small gongs. The role types of Hebei Bangzi include xusheng (painted-beard male), xiaosheng (young male), wusheng (martial male), qingyi (young woman), huadan (flower-dan), laodan (old woman), dajing (painted face), erjing (secondary painted face), wenchou (comic male) and wuchou (martial comic); each role type has its own vocal style, the sheng roles rugged and tragic, the dan roles stirring and high, the jing roles bold and unrestrained, and the chou roles witty and lively. The performance style of Hebei Bangzi is bold and fiery, unrestrained and expansive; the actors use comparatively exaggerated stylized movements, and they often add feats of high technical difficulty.
The Lotus Lantern
Hebei Bangzi has more than five hundred traditional plays, of which The Lotus Lantern, Qin Xianglian, Jinshui Bridge, Du Shiniang, The Butterfly Cup, The Injustice to Dou E, Teaching the Son, The Broken Bridge, Three Boardings of the Sedan Chair, Joyful Return Home, Beating the Golden Branch, Xun Guanniang, The Northern and Southern Union and Su Wu Herding Sheep have the greatest influence.
Qin Xianglian
Hebei Bangzi has more than five hundred traditional plays, of which The Lotus Lantern, Qin Xianglian, Jinshui Bridge, Du Shiniang, The Butterfly Cup, The Injustice to Dou E, Teaching the Son, The Broken Bridge, Three Boardings of the Sedan Chair, Joyful Return Home, Beating the Golden Branch, Xun Guanniang, The Northern and Southern Union and Su Wu Herding Sheep have the greatest influence.
Jinshui Bridge
Hebei Bangzi has more than five hundred traditional plays, of which The Lotus Lantern, Qin Xianglian, Jinshui Bridge, Du Shiniang, The Butterfly Cup, The Injustice to Dou E, Teaching the Son, The Broken Bridge, Three Boardings of the Sedan Chair, Joyful Return Home, Beating the Golden Branch, Xun Guanniang, The Northern and Southern Union and Su Wu Herding Sheep have the greatest influence.
Du Shiniang
Hebei Bangzi has more than five hundred traditional plays, of which The Lotus Lantern, Qin Xianglian, Jinshui Bridge, Du Shiniang, The Butterfly Cup, The Injustice to Dou E, Teaching the Son, The Broken Bridge, Three Boardings of the Sedan Chair, Joyful Return Home, Beating the Golden Branch, Xun Guanniang, The Northern and Southern Union and Su Wu Herding Sheep have the greatest influence.
The Butterfly Cup
Hebei Bangzi has more than five hundred traditional plays, of which The Lotus Lantern, Qin Xianglian, Jinshui Bridge, Du Shiniang, The Butterfly Cup, The Injustice to Dou E, Teaching the Son, The Broken Bridge, Three Boardings of the Sedan Chair, Joyful Return Home, Beating the Golden Branch, Xun Guanniang, The Northern and Southern Union and Su Wu Herding Sheep have the greatest influence.
The Injustice to Dou E
Hebei Bangzi has more than five hundred traditional plays, of which The Lotus Lantern, Qin Xianglian, Jinshui Bridge, Du Shiniang, The Butterfly Cup, The Injustice to Dou E, Teaching the Son, The Broken Bridge, Three Boardings of the Sedan Chair, Joyful Return Home, Beating the Golden Branch, Xun Guanniang, The Northern and Southern Union and Su Wu Herding Sheep have the greatest influence.
Teaching the Son
Hebei Bangzi has more than five hundred traditional plays, of which The Lotus Lantern, Qin Xianglian, Jinshui Bridge, Du Shiniang, The Butterfly Cup, The Injustice to Dou E, Teaching the Son, The Broken Bridge, Three Boardings of the Sedan Chair, Joyful Return Home, Beating the Golden Branch, Xun Guanniang, The Northern and Southern Union and Su Wu Herding Sheep have the greatest influence.
The Broken Bridge
Hebei Bangzi has more than five hundred traditional plays, of which The Lotus Lantern, Qin Xianglian, Jinshui Bridge, Du Shiniang, The Butterfly Cup, The Injustice to Dou E, Teaching the Son, The Broken Bridge, Three Boardings of the Sedan Chair, Joyful Return Home, Beating the Golden Branch, Xun Guanniang, The Northern and Southern Union and Su Wu Herding Sheep have the greatest influence.
Three Boardings of the Sedan Chair
Hebei Bangzi has more than five hundred traditional plays, of which The Lotus Lantern, Qin Xianglian, Jinshui Bridge, Du Shiniang, The Butterfly Cup, The Injustice to Dou E, Teaching the Son, The Broken Bridge, Three Boardings of the Sedan Chair, Joyful Return Home, Beating the Golden Branch, Xun Guanniang, The Northern and Southern Union and Su Wu Herding Sheep have the greatest influence.
Joyful Return Home
Hebei Bangzi has more than five hundred traditional plays, of which The Lotus Lantern, Qin Xianglian, Jinshui Bridge, Du Shiniang, The Butterfly Cup, The Injustice to Dou E, Teaching the Son, The Broken Bridge, Three Boardings of the Sedan Chair, Joyful Return Home, Beating the Golden Branch, Xun Guanniang, The Northern and Southern Union and Su Wu Herding Sheep have the greatest influence.
Beating the Golden Branch
Hebei Bangzi has more than five hundred traditional plays, of which The Lotus Lantern, Qin Xianglian, Jinshui Bridge, Du Shiniang, The Butterfly Cup, The Injustice to Dou E, Teaching the Son, The Broken Bridge, Three Boardings of the Sedan Chair, Joyful Return Home, Beating the Golden Branch, Xun Guanniang, The Northern and Southern Union and Su Wu Herding Sheep have the greatest influence.
Xun Guanniang
Hebei Bangzi has more than five hundred traditional plays, of which The Lotus Lantern, Qin Xianglian, Jinshui Bridge, Du Shiniang, The Butterfly Cup, The Injustice to Dou E, Teaching the Son, The Broken Bridge, Three Boardings of the Sedan Chair, Joyful Return Home, Beating the Golden Branch, Xun Guanniang, The Northern and Southern Union and Su Wu Herding Sheep have the greatest influence.
The Northern and Southern Union
Hebei Bangzi has more than five hundred traditional plays, of which The Lotus Lantern, Qin Xianglian, Jinshui Bridge, Du Shiniang, The Butterfly Cup, The Injustice to Dou E, Teaching the Son, The Broken Bridge, Three Boardings of the Sedan Chair, Joyful Return Home, Beating the Golden Branch, Xun Guanniang, The Northern and Southern Union and Su Wu Herding Sheep have the greatest influence.
Su Wu Herding Sheep
Hebei Bangzi has more than five hundred traditional plays, of which The Lotus Lantern, Qin Xianglian, Jinshui Bridge, Du Shiniang, The Butterfly Cup, The Injustice to Dou E, Teaching the Son, The Broken Bridge, Three Boardings of the Sedan Chair, Joyful Return Home, Beating the Golden Branch, Xun Guanniang, The Northern and Southern Union and Su Wu Herding Sheep have the greatest influence.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Hebei Bangzi circulates mainly in Hebei, Beijing, Tianjin and parts of Shandong and Northeast China. In its heyday it reached north to Ulaanbaatar in the present-day Mongolian People's Republic, south to Guangzhou, east to Vladivostok in what is now Russia and west to Xinjiang, covering a vast area. In the course of its spread it was known by different names such as Zhili Bangzi, Wei Bangzi and Jing Bangzi, and, centred on Hebei and Tianjin, it gave rise to a number of troupe communities with styles of their own; it exerted an influence on Peking opera, Pingju and other genres.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Hebei Bangzi · Hebei Bangzi.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
In its heyday Hebei Bangzi was current over a vast area, north to Ulaanbaatar in the present-day Mongolian People's Republic, south to Guangzhou, east to Vladivostok in what is now Russia and west to Xinjiang; its range of influence later contracted, and it now circulates mainly in Hebei, Beijing, Tianjin and parts of Shandong and Northeast China. Its distinctive art exerted a great influence on Peking opera, Pingju and other genres, and it has a high theatrical and cultural value. In the late 1980s, however, under the ceaseless impact of the various modern art forms, Hebei Bangzi was again in danger: the performance market contracted, artistic personnel were lost in large numbers, and urgent rescue and protection are needed. Qi Huatan (official archival record of the associated inheritor): female, of Han ethnicity, born in 1937, a native of Gaoyang, Hebei. At the age of thirteen Qi Huatan took the Hebei Bangzi performing artist Jia Guilan as her teacher, and afterwards also studied under famous bangzi masters such as Gui Sanbao, Jin Guifen and Gao Fengying. In early 1961 she became an inner-disciple of Xun Huisheng; from her debut on the stage in 1950 she was a leading performer of the Hebei Bangzi Theatre of Hebei Province. Her performance is delicate and plain, equally strong in singing and acting, and her acting in particular is held to be superb. Her representative works include The Lotus Lantern, Shiyuzhuo (Picking Up the Jade Bracelet) and others. Representative inheritor of Hebei Bangzi under the second national-level batch of intangible cultural heritage projects; first-class actor. Since the 1970s she has trained a large number of excellent actors, among them Wang Yunju. Zhang Huiyun (official archival record of the associated inheritor): female, of Han ethnicity, born in 1941, a native of Gaoyang, Hebei. Zhang Huiyun has performed on the stage since the age of seven and has staged nearly a hundred excellent plays; since the 1970s she has trained a number of outstanding young actors, among them Lu Meilian. Her performance is marked by plainness, understatement, reserve and delicacy, and she is especially renowned for the way her singing balances strength with gentleness and conveys feeling with subtlety. Her representative works include Chen Sanliang, Yesu Huating (Passing the Night at the Flower Pavilion) and others. Representative inheritor of Hebei Bangzi under the second national-level batch of intangible cultural heritage projects; first-class actor.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Qi Huatan 02-0475
- Zhang Huiyun 02-0476
- Pei Yanling 02-0477
- Tian Chunniao 03-0996
- Liu Yuling 04-1608
- Liu Junying 04-1609
- Xu Heying 04-1610
- Yan Jianguo 05-2319
- Chen Chun
- Liu Fengling
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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