Wanbang

01 · Historical Records

Wan bangzi is a rare local operatic genre. It grew and spread in Nanyang and the wide surrounding area of south-western Henan Province; in early times people called it jiji bang, lao bangzi, Nanyang bangzi and other names. Because Nanyang was anciently called Wan, in 1956 the Nanyang administrative office formally named it Wan bangzi. Wan bangzi is an operatic genre that evolved after the eastern-route Qinqiang of Shaanxi (Tongzhou bangzi) was introduced to Nanyang at the end of the Ming and the beginning of the Qing dynasty and fused with the local folk songs and ditties and the folk narrative singing of Nanyang; its rise to the present has spanned more than three hundred years. Wan bangzi has more than one hundred and forty traditional plays, including Wen Jiang He, Hua Xin Wan, Hei Da Chao, Zha Mei An, Xia Chen Zhou, Tao Hua An, Mai Miao Lang, Yang Jia Jiang, Da Jin Zhi, Huang He Lou and others.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

Its music belongs to the banqiang system; its melodies are rich, and its vocal style is divided into the benqiang (natural voice) and the jiaqiang (falsetto voice), with the natural and the falsetto voice paired in every kind of ban pattern. Its usual modal categories fall into four main parts: manban (slow ban), liushui (flowing water), erba (two-eight) and sanban (free ban). Accompanying instruments include the daxian, the erxian, the zhuihu, the yueqin, the suona, small gong, hand cymbals, ban drum, large gong, large cymbals, big drum, battle drum and jujube-wood clappers. The principal bowed string instrument of Wan bangzi is the daxian of early Qinqiang, whose sound is high and resonant, like the call of a bird; combined with the jujube-wood clappers it gives the genre a style of its own.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

Wan bangzi grew and spread in Nanyang and the wide surrounding area of south-western Henan Province; because Nanyang was anciently called Wan, in 1956 the Nanyang administrative office formally named it Wan bangzi, while in early times people called it jiji bang, lao bangzi, Nanyang bangzi and other names. It evolved by fusion after the eastern-route Qinqiang of Shaanxi (Tongzhou bangzi) was introduced to Nanyang at the end of the Ming and the beginning of the Qing dynasty and merged with the local folk songs and ditties and the folk narrative singing; at present only one state-owned Wan bangzi professional troupe in Neixiang County is still carrying on the difficult transmission of this ancient spark of national art.

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

Wan bangzi has both the high, impassioned character of Shaanxi bangzi and the level, regulated manner of Central Plains music, together with the gentle, limpid beauty of Chu music; the falsetto voice it uses to set off emotion is a wordless melodic line sung an octave higher, a unique achievement of the Wan vocal system, and it has distinctive artistic value. Nourished jointly by Central Plains culture, Qin-Jin culture and Chu culture, Wan bangzi is a specimen for studying the early ecology of Henan bangzi. Since the 1930s, with the rise and rapid spread of Yuju and Henan Quju, Wan bangzi has gradually declined; to this day only one state-owned Wan bangzi professional troupe in Neixiang County is still carrying on the difficult transmission of this ancient spark of national art, and it is necessary to rescue and preserve it in good time. Zhou Chengshun (as recorded in the official dossier of the associated inheritor): At thirteen Zhou Chengshun entered the Wan bangzi troupe of Neixiang County to study, taking Fan Yinglong as his master and receiving his true transmission; he specialised in the performing arts of the sheng role and over more than thirty years starred in some twenty-odd Wan bangzi plays in turn. His performance is plain and dignified, smooth and graceful, and his vocal style combines the high and impassioned with the deep and delicate. Representative works include Da Jin Zhi, Qing Ming An, the Stele of the Courtyard Prohibition and others. male, Han, born in 1957, died in 2009, a native of Neixiang, Henan. Representative inheritor of Wan bangzi in the second national-level batch of national-level intangible cultural heritage projects; a national third-grade actor. Cheng Jiankun (as recorded in the official dossier of the associated inheritor): male, Han, born in 1942, a native of Neixiang, Henan. At seventeen Cheng Jiankun entered the Neixiang Quju troupe, taking Shang Yuanjin as his master to study sheng and flute playing; in 1960 he joined the Zhengzhou Quju troupe and there studied guzheng playing under Cao Tielin and He Yizhi. In 1980 he took such well-known Wan bangzi artists as Cui Xifu as his masters, comprehensively collecting and collating the vocal music of Wan bangzi, and has published some corresponding creative and research results. From 1980 onward he also trained a number of Wan bangzi music creators in succession, contributing to the transmission and development of Wan bangzi. Representative inheritor of Wan bangzi in the second national-level batch of national-level intangible cultural heritage projects; a national third-grade composer.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

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

• Zhou Chengshun 02-0485
• Cheng Jiankun 02-0486
• Li Jianhai 03-0999
• Fan Yinglong 04-1611
• Liu Tiemin 05-2322

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

1. Wanbang (Neixiang, Henan) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Zhou Chengshun · National Representative Bearer Archive
3. Cheng Jiankun · National Representative Bearer Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗