Shijiazhuang Sixian

01 · Historical Records

Shijiazhuang Sixian evolved from the folk tunes of the Ming and Qing dynasties. Its vocal style is distinctive: characters are sung in the natural voice, the melody leaps upward and rises to a high register, and the trailing phrases are then carried in falsetto with the melody descending stepwise. The result is stirring and lingering, impassioned and uninhibited.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

Shijiazhuang Sixian is also called xianqiang, xiansuoqiang, Hexi diao, xiaoguqiang, luoluqiang, nüerqiang and other names. It is one of the ancient genres peculiar to Hebei Province, and one of the rare local vocal-system opera genres in the whole country. It circulates over most of Hebei Province as well as in eastern Jinzhong and the Yanbei area. Shijiazhuang Sixian has more than five hundred traditional plays. Kong Yin He (The Empty Seal Case), The White Silk Robe, Xiao Er Jie Zuo Meng (The Second Eldest Sister's Dream), Gan Nüxu (Chasing the Son-in-Law), Jin Ling Ji (The Golden Bell Stratagem), The Yang Family Generals, Hua Zhu Hen (Lament of the Wedding Candles), Shengsi Pai (The Life-and-Death Tablet) and Zong Ze and Yue Fei are its representative works. Sixian music belongs to the xiansuo vocal-system family. It has more than five hundred musical scores of various kinds and over one hundred types of accompanying qupai (tune patterns), divided into two main parts, guanqiang and yuediao. The guan diao tune patterns are mostly in long-and-short sentence form, represented by Shua Haier; the yuediao tune patterns are mostly in paired-couplet form, represented by San Dao Qiang and Luoluo. The Sixian orchestra is divided into a civil section and a martial section. The civil instruments include the string set, yueqin, large sanxian and small sanxian — the 'four-string frame' (sijia xian) — while the martial instruments include the clapper drum, large sieve gong, large cymbals, muted cymbals and so on. The role types of Sixian fall into the sheng, dan, jing and chou lines. Its performance is ardent and fiery, bold and unrestrained, with movements exaggerated and of large amplitude; it depicts characters with delicate vividness and carries a strong flavour of the soil. Shijiazhuang Sixian is an outstanding representative of Yanzhao culture, highly creative in its own right, and it occupies a high position among the local genres of Hebei. There is a saying that 'kun, gao, sixian and luan are never parted', and another that 'one kun, two gao, three sixian'.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

Shijiazhuang Sixian circulates over most of Hebei Province as well as in eastern Jinzhong and the Yanbei area, and it occupies a high position among the local genres of Hebei, giving rise to the sayings that 'kun, gao, sixian and luan are never parted' and that 'one kun, two gao, three sixian'. Within the province, the city of Shijiazhuang together with the districts of Zhengding, Gaocheng and Huolu forms the core of the troupe network; the Sixian troupes of Baoding, Xingtai and other places share a common source with it in their choice of qupai and in vocal style, yet each has its own departures.

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

In recent years, as the process of modernisation has accelerated, people's value orientations and aesthetic ideas have changed enormously, and the living space of traditional opera has narrowed day by day. A number of Sixian troupes under the Shijiazhuang administration have ceased activity one after another; only the Shijiazhuang Municipal Sixian Troupe still maintains performances, and it too faces a shrinking performance market, a sharp fall in audiences, an ageing repertory, tight funding and a break in the supply of professional talent. It urgently requires measures by the state for excavation and rescue. Bian Shusen (official archival record of the associated inheritor): male, Han nationality, born in 1940, a native of Gaocheng, Hebei. Bian Shusen entered the Sixian training class of the Shijiazhuang Art School in 1956 and has worked as an actor in the Shijiazhuang Sixian Troupe since 1959. Representative works include Li Tianbao's Mourning, Kong Yin He (The Empty Seal Case) and King Wen Seeking the Worthy. A representative inheritor of Shijiazhuang Sixian in the second national-level batch of the intangible cultural heritage programme, and a first-class performer. Zhang Helin (official archival record of the associated inheritor): male, Han nationality, born in 1944, a native of Anxin, Hebei. His vocal style is rounded and deeply moving, and his movement work is both standardised and innovative. Representative works include Zong Ze and Yue Fei, Deep Affection in the Mountains, The White Silk Robe and Kong Yin He (The Empty Seal Case). A representative inheritor of Shijiazhuang Sixian in the second national-level batch of the intangible cultural heritage programme, and a first-class performer.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

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

• Bianshusen 02-0534
• Zhang Helin 02-0535
• An Luchang 03-1021

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

1. Shijiazhuang Sixian (Shijiazhuang, Hebei) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Bianshusen · National Representative Bearer Archive
3. Zhang Helin · National Representative Bearer Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗