Wanwanqiang
01 · Historical Records
Qüwo wanwan qiang was introduced by Shaanxi shadow-puppet artists in the Qianlong reign of the Qing; performed at first in shadow-puppet form, it gradually changed from “shadow play” to “human play” between the late Qing and early Republic and reached its heyday, and in 1960 the Quwo county wanwan qiang troupe was founded, giving the genre a professional transmission body and subsequently staging thirty-eight pieces such as Zhaojun Chusai and Liu Yue Xue.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Wanwan qiang takes its name from the small bronze bowl that marks the beat, and is also called “Ruan'er qiang” because the yueqin lead instrument was formerly known as “ruanxian”. Its features are: the yueqin accompanies the singing, the bronze bowl interleaves notes and the hall drum lifts the spirit; the performance conveys feeling through voice and spirit through music, with recitation and singing both strong and singing carrying the day. Its representative plays include Zhaojun Chusai, Liu Yue Xue, Kun Tong Tai and Shuang Bao En. For half a century the successive transmitters of Quwo county wanwan qiang have inherited and developed it, staging thirty-eight pieces. Drawing on the Shanxi volume of the Annals of Chinese Xiqu, the Quwo wanwan qiang troupe was founded in 1960.
Zhaojun Chusai (Zhaojun Goes Beyond the Frontier)
A representative play of Quwo wanwan qiang.
Liu Yue Xue (Snow in the Sixth Month)
A representative play of Quwo wanwan qiang, derived from the story of Dou E.
Kun Tong Tai (Besieged at the Bronze Terrace)
A representative play of Quwo wanwan qiang.
Shuang Bao En (Repaying Two Debts of Gratitude)
A representative play of Quwo wanwan qiang.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Today Quwo wanwan qiang has become an art form much loved by local people. Wanwan qiang is found in southern Shanxi and Shaanxi, divided, according to region and genre affiliation, into the Quwo, Xiaoyi and other branches; the Quwo line grew from a shadow-puppet mode into a human-play mode, keeping the plaintive tunes and fine rhythm of the shadow-puppet mode and becoming an art form much loved locally.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Wanwanqiang · Wanwanqiang.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
At present Quwo wanwan qiang suffers a severe impact from pluralistic culture, its performance market steadily shrinking, and protection is urgently needed. It preserves the precious form of the shadow theatre's transition to a human-performed opera, and its combination of yueqin accompaniment and bronze-bowl timekeeping offers an example for studying the relation of vocal style and instruments in folk opera; facing a shrinking market, Quwo county relies on the wanwan qiang troupe to sustain the genre through reviving traditional plays and school programmes; its stage performance still keeps the suggestive, freehand character of the shadow play, in harmony with the plaintive style of its singing.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Zhang Jianqin 02-0552
- Tian Xuesi 02-0553
- Liu Baoping
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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