Errentai

01 · Historical Records

Errentai is a folk small opera popular in the central and western regions of Inner Mongolia and in northern Shanxi, northern Shaanxi and Zhangjiakou in Hebei. Taking Hohhot as the dividing line, it is split into a western route and an eastern route: western-route Errentai was originally called Menggu qu and was mainly popular in Hohhot, Baotou, Bayannur and Yeke Zhao as well as the Yulin and Xinzhou areas, while eastern-route Errentai was first called "bengbeng" or simply Errentai and was mainly popular in Ulanqab, Yanbei and Zhangjiakou. Kangbao belongs to the eastern route; the meeting of the Bashang grasslands and the accents of Shanxi-Shaanxi immigrants gave local Errentai a character of its own in both vocal style and spoken delivery, and it moved by stages from a small play-and-duet form to a form able to perform large-scale plays.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

Errentai is a folk small opera popular in the central and western regions of Inner Mongolia and in northern Shanxi, northern Shaanxi and Zhangjiakou in Hebei. Its original melodies are local folk songs: vocal styles developed from Han folk songs of the central and western regions of Inner Mongolia such as [Da Ying Tao] (Cherry-Striking), [Ya Gao Mian] (Pressing Cake Flour) and [Da Hou Tao] (Back-Harness); vocal styles developed from northern Shanxi folk songs such as [Zou Xi Kou] (Walking the West Pass), [Wu Ge Fang Yang] (Fifth Brother Herding Sheep) and [Zhen Zhu Dao Juan Lian] (Pearls Rolling Up the Blind); vocal styles developed from northern Shaanxi folk songs such as [Song Da Ge] (Seeing Off the Elder Brother), [Shi Li Dun] (Ten-Li Mound) and [Xiu He Bao] (Embroidering the Purse); vocal styles developed from Mongolian folk songs such as [Ala Ben Hua] and [Wang Ai Zhao]; the northern Hebei folk song [Shi Dui Hua] (Ten Flower Pairs); and Jianghuai folk songs such as Jasmine Flower and Beauty Yu. The paizi qu (banner tunes) also draw on many Jinju (Shanxi opera) tune patterns, folk wind-and-percussion music and religious music. Western-route Errentai was originally called Menggu qu and was mainly popular in the city of Hohhot, the city of Baotou, Bayannur League, Yeke Zhao League, the Yulin area and the Xinzhou area; eastern-route Errentai was first called "bengbeng" or simply Errentai and was mainly popular in Ulanqab League, the Yanbei area and the Zhangjiakou area. Traditional Errentai repertoire deals mainly with labour and production, exposes the darkness of the old society and sings of marriage and love; some plays tell mythological and historical stories. Western-route Errentai has plays such as Money-Striking, Cherry-Striking, Back-Harness, Climbing the Mountain Top and Ala Ben Hua, while eastern-route Errentai has Return from South of the Pass, Leading the Donkey, Picking Sichuan Pepper, Selling Malt Sugar and Lanzhou City. The performing forms of Errentai fall into three large categories: yingma xi, daibian xi and duichang. Yingma xi stresses singing, recitation and acting and demands a good voice from the performer; daibian xi stresses dance performance; duichang is sung alternately by two performers.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

Taking Hohhot as the dividing line, the style schools of Errentai fall into a western route and an eastern route.

Other submitting regions for the same item: Errentai · Errentai · Errentai · Errentai · Errentai.

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

The places where Errentai is popular lie mostly in the farming districts on both banks of the middle reaches of the Yellow River and inside and outside the Great Wall; because the region is remote and transport is inconvenient, excavation, sorting and protection have faced many difficulties. In recent years, with the passing of old performers, many tunes and plays have come close to being lost and urgently need rescue and protection. Shi Wanfu (official archival record of the associated inheritor): Shi Wanfu began work at the Kangbao County opera troupe in 1971, serving as Party branch secretary, head of the orchestra and a full-time drum leader; in 1986 he became head of the troupe and Party branch secretary; in 1988 he became Party branch secretary of the Kangbao County Bureau of Culture and deputy head of its art section; in 1996 he became director of the Kangbao County Cultural Centre, and he is now business director of the Kangbao County Errentai Song and Dance Troupe. Building on the traditional Errentai he inherited, he organised the creative backbone of the troupe to study carefully and explore boldly, so that Errentai, which in the past could only perform small plays and duets, developed into an Errentai able to perform large-scale plays. Representative works for which he was responsible for the musical design include Gao Yuan Ji Lang (Crashing Waves on the Plateau) and Qiang Cai Shen (Seizing the God of Wealth). Male, Han, born in 1955, a native of Kangbao, Hebei; a representative inheritor of Errentai in the second batch of national-level intangible cultural heritage projects. At the same time he has always paid attention to training successors, admitting three groups of Errentai trainees, more than eighty people in all. Feng Juncai (official archival record of the associated inheritor): Male, Han, born in 1953, a native of Kangbao, Hebei. His representative works include Qiang Cai Shen (Seizing the God of Wealth) and Xiang Yin Yi Qu Xi Kou Qing (One Melody of Native Accents, Sentiment of Walking the West Pass). A representative inheritor of Errentai in the second batch of national-level intangible cultural heritage projects, and a national second-class instrumentalist.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

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

• Feng Laisuo 02-0611
• Shi Wanfu 02-0612
• Feng Juncai 02-0613
• Wu Liping 03-1065
• Du Huanrong 03-1066
• Jia Deyi 03-1067
• Danwenzhen 03-1068
• Xu Yueying 04-1654
• Huo Banzhu 04-1655
• Gaolemei 05-2387
• Zhang Meilan
• Hao Yunjing
• Duan Bawang

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

1. Errentai (Kangbao, Hebei) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Shi Wanfu · National Representative Bearer Archive
3. Feng Juncai · National Representative Bearer Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗