Shandong Bangzi
01 · Historical Records
Shandong Bangzi, also known as "Gaodiao Bangzi" and abbreviated as "Gaodiao", has a history of more than four hundred years. It originated in the bangzi vocal style of the Shaanxi-Shanxi region; when the bangzi crossed the Taihang Mountains into Shandong, it first spread to Heze, forming Caozhou Bangzi, and then moved east, forming Wenshang Bangzi. After the 1950s, traditional plays such as "The Wall Record" and "Lianglang Mountain" were edited and adapted into classic plays of the Shandong Bangzi repertoire, and a number of newly created modern plays also took the stage in this period.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Shandong Bangzi has an extremely wide area of circulation: east to Linyi on the banks of the Yellow River, west to Kaifeng and Zhengzhou in Henan Province, south to Xuzhou in Jiangsu Province and Fuyang and Bengbu in Anhui Province, and north to Daming County and Shijiazhuang in Hebei Province. Within Shandong Province, Shandong Bangzi is centered on Heze City and extends across Jining, Tai'an and other counties and cities. The vocal music of Shandong Bangzi belongs to the banqiang (ban-style) system, with complex ban patterns and tune patterns. Its singing is both vivid and accessible, with stylistic features of being high-pitched and bold, vigorous and stirring, graceful and harmonious, and open and bright. Its performance conventions are rich yet standardized, with attention to technique, rugged movements and exaggerated postures; the performance of each role type has its own distinctive character, competing in skill and ingenuity in a dazzling display. The Shandong Bangzi repertoire amounts to more than a thousand plays, of which more than six hundred are frequently staged; these include a body of basic plays known as the "Old Eighteen Texts", the "Seventeen Mountains" and the "Twelve Passes", their content largely drawn from folk legends and historical stories.
Qiangtou Ji (The Wall Record)
After the 1950s, traditional plays such as "The Wall Record" and "Lianglang Mountain" were edited and adapted into classic plays of the Shandong Bangzi repertoire, and a number of newly created modern plays also took the stage in this period.
Lianglang Mountain
After the 1950s, traditional plays such as "The Wall Record" and "Lianglang Mountain" were edited and adapted into classic plays of the Shandong Bangzi repertoire, and a number of newly created modern plays also took the stage in this period.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Jiaxiang belongs to the Jining area and is one of the main regions where Shandong Bangzi is distributed within the province. The percussion of the martial ensemble in local Shandong Bangzi has its own refinements: the representative inheritor Kai Ruibao long served as drummer (sigu) in collaboration with masters such as Dou Chaorong and Lu Shengkui, and reformed the way traditional percussion patterns (luogu jing) are played to make them more elegant and grand. The Jiaxiang County Shandong Bangzi Troupe line is especially known for qingyi plays while also performing shuaidan and laodan role types; its repertoire follows the system of the "Old Eighteen Texts", the "Seventeen Mountains" and the "Twelve Passes", and it also stages modern plays and newly written historical plays.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Shandong Bangzi · Shandong Bangzi.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Kai Ruibao (from the official archive record of the associated inheritor): In 1958 he was transferred to work in the Shandong Province Bangzi Troupe. Influenced by his surroundings, he mastered a great deal of artistic material in his youth, and over the long term collaborated with masters such as Dou Chaorong and Lu Shengkui. He reformed the way traditional percussion patterns (luogu jing) are played, making the original patterns more elegant and grand and enhancing the effect of performances. Plays in which he served as drummer include "The Wall Record", "Sun An Presents the Indictment", "Laoyang Mountain" and "Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy". He had many students, spread throughout the province. Male, Han ethnicity, born in December 1936, died in November 2017, a native of Juye County, Shandong Province. He is a representative inheritor of Shandong Bangzi, a project in the third batch of national-level intangible cultural heritage. Du Yuzhen (from the official archive record of the associated inheritor): Female, Han ethnicity, born in August 1965, a native of Jiaxiang County, Shandong Province. At the age of 15 she entered the Jiaxiang County Art School to study Shandong Bangzi; with good vocal endowments and the initial guidance of her teacher Liu Meiying, she quickly stood out. In 1983 she was assigned to work in the Jiaxiang County Shandong Bangzi Troupe, taking Xu Xianli as her teacher, which greatly raised her performing artistry. At the troupe she specialized in qingyi while also performing shuaidan and laodan roles, portraying many stage characters; she starred in more than twenty traditional plays, including "Sansheng Village", "Resentment of Spring and Autumn", "The Beheaded Woman" and "Laoyang Mountain", as well as modern plays and newly written historical plays such as "Qinghuo", "The Old Shop on the Grand Canal" and "Kong Shangren". She is a representative inheritor of Shandong Bangzi, a project in the fifth batch of national-level intangible cultural heritage. In 1989 she participated in the Second Culture and Arts Festival of Shandong Province and, for playing the leading female role Qiaoyun in "Qinghuo", won the first prize for performance at the provincial drama showcase.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Liu Guisong 03-1133
- Hao Ruizhi 03-1134
- Kairuibao 03-1135
- Du Yuzhen 05-2450
- Zhu Fengchen 05-2451
- Yang Shengjun
- Zhang Yuyong
- Li Hong
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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