Xuzhou Bangzi
01 · Historical Records
Xuzhou bangzi is an operatic genre with sharply distinctive local character, formed by combining northern Jiangsu folk ditties, variety art and local storytelling with the Shaanxi-Shanxi bangzi that came into Xuzhou, circulating mainly in the Xuzhou area of Jiangsu.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The earliest recorded Xuzhou bangzi troupes are the “Jiang school” (Jiang Huajiazi), the “Yin school” (Yin Fengzhe), the Teng Gongsheng troupe and the Dai Jinshan troupe; the famous Jiangsu provincial bangzi actor Jiang Yunxia is the eighth-generation transmitter of the “Jiang school”. In mode, melodic rhythm, language and singing style Xuzhou bangzi has both the hard and forceful character of northern opera and the gentle and soft charm of southern opera. Its singing music belongs to the banqiang system, mainly in the four ban styles of “slow ban”, “liushui”, “erba” and “feiban”, from which such ban styles as “duozi”, “zaiban”, “yingfeng”, “jingou gao” and “dao sanbo” are further derived. It has more than two hundred musical qupai besides, among which the suona melodies are especially admired; these qupai mainly accompany singing and dance and can also create dramatic atmosphere and heighten character psychology. Its roles are complete, the sheng, dan, jing and chou finely divided, the black-face and red-face singing combining true and falsetto voice with a ringing, vehement, mellow and fierce character. Its repertory is numerous—about six hundred traditional plays and more than two hundred newly written historical and modern plays—among which the most prominent are the serious and tragic plays depicting great historical events, political and military struggle and heroes' deeds, the customary “four great campaigns”, “four great beheadings” and “new and old eighteen volumes” being representative works.
The Four Great Campaigns
One of the customary groupings of representative plays of Xuzhou bangzi, mostly on great historical events and political and military struggle.
The Four Great Beheadings
One of the customary groupings of representative plays of Xuzhou bangzi.
The New and Old Eighteen Volumes
One of the customary groupings of representative plays of Xuzhou bangzi.
Splitting Yang Fan with the Sabre
One of the representative works of the inheritor.
Mu Guiying Takes Command
One of the representative works of the inheritor.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Xuzhou bangzi centres on Xuzhou city, Jiangsu, and is popular in Xuzhou, Feng county, Pei county and the Jiangsu-Shandong-Henan-Anhui border region; early famous troupes included the “Jiang school” (Jiang Huajiazi), the “Yin school” (Yin Fengzhe), the Teng Gongsheng troupe and the Dai Jinshan troupe, and the Jiangsu provincial bangzi troupe is its professional performing and transmission body.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Its singing is mainly vigorous and fierce, ringing and vehement, yet not without a fresh and gentle charm; its performance attends to characterisation and the pursuit of formal beauty while staying close to life and remaining credible, and technically it stresses graceful posturing and masterly skill. The inheritor plays dan and qingyi roles, having led in more than a hundred plays, her representative works including Splitting Yang Fan with the Sabre, Mu Guiying Takes Command and The Prince of Yan Conquers the North, and has devoted herself to training Du Qingying, the seventh-generation transmitter of the Jiang school, so that she grew rapidly.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Jiang Yunxia 03-1138
- Yanling
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
This static English edition is rendered at the edge for search engines, AI crawlers and readers without JavaScript; it mirrors the bilingual dossier. 阅读中文版，或返回 英文名录。