Fuzhou Zeyi · Chinese Craft Stories

01 · Historical Records

Beginning with the founding of the Fuzhou Zeyi Singers' Association by working artists in 1943, it took the name Fuzhou Zeyi. According to legend, Fuzhou Zeyi was created and developed by folk street singers on the basis of folk songs and tunes, with reference to folk shehuo festivities, and came into being around the Jiajing reign of the Ming dynasty. In the Qing dynasty a number of folk troupes centred on zeyi performance appeared, known as "she"; the famous ones include Dayunxiao, Jiayuntian, Yaletian and Tonglexuan. In 1960 the Fuzhou Quyi Troupe, likewise centred on zeyi performance, was founded, enabling this traditional art to be revived. In the second half of the 20th century many new programmes reflecting contemporary life appeared; the more influential were The Three Red Brothers, Splendid Rivers and Mountains, A Single Photograph and Longing for Return, and outstanding traditional pieces such as Sifan were also collated and performed. Since the beginning of the 21st century Fuzhou Zeyi has been in an endangered state: teahouse performance venues have disappeared entirely, and high-platform performances have fallen from more than four thousand a year in the 1930s to fewer than three hundred a year today.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

Fuzhou Zeyi is a traditional form of quyi singing, popular in Fuzhou City and in Minhou, Changle, Lianjiang and Fuqing counties in Fujian Province, and has spread to Taiwan Province and to the Hong Kong and Macao regions; it is also sung in the Fuzhou overseas Chinese settlements of countries such as Myanmar, Singapore and Indonesia. Its original name was zeyi chang. After the War of Resistance against Japan, zeyi performance gradually declined. In the early years after the founding of the People's Republic of China, the relevant departments gave support to Fuzhou Zeyi: a Fuzhou Zeyi Workers' Association was founded, five venues dedicated to zeyi performance were established, and performers were organised into performance teams and singing groups for public performance. Fuzhou Zeyi is sung and recited in the Fuzhou local dialect. The usual form of performance is for one or two people to accompany themselves on the erhu or the sanxian, singing mainly and interspersing spoken narration, while in other cases others accompany on the sanxian, yueqin, dihu and similar instruments. Long narrative programmes in this sung-and-recited form are called "pinghua"; the mode in which several people each play the erhu, sanxian, yueqin and dihu together with the ban gu, tanban, shuaiqing, single cymbals, transverse flute, sheng and small suona, accompanying themselves as they sing in a circle or take turns passing the singing along, is called "quantang". Zeyi performance within traditional shehuo shows is further accompanied by acrobatic movement routines such as the dry-land boat, stilt-walking, the tai-ge platform display, horseback performance and flourishing the lotus staff. The tune patterns of Fuzhou Zeyi's vocal styles fall into four categories: "douqiang", "jianghu", "ge" and "xiaodiao"; there are also folk tunes such as Cailian Drum, New Year Song, Crab Song and Shuluo. Its repertoire consists mainly of medium-length stories, supplemented by single-tune pieces. Traditional programmes are classified by the vocal tune patterns they use into four types: jianghu books, ge books, douqiang books and xiaodiao song-pieces. Representative jianghu-book programmes include The Pearl Pagoda and The Golden Tortoise Mother; representative "ge book" programmes include The Tale of the White Fan and The Tale of Tea-Picking; and representative douqiang-book programmes include The Purple Jade Hairpin, The Monkey's Complaint, The Lingzhi Grass and Wang Zhaojun. These programmes form the body of the Fuzhou Zeyi repertoire; in addition there is also "pingjian", in which various tunes are used in combination.

The Three Red Brothers

In the second half of the 20th century many new programmes reflecting contemporary life appeared; the more influential were The Three Red Brothers, Splendid Rivers and Mountains, A Single Photograph and Longing for Return, and outstanding traditional pieces such as Sifan were also collated and performed.

Splendid Rivers and Mountains

In the second half of the 20th century many new programmes reflecting contemporary life appeared; the more influential were The Three Red Brothers, Splendid Rivers and Mountains, A Single Photograph and Longing for Return, and outstanding traditional pieces such as Sifan were also collated and performed.

A Single Photograph

In the second half of the 20th century many new programmes reflecting contemporary life appeared; the more influential were The Three Red Brothers, Splendid Rivers and Mountains, A Single Photograph and Longing for Return, and outstanding traditional pieces such as Sifan were also collated and performed.

Longing for Return

In the second half of the 20th century many new programmes reflecting contemporary life appeared; the more influential were The Three Red Brothers, Splendid Rivers and Mountains, A Single Photograph and Longing for Return, and outstanding traditional pieces such as Sifan were also collated and performed.

Sifan (Longing for the Mortal World)

In the second half of the 20th century many new programmes reflecting contemporary life appeared; the more influential were The Three Red Brothers, Splendid Rivers and Mountains, A Single Photograph and Longing for Return, and outstanding traditional pieces such as Sifan were also collated and performed.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

During the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom period, large numbers of refugees from Zhejiang, Anhui and Jiangxi fled to Fujian, and the performers who came with them gathered around Jingyuan Alley and Jiaochangyan in Fuzhou, singing in the streets with Jianghuai tunes, lianhualuo and Yiyang opera, which had a considerable influence on local zeyi.

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

Talent is failing to be replenished, script collections have been severely lost, fewer than fifteen performers remain, the arts of the various schools have been badly lost, and recruiting pupils and passing on the art faces countless difficulties; effective support and vigorous protection are urgently needed. Qian Zhenhua (according to the official record of the associated inheritor): He began studying zeyi performance under the old master Huang Lianguan in 1939, was skilled in male roles in his youth and switched to clown roles in later life, and after retiring from the Fuzhou Quyi Troupe in 1986 devoted himself to taking apprentices and teaching the art. His performance style is humorous, his command of the vocal style is deep and his spoken narration is clear; representative works include Fifteen Guans and Wangjiang Pavilion. Male, of Han ethnicity, born in 1927, native of Fuzhou, Fujian; representative inheritor of Fuzhou Zeyi, a second-batch national-level intangible cultural heritage project. Qiang Shuru (according to the official record of the associated inheritor): Female, of Han ethnicity, born in 1969, native of Fuzhou, Fujian. Her singing and recitation is correctly pronounced and full-voiced, rich in voice and feeling; absorbing the styles of pinghua and Min opera, it makes zeyi language vivid and the plot moving. Representative works include Kaifeng Prefecture, The Monk Visiting His Family and The Tragic History of Shuzhen. Representative inheritor of Fuzhou Zeyi, one of the second-batch national-level intangible cultural heritage projects.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

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

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗