Xianxiao
01 · Historical Records
It took shape in the late Ming and early Qing, and takes its name from the fact that its performance content largely extols exhortation to goodness and punishment of evil, and praises loyal ministers and worthy generals, virtuous wives and filial sons.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Hezhou xianxiao, also called “Hezhou changshu”, “xianxiao tanchang”, “Hezhou sanxian shanshu”, “Linxia xianxiao” or “Hezhou diao”, is a traditional quyi form transmitted in the Linxia area of Gansu. The traditional performance form of Hezhou xianxiao is for a single person (in former times mainly a blind person) to hold a sanxian and both play it and sing to it himself. It has a very large number of programmes, most of which were composed by the artists from book sources and handed down through the generations. For ease of distinction the artists call programmes that deal with the rise and fall of the nation and with loyal ministers and worthy generals “national books” (guoshu); “Wu Zixu Crosses the River”, “Romance of the Three Kingdoms”, “Xue Rengui's Conquest of the East”, “Generals of the Yang Family” and “Judge Bao's Cases” belong to this class. Programmes reflecting filial devotion to parents and the love between men and women in daily life are called “family books” (jiashu); in addition there are programmes based on the stories of the “Twenty-four Exemplars of Filial Piety”, such as “Wang Xiang Lies on the Ice”, “Guo Giant Buries His Son” and “Meng Zhong Weeps over the Bamboo”, as well as programmes such as “The White Ape Steals the Peaches”, “A Meeting in the Flower Hall” and “Little Dinggu”. Hezhou xianxiao has a long history and a simple, archaic form. The artists' sanxian are generally hewn from hardwood with a hollowed channel and covered with goatskin or paulownia board. In playing, the right hand uses strokes such as pluck, lift, roll and sweep, while the left hand presses the notes using both slides and pressed inflections; where the singing grows impassioned the notes come thick and rapid, and where it turns plaintive the tempo slows and ornaments are added, so that the fiddle and the vocal style set each other off. The story cycles are mostly composed by the artists from book sources and added to or trimmed through the generations, and the chapter divisions and the plot of a given “national book” vary slightly in different masters' mouths; the element of improvised composition and singing is quite prominent.
State books and household books
The performers' own division of the repertory into tales of state and tales of the household.
Three tales of the twenty-four filial exemplars
Pieces drawn from the twenty-four paragons of filial piety, alongside other long-circulating titles.
Wu Zixu Crosses the River
A representative state book together with Xue Rengui's Eastern Campaign and the Cases of Judge Bao.
Listening in the tea house
The tea house is the genre's chief venue, where long tales are sung in nightly instalments over a fortnight.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Hezhou xianxiao circulates chiefly in the urban district of Linxia (ancient Hezhou) and in the surrounding counties of Hezheng, Kangle, Yongjing and Jishishan, interlocking with the areas settled by the Dongxiang, Bao'an and Salar peoples; the artists usually sing in teahouses, at markets, at temple fairs and in the teashops along the main roads. Linxia formerly had a great many teashops, and the listeners would drink gaiwan tea as they heard the stories; when the singing in a “national book” reached the loyal ministers and worthy generals it would set the whole hall talking, and when a “family book” reached the partings and reunions of husband and wife or mother and son the listeners would shed tears. Long story cycles were sung through section after section and could run on for ten days or half a month.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Xianxiao · Xianxiao.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
But because the social environment on which it depended for survival and development has now changed, the platform on which it used to be presented in the broad towns and countryside has gradually disappeared, and it urgently needs protection. Wang Weixue (as recorded in the official file of the associated inheritor): Male, Han nationality, born in October 1954, native of Linxia City, Gansu Province. From the age of five he went with his elders to the teashops to listen to Hezhou xianxiao singing. He began to learn to perform in 1975, apprenticing in turn to the old artist Zhang Gaxiang and to the noted xianxiao artist Meng Sheng. He is skilled at playing the sanxian, his playing technique is varied, the tone is clear and ringing, his vocal style is impassioned, and his voice is loud and mellow. He frequently performs at teahouses, clubs and community centres, and takes part in all kinds of cultural and artistic performances. His performance of “Han Qigong Seizes the Troops” was published and released commercially; his works “Water Dreams Come True” and “Never Seen Such a Good Age” won awards. He has excavated, collected and collated a large amount of Hezhou xianxiao material, and has achieved notable results in performance, research and teaching. Representative inheritor of Xianxiao (Hezhou Xianxiao), the fifth national-level batch of intangible cultural heritage projects.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Feng Lanfang 02-0730
- Shen Yongning 04-1705
- Wang Weixue 05-2486
- Li Hongsheng 05-2487
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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