Xianxiao

01 · Historical Records

Xining xianxiao is transmitted in the agricultural region of eastern Qinghai centred on Xining. It took shape in the middle of the Ming dynasty and got its name from the fact that most of the programmes it performed took the praising of filial piety and the exhortation to virtue, the abandonment of evil and the promotion of good, as their theme. The performers of Xining xianxiao are mainly folk artists. Its traditional repertoire is rich and varied, its content wide-ranging, and most of it centred on exhortation to goodness; important works such as the White Parrot Mourning at a Funeral, Zhao Wuniang Eating Chaff and Fang Si-niang have all evolved from Ming- and Qing-dynasty baojuan (precious scrolls) and are extremely precious.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

The main accompanying instrument of Xining xianxiao is the sanxian (three-stringed lute), with the banhu (two-stringed bowed fiddle) sometimes added. In performance a man and a woman sing in pairs, and the man usually plays the banhu while the woman plays the sanxian. When a single performer sings, he or she holds the sanxian and both plays and sings it. Xianxiao performance is not restricted by setting: it can go from street to street and door to door, and be sung in courtyards and teahouses, in the fields and at the field edges, and at all kinds of other occasions, as well as at weddings and funerals. Its vocal styles and tune patterns include the daxianxiao tune, the xiaoxianxiao tune, xiaoqu and others; the musical tunes and melodic structures are peculiar to the Xining region. A sung passage is divided into three parts — the front side-tune, the main tune and the rear side-tune — and the several hundred lines of text flow smoothly and are carried through in one go. Although the main tune consists of only four musical phrases, it can be ornamented and varied in rhythm and melody as the content and feeling require.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

The more than one hundred items collected at present can be roughly divided into types such as historical romance, legend, tales of the strange, admonitory allegory and life stories; representative items include the Reed Flower Scheme, Li Cuilian Hanging Herself and the White Ape Stealing Peaches.

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

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

Xining xianxiao reflects from many angles the history, culture and living conditions of the ancient Qinghai region as well as the ideals and wishes of its people, and it has important reference value for research into local history and culture. Today xianxiao performers are generally advanced in age and are passing away one after another. This ancient art has few successors and a great deal of material has been lost, so it is already on the edge of extinction and its rescue and protection cannot wait. Shen Yongning (as recorded in the official file of the associated inheritor): A man of the Han ethnic group, born in March 1948, native of Xining City, Qinghai Province. His singing has a wide range, a mellow timbre and strong stage expressiveness. He created such works as Huangshui Clear Sentiment, In Praise of a Prosperous Age, A Return to Xuelongtan and Gabulong, Model of the Era. He is a representative inheritor of the xianxiao (Xining xianxiao) national-level intangible cultural heritage project in the fourth national-level batch. In 1986 he took part in the national quyi competition held by the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles and the China Quyi Artists Association, and won the third prize. Li Hongsheng (as recorded in the official file of the associated inheritor): A man of the Han ethnic group, born in October 1959, native of Datong Hui and Tu Autonomous County, Qinghai Province. He began learning to sing Xining xianxiao from his uncle as a child. In 1976, while working in the Datong County Cultural Troupe, he learned Xining kuaiban xianxiao from Master Ma Benyuan of the Qinghai Provincial Ethnic Song and Dance Theatre; through his teacher's careful instruction and strict demands, together with his own unremitting effort, he mastered the singing techniques and accompaniment skills of Xining kuaiban xianxiao. From 1990 he began collecting and sorting out materials relating to Xining xianxiao and conducting in-depth study of them. Through years of practice he accumulated rich experience in vocal production, the handling of dialect and accompanying music, forming his own distinctive stage performance style, achieving singing that is accurate in diction and full in feeling and sound, and a performance that is generous and open. He is a representative inheritor of the xianxiao (Xining xianxiao) national-level intangible cultural heritage project in the fifth national-level batch. The Xining kuaiban xianxiao he wrote and sang, Five Sons Burying Their Father, won the second prize of the 'Sailiter Cup' at the fifth China Population Culture Award and the gold prize in the quyi category of the eleventh Qunxing Award conferred by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

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

1. Xianxiao (Xining, Qinghai) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Shen Yongning · National Representative Bearer Archive
3. Li Hongsheng · National Representative Bearer Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗