Sanxian Shu

01 · Historical Records

It formed in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties and has a history of more than three hundred years. Nanyang sanxian shu has more than two hundred traditional repertoire items; Whipping the Reed Catkins, Zhang Liang Resigns from Court and Fengyi Ting (The Phoenix Pavilion) are among its representative works.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

Sanxian shu, also called “sanxian jiaozishu”, is current in Qinxian, Wuxiang, Qinyuan and Xiangyuan in southeastern Shanxi, in Zuoquan and Yushe in central Shanxi, in Anze and Fushan in southern Shanxi, and in Nanyang, Henan and the areas around it. In its earliest form sanxian shu was performed by an actor who tied clappers to the leg and sang while holding a sanxian, a style known as “leg-clapper shu”. It later developed into a form in which one person holds a jiaozi and keeps time on an octagonal drum while singing, and another person works a bangzi with the foot and plucks the sanxian in accompaniment; a sheng, a hu and a zheng are sometimes added to the accompaniment. In its later stage, sanxian shu performances generally used a standing delivery, with all manner of stagecraft worked into the singing: the actors sang and danced at once, and the accompanists joined in to lend support, so that singing and answering alternated and the whole performance was full of interest. Nanyang sanxian shu is called in full “sanxian jiaozishu”; its vocal music belongs to the metrical-change system and can be roughly divided into two large classes, jiaozi qiang and guzi qiang. The whole vocal system is further divided into three schools: the middle-road style is marked by singing and playing in level strings, the west-road style by low-key vocal technique, and the east-road style by high-register vocal technique, all with the flavour of the folk songs of southern Henan. Nanyang sanxian shu has many metrical patterns, such as “man ban”, “er ba ban”, “san liu ban”, “liushui ban”, “kuai ban” and “zheng ban”; a performance usually begins in jiaozi qiang, turns midway into guzi qiang, finally turns back to jiaozi qiang and ends through “er liu ban” and “kuai ban”. The sanxian is the principal accompaniment instrument in Nanyang sanxian shu, and the player who holds it is commonly called the “xianzi jia”; besides accompanying, he also exchanges quick asides with the lead singer, conveys feeling and joins in to support the singing. The instruments that mark the rhythm include mainly the leg bangzi, the octagonal drum and the jiaozi; the jiaozi can both make the decorative sound that marks the rhythm and serve as a prop in the performance.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

The transmission of Nanyang sanxian shu is concentrated in the Nanyang urban area and the surrounding counties; the performers of Zhenping, Neixiang, Tanghe, Fangcheng, Dengzhou and other places each have their own system of masters and disciples, and the xianzi jia and the lead singer are usually long-standing fixed pairs. In the middle of the twentieth century the Nanyang Narrative Singing Troupe became the most important centre of transmission for Nanyang sanxian shu. In 1960 Lei Enjiu was transferred into that troupe from Nanyang County Quju Opera Troupe and apprenticed himself to the sanxian shu master Pei Changyi; he went on to fuse the east-road, middle-road and west-road styles into one, and worked the “four-three” beat of folk song into his performance of traditional works such as Wang Tiezui Selling Needles, The Red Invitation and The Goldfish Spreading Its Wings. The protecting unit is Nanyang Narrative Singing Performing Arts Co., Ltd.

Other submitting regions for the same item: Sanxian Shu.

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

At present sanxian shu in Henan faces a grave survival crisis, with few successors and a worrying prospect; it urgently needs protection and support. Lei Enjiu (official archive record of the associated inheritor): Male, of Han nationality, born in October 1946, a native of Nanyang, Henan Province. A national second-grade performer. He entered the profession at the age of 11; in 1960 he was transferred from Nanyang County Quju Opera Troupe to the Nanyang Narrative Singing Troupe and studied under the sanxian shu master Pei Changyi. In his performance of the traditional sanxian shu works Wang Tiezui Selling Needles, The Red Invitation and The Goldfish Spreading Its Wings, he creatively worked in the “four-three” beat of folk song, making his singing more vivid. He discarded sectarian prejudice, drew on the strengths of many schools and humbly studied with the heads of the several sanxian shu schools, perfectly fusing the east-road, middle-road and west-road styles of sanxian shu into a style of his own. After retirement he went on performing sanxian shu and taught the performing art to more than twenty disciples. He is the representative inheritor of the third national-level batch of the intangible cultural heritage item Sanxian Shu (Nanyang Sanxian Shu). His work The Red Invitation won prizes many times at the China Quyi Festival and in provincial competitions.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

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

• Lisiwen 03-1180
• Lei Enjiu 03-1181
• Jiyuxiang

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

1. Sanxian Shu (Nanyang, Henan) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Lei Enjiu · National Representative Bearer Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗