Wulindiao

01 · Historical Records

It evolved from the preaching sessions of folk baojuan (precious scrolls) of the Qing dynasty, gradually took shape in the late Qing period, and has a history of more than a hundred years to the present. In April 1969 the Hangzhou Quyi Troupe was dissolved, and most of the Wulindiao artists in it turned to other occupations to make a living, which caused this fine form of southern folk quyi to decline rapidly.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

Wulindiao is also called “hangqu” (Hangzhou quyi); it is current in Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province, and in the surrounding area. Wulindiao is flexible and varied in form, places no restriction on the venue of performance, and is normally presented by four to five people; its chief feature is that singing and speaking are divided by role type, the performers using the sheng, dan, jing, mo and chou role types to portray characters and to imitate their identities, movements, expressions, tones of voice and so on. Sometimes a single performer simulates several characters, stepping out of and back into them, with endless changes. The lyrics of Wulindiao mostly use seven-character and ten-character lines, rhyming on the lower line; the style is plain and clear, popular and easy to follow. The vocal music of Wulindiao belongs to the banqiang (set-metre) system; besides its principal melodic types such as “Dalu ban”, “Erliu ban”, “Pingban” and “Youhun diao”, it also introduces folk songs, ditties and tunes of other sister genres according to the needs of the content, drawing on many sources and displaying a dazzling variety. The erhu, the sanxian and the pipa are the principal accompanying instruments of Wulindiao; early performances used a wooden fish to mark the beats, and later they used clappers and a drum. Over long performance practice Wulindiao has accumulated more than forty traditional repertoire works; Fang Qing Jiangu (Fang Qing Meets His Aunt), Yue Fei Zhuan (The Story of Yue Fei), Yu Tangchun, He Wenxiu and Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai (The Butterfly Lovers) are among its representative works.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

The spoken parts are settled by role type: the sheng, dan, jing and mo roles all use the written standard of Hangzhou speech, while the chou role uses the colloquial dialect of the city of Hangzhou; the effect is vivid and lively, with sharply marked characteristics.

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

At present Wulindiao survives with difficulty and is on the verge of extinction; urgent and positive measures are needed to rescue and protect it. Wang Guifeng (as recorded in the official file of the associated inheritor): Female, Han nationality, born in January 1929, native of Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province. In 1955 she joined the Hangzhou Quyi Experimental Group. In 1958 she joined the Hangzhou Quyi Troupe. Her voice is high and resonant and her singing is vigorous and forceful; her representative traditional repertoire works include Yulianhuan · Huayuan Yongshi (The Jade Ring · Odes to Poetry in the Flower Garden), Zhenzhuta · Jiangu (The Pearl Pagoda · Meeting the Aunt), Qin Xianglian · Gongmen (Qin Xianglian · At the Palace Gate) and Yuemu Cizi (Yue Mu Inscribing Characters on Her Back). She has taken part many times in provincial and national performances. She is a representative inheritor of Wulindiao in the fifth batch of national-level intangible cultural heritage items. In 1958 she went to Beijing for the first national quyi performance-concert held by the Ministry of Culture, and attended the First Congress of Chinese Quyi Workers; she received an honorary medal and was received by state leaders and the heads of the literary and art circles. In 1958 she received the Outstanding Performance Award at the first Zhejiang provincial quyi performance-concert, awarded by the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Culture.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

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

• Wang Guifeng 05-2515

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

1. Wulindiao (Hangzhou, Zhejiang) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Wang Guifeng · National Representative Bearer Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗