Guangxi Wenchang

01 · Historical Records

Guangxi wenchang is also called "wenchang", "wenwanzi", "wenchang", "xiaoqu", "zadiao", "yangqin xiaodiao", "yingge xiaodiao" and so on. It came into being in the middle of the Qing dynasty and already has a history of more than two hundred years.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

It circulates in the Mandarin-speaking areas of northern Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, and is especially flourishing in Guilin, Liuzhou, Yishan, Pingle, Lipu and other places. Guangxi wenchang takes a great many performing forms: "zuochang" (seated singing) performed by several people, "lichang" (standing singing) performed by one person, "zouchang" (walking singing) that combines singing with acting, and the wenchang play "wenchang guayi", in which the performer's robes are hung on. In the course of its long development, Guangxi wenchang gradually formed two artistic schools, the "guangpai" and the "xiapai": the former is famous for its ornate and colourful vocal styles, while the latter pursues a plain and deep singing style. The music of Guangxi wenchang includes large-tune vocal styles, small-tune vocal styles, large and small interludes (guomen), introductions, endings and scene-transition music. The large-tune vocal styles comprise the "yuediao", "tanhuang", "sixian" and "nanci" collectively known as the "four great tunes"; the small-tune vocal styles that survive today include more than fifty tune patterns such as [jishicao], [daobanjiang], [matou diao], [yangzhou hong], [shuishui pipa] and [ma yulang]. The traditional accompanying instruments are headed by the yangqin, to which are added the pipa, xiaosanxian, huqin and dizi, collectively called the "five-piece set" (wujiantou); later the diaohu, erhu, zhongruan and other instruments were added as well. The instruments used to mark the beat include the ban, the drum, the saucer and the wine cup. In Guangxi wenchang the accompaniment and the vocal style are welded into one: a vocal style is preceded by a "guoban" (passing beat), also called the "yanzi" (introduction), and short passing beats are used between musical phrases; the short passing beats of the large and small tunes are basically the same. The tunes that accompany the spoken passages are commonly [yizhihua], [liuchunniang], [shuilongyin], [badaban], [jiejiegao], [lanshutou], [yexingchuan] and the like. Most of these tunes were transplanted from Guangxi folk music and from the scene-transition music of Guangxi opera; sounding in wenchang performance they come across as fresh and beautiful, supple and fluent. Guangxi wenchang has a body of fine traditional repertoire, which includes more than ten complete song-books such as Pipa Ji, Xi Xiang Ji and Hong Lou Meng, more than sixty single-episode song-books such as Shuang Xia Shan and Wangpo Ma Ji, and close to a hundred short pieces such as Wu Er Tan Xiong and Gui Fei Zui Jiu.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

Guangxi wenchang takes Guilin as its centre and is especially flourishing in Liuzhou, Yishan, Pingle, Lipu and other places; it is sung in the Mandarin dialect of northern Guangxi. From the 1950s onward, the professional and amateur wenchang troupes of Guilin and Liuzhou became the main centres of activity for this genre.

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

At present the art of Guangxi wenchang has gone into decline, with few successors to follow, and it urgently needs protection so that it can be handed on. He Hongyu (as recorded in the official file of the associated inheritor): Female, Han ethnicity, born in February 1941, native of Lipu County, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. For fifty years without fail she has insisted on going out to collect material in the folk tradition; she has nearly ten years of stage experience, and can also compose tunes, direct, create and conduct research. Her performance is plain and dignified, her bearing graceful, her voice clear, sweet and mellow; she received direct instruction from Wang Renhe and Liu Yuying. In 1972 she was transferred to work at the Guilin Municipal Cultural Centre until her retirement, and carried out a large amount of work popularising Guangxi wenchang. Representative inheritor of the Guangxi wenchang project under the fourth batch of national-level intangible cultural heritage. Through running training classes and taking part in artistic performance showcases across the region and nationally, she trained many amateur actors, among them Zhou Xiaoling, Li Fenglan and Ma Erman. Chen Xiufen (as recorded in the official file of the associated inheritor): Female, Han ethnicity, born in November 1945, native of Guilin City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. An actress of national second grade. She masters the singing and performance of all the large and small tunes, vocal tune patterns and fine preserved traditional pieces of Guangxi wenchang; she is skilled in the quyi technique of one performer taking multiple roles and in the "four skills and five methods" of operatic performance, and she handles props with ease. Over decades of artistic career she has formed a style of performance entirely her own. Representative inheritor of the Guangxi wenchang project under the fourth batch of national-level intangible cultural heritage. She has kept up her transmission work over a long period, training generation after generation of fine young actors.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

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

• He Hongyu 04-1727
• Chen Xiufen 04-1728

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

1. Guangxi Wenchang (Guilin, Guangxi) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. He Hongyu · National Representative Bearer Archive
3. Chen Xiufen · National Representative Bearer Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗