Chedeng

01 · Historical Records

Chedeng is also called “chemomei”, “yaomei deng”, “cheche deng” and the like; it rose in the late Ming and early Qing period and took shape as it absorbed elements of folk ditties in the course of its evolution. It has a history of more than three hundred years and is current far and wide in the Chengdu and Chongqing areas and in the Han regions of southwest China.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

Chedeng is sung in Sichuan dialect and combines singing with dancing; its melodies are high and impassioned, lively and joyous, easy to learn and easy to sing, and it is transmitted very widely. In performance the “yaomei”, a man who plays a female role, stands inside the cart and begins to sway in time with the “lingchang” (lead singing) of the “chou baniang”, who holds a coloured fan, and the “bangchang” (supporting chorus) of the “chefu” who pushes the cart or the “shaoweng” who punts the boat. The lyrics are mostly improvised on the spot; the vocal style belongs to the banqiang (set-metre) system and uses the “qi, ping, luo” (opening, level, closing) form, in which the level lines are divided into the symmetrical forms of “shang ping” and “xia ping”. This makes it convenient to narrate several thousand lines of lyrics in the metre of an oblique tone in the upper line and a level tone in the lower line, and to add such devices as the opening lead-in, the closing suffix and the guomen (interlude). The choral endings “Jinqian Meihualuo” (Golden Coins, Plum Blossoms Falling) or “Hehua Nao Haitang” (Lotuses Blooming, Begonias Tumbling) are its characteristic closing lines. Chedeng is accompanied in performance by such instruments as the “siye wa” bamboo clappers and the erhu; its sung-and-spoken tunes have developed from a single melodic section into complete sets of several sections, placing emphasis on the “shang, xia” (upper and lower line) structure of the “ping ju” (level lines), and sometimes running to more than a hundred lines. When it is used to narrate the stories of characters it is called “chedeng diao” (the Chedeng tune). Building on its sung performance, Chedeng gradually developed into a systematic stage art, using codified movements such as entrances, poses, stage steps and body positions to support the vocal style and to enact the plot. Chedeng originally had traditional repertoire works such as Lanhan He Jidan (The Lazy Man and the Eggs), Jiang Guniang (The Stubborn Girl) and Yiba Mi (A Handful of Rice); after the founding of the People’s Republic of China new works reflecting the character of the new era were composed, among them Liang Shitu (The Master and the Disciple) and Sanxia Hong Deng (Red Lanterns of the Three Gorges).

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

Chedeng is current far and wide in the Chengdu and Chongqing areas and in the Han regions of southwest China; Chongqing is one of its main centres of activity, and the Chongqing Municipal Quyi Troupe is the protecting unit. A performing group consists of the “yaomei”, the “chou baniang” and the “chefu” who pushes the cart, and the Spring Festival, temple fairs and street squares are the usual performance occasions. In the period of the Chongqing Quyi Troupe, the line of Tang Xinlin became famous for its “three good, three matching”: good beating, good singing and good performing, with the heart matching the mouth, the mouth matching the hand and the feet matching the gong; the local Chedeng therefore formed comparatively fixed formulas of singing and acting.

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

At present Chedeng art has few successors, is gradually declining, and urgently needs protection and transmission. Tan Baishu (as recorded in the official file of the associated inheritor): Male, Han nationality, born in August 1940, native of Chongqing City. National third-class performer. In 1953 he entered the Chongqing Quyi Troupe as a trainee and apprenticed himself to Tang Xinlin to learn Chedeng, inheriting the singing characteristics of the Tang school’s “three good, three matching”: good beating, good singing and good performing, with the heart matching the mouth, the mouth matching the hand and the feet matching the gong. On the basis of many years of accumulated performance practice, he independently designed vocal styles and movements in line with the content of Chedeng repertoire works, further enhancing the performing art of Chedeng. His representative works include Mei You Guo Bu Qu De Shan (There Is No Mountain You Cannot Cross), Lao Cheng Men (The Old City Gate) and Huanying Ni Dao Shancheng You (Welcome to a Tour of the Mountain City). He is a representative inheritor of Chedeng in the third batch of national-level intangible cultural heritage items. Huang Jisen (as recorded in the official file of the associated inheritor): Male, Han nationality, born in April 1943, native of Chongqing City. National second-class performer. He inherited the singing techniques of the Tang school and has solid basic training; in Chedeng performance he fully brings out the artistic characteristics of practice, singing, sitting posture and striking, and his vocal style is mellow and rounded, combining strength with gentleness. His representative works include Lanhan Yu Jidan (The Lazy Man and the Eggs) and Renzao Weixing Naotian Gong (An Artificial Satellite Causing Uproar in Heaven). He is a representative inheritor of Chedeng in the third batch of national-level intangible cultural heritage items.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

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

• Tan Baishu 03-1196
• Huang Jisen 03-1197

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

1. Chedeng (Quyituan, Chongqing) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Tan Baishu · National Representative Bearer Archive
3. Huang Jisen · National Representative Bearer Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗