In June, Huang Cuihong, an outstanding trainee from the inaugural Hubei Quyi (one of the Chinese folk speaking and singing art forms) Inheritance Training Program at Jianghan University (2018), showcased her Hubei Drum work, Delivery Man, at the “Intangible Cultural Heritage in Youth” Exhibition—marking the 10th anniversary of the Training Program for Inheritors of China's Intangible Cultural Heritage. This event was jointly hosted by the Intangible Cultural Heritage Department of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the PRC and other departments. Her performance garnered widespread attention and acclaim, becoming a shining example of how our university's research and training initiatives support the inheritance of intangible cultural heritage and nurture the strength of local folk art communities.
Huang Cuihong's growth trajectory exemplifies the core achievement of the “JHU Model”—“From One Class to One Local Troupe” in Hubei Quyi Inheritance Training Program at Jianghan University.
From a Trainee to the Troupe Leader
In 2015, with the support of the Jianghan District Cultural Center, Huang Cuihong established the Chufeng Folk Art Troupe. To deepen her understanding of Hubei Quyi culture, she enrolled in the Jianghan University training program. During her training, Huang received meticulous guidance in both theory and practice from esteemed professors and national-level inheritors, including Professor Wu Wenke from the Quyi Research Institute of the Chinese National Academy of Arts, Yao Liling (a national-level representative inheritor of Hubei Xiaoqu narrative singing music), Fu Qungang and Xu Ning (national and provincial-level representative inheritors of Hubei Drum). This training systematically enhanced her Quyi theories and skills, broadening her artistic horizons. Subsequently, she received further mentorship from renowned Quyi masters Zhang Mingzhi (Hubei Drum performer) and He Zhonghua (Hubei Xiaoqu narrative singing music performer), making significant strides in her performance and creative endeavors. Her original works, such as Police and People: One Family and China Advances, Wuhan Soars, were respectively shortlisted for and awarded the Yellow Crane Star Award in Wuhan.
Upon graduating from the training program, she applied her acquired knowledge and skills to revitalize her troupe, significantly boosting its vitality and influence. The Chufeng Folk Art Troupe expanded its activities from communities and primary schools to elderly universities and folk Quyi classes. In 2024 alone, the troupe conducted teaching sessions in 2 primary schools, 4 elderly universities, and 1 folk Quyi class, reaching a total of 2,880 participants. In recognition of its growth, the Chufeng Folk Art Troupe was honored as an Excellent Team by the Jianghan District Cultural Center, and Huang Cuihong herself was awarded the title of Excellent Instructor by the Wuhan Municipal Folk Art Center. The flourishing development of the Chufeng Folk Art Troupe stands as a successful case of local folk art troupes nurtured by the Jianghan University training program.
Application & Innovation: Refining Masterpieces with Zeitgeist
Huang Cuihong actively focuses on the trend of contemporary life and creates works imbued with a sense of the zeitgeist. At the end of 2021, the heroic story of Zhang Yu, a Wuhan delivery man who saved lives in fire, moved the citizens. Sensitive to this positive event, Huang quickly created the Hubei Drum work Delivery Man, praising the idea that heroes emerge from ordinary posts, and a heroic city breeds numerous heroes. Innovatively integrating storytelling art, she played three roles alone: the delivery man, the elder brother, and the grandmother. During the creation and rehearsal, Yao Liling, a teacher from the training class, meticulously polished the work. Especially in portraying the grandmother, she guided Huang to skillfully incorporate Nanqu (southern narrative singing music), a traditional tune of Hubei Xiaoqu narrative singing music, significantly enhancing the work's artistic expressiveness and appeal.
Upgrading the Pattern: From Local Stage to National Showcase
With its sincere emotions and exquisite artistic presentation, Delivery Man was awarded one of the Top 10 Works at the “Competition of Hundred Troupes” Art Exhibition for amateur art teams in Jianghan District of Wuhan in 2022. In 2025, as one of Wuhan's outstanding mass cultural works, it appeared on the stage of the Hubei Provincial Excellent Mass Cultural Works Exhibition, winning high praise from experts and peers. In June, representing the training achievements of Jianghan University, Delivery Man showcased in the “Intangible Cultural Heritage in Youth” Exhibition—marking the 10th anniversary of the Training Program for Inheritors of China's Intangible Cultural Heritage, hosted by the Intangible Cultural Heritage Department of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the PRC—garnering widespread attention.
The growth of Huang Cuihong and the vigorous development of her “Chufeng Folk Art Troupe” (Hubei-styled singing & opera troupe) vividly exemplify the systematic achievements of our university's training model of “From One Class to One Local Troupe.” Since 2018, Jianghan University has successfully held six training courses for Hubei folk art inheritors, cultivating over 240 trainees in total. These efforts have spawned and strengthened multiple local folk art communities and inheritance bases similar to the “Chufeng Folk Art Troupe” in Jingchu (Hubei Province), laying a solid foundation for the living inheritance and innovative development of Jingchu folk art forms like Hubei Drum.
In 2022, due to its precise goals and remarkable achievements, Jianghan University's training work was rated “Excellent” in the 2021–2022 performance assessment of the “Training Program for Inheritors of China's Intangible Cultural Heritage” by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. After more than six years of practice, the Hubei Folk Art Inheritors Training Program of our university has successfully explored an effective path: using university training as an engine to empower local folk art troupes and activate the intangible cultural heritage ecosystem. This path not only provides a replicable model for intangible cultural heritage training but also significantly supports the inheritance and innovation of local culture.
By： Deng Sibo