Shao Chuanfu

01 · Lineage & Regional School

Shao Chuanfu, Male, Han, from Feidong, Anhui, is a third-batch national representative bearer of Lantern Fair (Ⅹ-81). The tradition is documented in Feidong, Anhui. Within the regional tradition and school record of Lantern Fair in Feidong, Anhui: The Yangshe lantern is made in Dashao Village, Baogong Town, Feidong County, Hefei City, Anhui Province. Transmission is mainly among the Shao clan members, making it a family-style lantern of one village and one surname; performing the long snake requires twenty or thirty people, because when the body moves the front and rear must follow in sequence, so a single performance often has to scrape together helpers on the spot. The lantern is over a hundred meters long, so performing it requires choosing an open drying ground outside the village — houses and lanes cannot accommodate the coiling of this long snake. The making of the lantern begins in the twelfth lunar month as winter sets in, overlapping with the period when each family prepares New Year goods, so lantern making and the New Year are compressed into one stretch of time: purchasing, making and trial lighting all have to be completed within this one month or so. The rules for preserving the craft also stay within this one village: outsiders are not readily initiated, and apprentices begin by learning the snake's tail, gradually moving up to the head before they can take charge of the whole lantern. Today the colored-lantern crafts of other places can already handle all kinds of festivals and exhibitions, but this village's rule of one display every 18 years remains unique to the locality. Shao Chuanfu in his early years danced only the tail section; later he recorded and drew the methods of making, the ceremonial content and the dance movements, and since 2009 he has been leading performances in the province and guiding the younger generations of the village. The Lantern Festival is also known as the Festival of Lights. The custom of lighting lanterns at Yuanxiao (the fifteenth night of the first lunar month) originated in the Han dynasty, developed further during the Tang and Song dynasties, and by the Ming and Qing periods lantern fairs across the country had reached their peak. In Dashao Village, the lantern is taken out for display only once every 18 years, and with each display a section is added, each section being 1.6 meters long; at present the Yangshe (Ocean Snake) Lantern has reached a length of 104 meters.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

Male, of the Han ethnic group, born in February 1946 in Feidong County, Anhui Province. At the age of eighteen he learned the framing and construction of the Yang snake lantern from village elders, and was responsible for manipulating the snake's tail while the lantern was performed. He recorded and drew the lantern's framing methods, ritual content and dance movements, and gradually gained a proficient command of the complete set of framing techniques and the lantern dance ritual. Over the years he has organized the Yang snake lantern troupe to take part in many major events, including the first Luzhou Lantern Fair, the Seventh Anhui Provincial Games and the China Crosstalk Festival. Since 2009 he has continuously carried out transmission and performance activities for the Yang snake lantern in Anhui Province, and has carefully instructed the younger lantern performers of the village. Within the documented technical tradition of Lantern Fair in Feidong, Anhui: The lantern fair is a traditional popular festive celebration of the Chinese people. It is widespread throughout the country and is also quite prevalent in overseas Chinese communities. Lantern fairs are mostly held during the Lantern Festival period, though some places hold them on the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month; the character of the fairs differs from region to region. According to traditional custom, on the night of the full moon on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, people hang and light colorful lanterns of every kind, while holding celebrations such as viewing, admiring and competing with lanterns, in prayers for family reunion, longevity and abundant harvests. Centered on the lantern fair, localities have developed a series of distinctive Yuanxiao Festival customs, such as guessing lantern riddles, eating yuanxiao (sweet rice dumplings) and walking off the hundred ailments. Over time, Lantern Festival activities have grown ever richer, and in many places traditional folk performances such as dragon lantern dances, lion dances, stilt walking, land-boat dancing and yangge (rice-sprout song) dancing, Taiping drum playing and taige (carried platforms) have been added to the festivities, making the lantern fairs still more lively and exuberant. The Yangshe lantern originated in Dashao Village, Baogong Town, Feidong County, Hefei City, Anhui Province. Legend has it that at the transition between the Yuan and Ming dynasties, a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law of the Shao family in Dashao Village hid in a mountain cave to escape the Yuan soldiers; when the soldiers discovered the two and attempted to violate them, a white python several dozen feet long flew down the cliff and scattered the soldiers, so the two women were saved. The Shao family concluded that the great python was the 'snake spirit of the eastern sea', and in gratitude for its lifesaving deed the villagers made a snake lantern, naming it the 'Yangshe' (Ocean Snake) to signify that the great python was a snake spirit of the ocean. From that time on, the Yangshe lantern was passed down from generation to generation among the Shao clan members of Dashao Village. The making of the Yangshe lantern is a complex craft with a complete set of methods — binding, tying, chiseling, hooking, tilting, pressing and lining — transmitted through the oral instruction and personal demonstration of old artists. The snake's body is woven from bamboo strips into a scaly shape and covered with white cloth, without painted scales. When lit at night, the candlelight shines from inside the snake's belly and a scale pattern appears on the white cloth. The snake's eyes are also lit with candles, so that it looks vivid and lifelike, full of spirit and vigor. The Yangshe lantern performance includes dance movements such as 'the long snake goes to sea', 'walking the winding path', 'rocking the great cart', 'four pythons turn over' and 'coiling the pagoda', accompanied by gongs and drums and the folk ceremonial cannon known as the 'three-eyed gun'; the main musical pieces include 'Long Chui' (Long Roll) and 'Shifan' (Ten Variations). Today the Yangshe lantern has become an important activity for the residents of Dashao Village in celebrating the Lantern Festival; its distinctive snake dance has a unique charm and is deeply loved by the people of city and countryside. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Adding a section every eighteen years": In Dashao village the lantern is taken out only once every eighteen years, gaining a new section of 1.6 metres each time, until it reached 104 metres long. "Six binding and shaping operations": The lantern is built through a fixed sequence of binding, piercing, hooking, tilting, pressing and lining, transmitted orally from one craftsman to the next. "Scales appearing through white cloth": The body is framed in bamboo scales and covered with undrawn white cloth; when candles burn inside at night the scale pattern emerges through the cloth and the eyes appear alive. "The long snake emerging and four snakes turning": The dance includes the long snake emerging, turning along a path, rocking the cart, four snakes tumbling and coiling into a pagoda, accompanied by drums, gongs and the firecracker gun called the three-eyed gun.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

He is a national representative bearer of the Lantern Fair (Feidong Yang Snake Lantern), a third-batch national intangible cultural heritage project.

04 · Associated Heritage Item Dossier

05 · Fellow National Bearers Lineage

National representative bearers recorded under the same item code, ordered from the first to the sixth batch. Batch order is not a teacher–student relationship.

06 · Archival Sources & Bibliography

1. Shao Chuanfu · National Representative Bearer Archive