Duan Tiecheng

01 · Lineage & Regional School

At eighteen, guided by his uncle and his father, he began to learn and take part in stilt-walking beast performances. Within the regional tradition and school record of Stilt Walking in Jishan, Shanxi: Yangcheng Village in Qinghe Town, Jishan County, is divided into South Yangcheng and North Yangcheng. The stilted beasts of North Yangcheng include the single-horned beast, the xiu wolf, the qilin, the bamboo horse and the cat; those of South Yangcheng include the black-striped tiger, the sika deer and the tapir. This folk dance activity of stilted beasts enriches the spiritual and cultural life of the people, strengthens the unity and harmony between people, and at the same time expresses the local people's earnest wish for favourable weather, timely rain and a bountiful harvest. It flourished in the early Yongzheng reign of the Qing dynasty, appearing in the grand temple-fair activities; it has remained vigorous ever since and today has a history of more than three hundred years.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

Male, Han ethnicity, born in April 1944, a native of Jishan County, Shanxi Province. A lover of folk art from childhood, at twelve he followed his uncle Duan Xingwang, eighth-generation transmitter of the Jishan stilt-walking beasts, in performing gong-and-drum and flower-drum music at temple fairs, serving as lead drummer. Through years of artistic practice he has mastered not only the ritual passages, procedural order, programme arrangement and performing technique of temple-fair sacrifices but also the repair and renewal of the various props, the making, colouring, lacquering and refurbishing of the beast heads and bodies, and the organization of folk shehuo festivities. For many years he has worked to recover and protect folk tradition, constantly innovating in the making, performance and accompaniment of the walking beasts, and he has brought in large numbers of young people, teaching and mentoring them, so that the stilt-walking beasts have successors to carry the tradition onward. Within the documented technical tradition of Stilt Walking in Jishan, Shanxi: Gaoxiao, also called "gaoxiao yangge", is a folk dance widely transmitted throughout China; it takes its name from the way the dancers tread on wooden stilts with both feet. Gaoxiao has a very long history, originating in a form of technical display among the ancient hundred entertainments; stone carvings of stilt-walking dating from the Northern Wei dynasty already exist. Gaoxiao is generally performed by dance troupes of from a dozen-odd to several dozen people; most dancers portray the role of a character from an ancient myth or historical story, and their costumes largely imitate opera stage dress; common props include fans, handkerchiefs, wooden sticks, spears and sabres. Performance takes two forms, "treading the street" and "parking the field"; the latter comprises the "great field", in which the troupe dances while moving through various formations and patterns, and the "small field", performed by two or three people; male and female roles often dance facing each other, sometimes dancing and singing at the same time. The wooden stilts used for gaoxiao in different places range from 30 to 300 centimetres in height, varying widely. In terms of performance style it is further divided into "civil stilts" and "martial stilts": the civil stilts emphasise twisting, stepping and plot-based performance, while the martial stilts emphasise the display of technical feats. The stilted-beast art of gaoxiao is a form of performance in the temple-fair cultural activities of Yangcheng Village, Qinghe Town, Jishan County, Shanxi Province. Stilted beasts are made up of the animal head, the animal body and the performers. In performance two performers stride on stilts while acting out riding the beast; carrying a heavy load, they move in time with the beat of the tune patterns. The accompanying music consists of percussion instruments such as gongs, drums and flower drums. The figures of both the people and the beasts are strange and unusual; when they move in formation to the sound of drums and gongs, the scene is magnificent and highly spectacular. The existing stilted-beast images have basically all been handed down from ancient times; although they have been repaired many times, their original appearance is still preserved. The animal heads and bodies are modelled by highly skilled artisans, sewn and lashed together from hemp fibre, hemp paper, fine cord, thin bamboo, iron wire, cloth and other materials, and painted in many colours, so that the outward form is both imposing and exquisite. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "The northern Yangcheng beasts": The beast figures of northern Yangcheng village: unicorn, xiu wolf, qilin, bamboo horse and cat, kept separate from those of the southern village. "The southern Yangcheng beasts": The southern village's beasts — black leopard-cat, sika deer and tapir — distinct from the northern set; the figures descend largely from older times, restored but still recognisable. "Building the beast head and body": Skilled craftsmen model the head and body, stitching and binding hemp, paper, cord, bamboo, wire and cloth and painting them in many colours for a fierce yet fine appearance. "Two dancers on stilts riding one beast": Two performers on stilts together simulate riding a single beast, bearing its weight as they walk to the tune, the strange shapes of riders and beasts processing grandly to the drums.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

National representative bearer of Stilt Walking (Stilt-Walking Beasts), a fourth-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. Duan Tiecheng · National Representative Bearer Archive