Guo Jinsuo

01 · Lineage & Regional School

Guo Jinsuo, Male, Han, from Quanzhou, Fujian, is a fourth-batch national representative bearer of Quanzhou Paixiong Dance (Ⅲ-12). The tradition is documented in Quanzhou, Fujian. Within the regional tradition and school record of Quanzhou Paixiong Dance in Quanzhou, Fujian: The chest-patting dance is one of the most representative folk dances in Fujian Province, and is mainly current in the Fuqiao and Jiangnan areas of southern Minnan as well as in Quanzhou, Kinmen and other places. The internal dynamic of the chest-patting dance is extremely similar to that of the Tujia dance "meat-linked sounds"; viewed from the standpoint of the distribution of dance types, it stands in a close relationship of shared origins with the dances of southern minorities such as the Li and the Gaoshan peoples. In southern Minnan the chest-patting dance is also called "beating seven sounds", taking its name from the fact that the palms strike the chest in succession — the front of the chest, the left and right sides of the chest, the two ribs and the two legs — making seven sounds in all. Quanzhou lies in the region where the ancient Minyue people settled; dancers wear a straw hoop on the head decorated with a snake shape, and scholars generally hold that it preserves vestiges of the snake-totem sacrificial rites of the Minyue. In former times, whenever Quanzhou held its god-welcoming processions and its Lantern Festival street parades, chest-patting dance teams went out with the array leaders and danced barefoot and bare-armed in the open in front of the temple and in the middle of the street, leaping and soaring.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

Male, Han ethnicity, born in October 1940, a native of Nan'an County, Quanzhou City, Fujian Province. As a child he learned the Quanzhou chest-clapping dance from the folk artist Guo Shanqiao, and he later studied systematically under a number of folk dance artists. His Quanzhou chest-clapping dance takes Da Qi Xiang (the Seven Beats) as its basic movement, accompanied by leaping footwork and a swaying head and combined with improvised signature movements, which makes the dance free and natural in manner and gives it a nimble, humorous, rugged and fervent style. His performance has toured nationwide as a characteristic art item of Fujian and has been recorded for programmes by a number of film and television media, extending the influence of the Quanzhou chest-clapping dance. Within the documented technical tradition of Quanzhou Paixiong Dance in Quanzhou, Fujian: The chest-patting dance is fairly simple in form; one or two people can dance it freely at any time and any place. Traditionally the dancers of the chest-patting dance are men who wear a straw hoop on the head, bare the upper body and go barefoot. Their movements consist chiefly of striking, clapping, pinching and stamping, tending towards a single rhythm, concentrated on the chest, elbows, legs and palms; the basic carriage is one of drawn-in waist and thrust-out chest, the whole body leaping, supplemented by vigorous squatting steps and contented head-shaking, forming a style that is bold, archaic, humorous and ardent. The basic movement of the chest-patting dance is "beating seven sounds": the two hands first clap together once in front of the chest, then strike the left and right sides of the chest in turn, the inner sides of the arms clamp and beat the left and right ribs in turn, and the hands then strike the left and right legs in turn, making seven sounds in all, exactly seven beats in length. At the same time the dancer leaps rhythmically together with the squatting crotch step of the feet, the body swaying to the left and right, accompanied by head-shaking, producing a distinctive swaying dynamic that makes the dance easygoing and natural, revealing a nimble and light, humorous and open character; it is repeated in this cycle for continuous performance. "Beating seven sounds" represents most strikingly the basic dynamic and the stylistic features of the chest-patting dance. Today's dance workers have supplied music for the chest-patting dance, making the performance scene ardent and joyous and the movement orderly, and "beating seven sounds" has become "beating eight sounds" (that is, the two hands clap together twice in front of the chest); this has developed the basic movement of the chest-patting dance and formed distinctive stylistic characteristics. The snake-shaped head ornament on the straw hoop worn by chest-patting dancers preserves the vestiges of the snake-totem worship of the indigenous Minyue people of the Qin and Han periods, and its form of performance also preserves vestiges of the primitive dance of the ancient Minyue people. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Da Qi Xiang (seven beats)": The core routine: one clap before the chest, then slaps to chest, ribs and legs for seven beats, danced with squatting jumps and a trembling head. "The straw hoop and snake ornament": Dancers wear a straw hoop topped with a snake figure, a survival of the ancient Minyue serpent totem. "The lotus-lament scene of the Liyuan play": The Liyuan play Zheng Yuanhe keeps a beggar's chest-slapping 'lotus lament', showing the dance had entered southern drama by Song-Yuan times. "Chest-slapping to the Nanyin tune": Village troupes dance to the Nanyin piece San Qian Liang Jin, matching body percussion to the melody.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

National representative bearer of Quanzhou Paixiong Dance, a fourth-batch national intangible cultural heritage project. For many years he has been devoted to training successors in the Quanzhou chest-clapping dance, travelling throughout Fujian, Hong Kong, Taiwan and other regions.

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. Guo Jinsuo · National Representative Bearer Archive