Baimaqunjiu

01 · Lineage & Regional School

Baimaqunjiu, Male, Tibetan, from Luozha, Tibet, is a fourth-batch national representative bearer of Qiangmu (Ⅲ-22). The tradition is documented in Luozha, Tibet. Within the regional tradition and school record of Qiangmu in Luozha, Tibet: Lakang Jiacham is a folk song-and-dance with a distinctive artistic style and strong regional characteristics; it is a product of the combination of Tibetan folk culture and religious culture, and also an important component of the intangible cultural heritage of the Chinese nation. Every year on the fifteenth day of the twelfth Tibetan month, when the traditional border trade exchange meeting is held in Lakang town, Lhozhag County, Lakang Jiacham becomes the opening-night programme of the fair, and is also one of the folk art programmes most welcome to the local masses and to merchants coming from outside. In terms of school affiliation, Lakang Jiacham belongs to the cham system of Kagyu school monasteries, yet it is performed by lay people of Lakang town; unlike the monk chams of the cham projects such as the Drigung Gar Cham, the A Cham of Qude Temple and the Samye Monastery cham, it differs in the subject of transmission, in performance time and in occasion. It is the representative of the lay people's branch among Tibetan chams. Lakang Jiacham had been interrupted for 30 years; after the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China was convened, and with the care and attention of the Party and the government, this unique folk song-and-dance was transmitted and developed once again. According to the oral accounts of the monasteries around Lakang town and to local materials, Lakang Jiacham was handed down from monastery cham to the folk, and once the dancers came to be undertaken by lay people a unique "lay people's cham" tradition took shape. Lakang town lies on the southern border of Lhozhag County adjoining Bhutan; the border trade exchange meeting held on the fifteenth day of the twelfth Tibetan month, also called the "Lakang Border Trade Meeting", has the Jiacham as the fixed opening-night programme. Jiacham had been interrupted for 30 years; after the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee, and with the care and attention of the Party and the government, this unique folk song-and-dance was transmitted and developed once again, and performance resumed in 1985.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

Male, Tibetan ethnicity, born in April 1941, a native of Luozha County, Tibet Autonomous Region. At the age of fourteen he began to study the performance of Lakangjia Qiangmu under Gongga Qunpei, a transmitter of Qiangmu; he came to understand the performance forms, artistic characteristics and historical origins of Lakangjia Qiangmu (the laymen's Qiangmu), mastered its performance repertoire and all its dance techniques, and attained considerable distinction as a performer. After Lakangjia Qiangmu resumed performance in 1985 he served as its organizer and as a player of drum and cymbals. Within the documented technical tradition of Qiangmu in Luozha, Tibet: Jiacham is a cham of the Dagpo Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism performed by lay people (the common folk) of Lakang town, Lhozhag County, Shannan Prefecture, Tibet. The performance of Lakang Jiacham marks the opening of the Lakang Border Trade Exchange Meeting. The dancers of Jiacham are all local people of Lakang town; they do not leave their farming behind to train and do not live in the monastery, working in agriculture and herding in ordinary life and rehearsing and performing intensively during the festival period. The performance is accompanied above all by drums and cymbals; since performances resumed, Baima Qunjiu has served as the organizer and as drum-and-cymbal player, responsible for summoning the dancers, teaching the movements and controlling the rhythm of the whole music-and-dance performance. The complete performance inherits the ritual procedures of the Dagpo Kagyu school cham: the masks, costumes and steps may not be altered at will, and the work is performed only at fixed times and places. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Opening the border-trade fair": Each year on the fifteenth day of the twelfth Tibetan month the dance opens the Lhakang border-trade fair in Lhozhag county. "A lay-performed Kagyu cham": Jia cham is a Kagyu Buddhist cham performed by lay people of Lhakang town rather than by monks. "Organizer and cymbal player": Drum and cymbal drive the dance; after the 1985 revival Pema Chojor served as organizer and cymbal player, setting the rhythm for the whole performance. "Revival after three decades": After thirty years of interruption the lay cham was revived in 1985 and has been performed ever since.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

National representative bearer of Qiangmu (Lakangjia Qiangmu), a fourth-batch national intangible cultural heritage project. Since 1985 he has served as a transmitter of the laymen's Qiangmu. He promptly passed on his command of Lakangjia Qiangmu to younger artists such as Zhandui, cultivating a stable body of transmitters and safeguarding the living practice of Lakangjia Qiangmu.

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. Baimaqunjiu · National Representative Bearer Archive