Chen Gaibao

01 · Lineage & Regional School

He learned the wooden drum dance from the elders of his household from childhood and is the twenty-eighth generation transmitter of his family line. Within the regional tradition and school record of Mu Drum Dance in Cangyuanwazuzizhi, Yunnan: The Cangyuan Wa wooden drum dance is distributed in the townships and towns of Yanshuai, Danjia, Nuoliang, Menglai, Mengjiao and Banhong in Cangyuan Wa Autonomous County, Lincang City, Yunnan Province; every Wa mountain village and settlement has its own wooden drum song gathering ground. The Cangyuan Wa wooden drum dance originates in the ancient Wa wooden drum sacrifice. In Wa legend the wooden drum is regarded as an instrument that communicates with the spirits and as the source of the nation's proliferation. Four procedures — dragging the wooden drum, entering the wooden drum house, beating the wooden drum and sacrificing to the wooden drum — form a complete ritual, with the dance running through it. The wooden drum dance is not lightly started in ordinary times; it must be carried out step by step according to the traditional ritual sequence on specific occasions such as sacrifices and New Year celebrations.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

Male, Wa ethnicity, born in May 1939, a native of Cangyuan Wa Autonomous County, Yunnan Province. He is familiar with the entire procedure of the Wa wooden-drum ceremony, knows the method of making the wooden drum, the drum patterns used in striking it and the various dances of the wooden drum dance, and can recount the history and related legends of Wa wooden-drum sacrifice; he enjoys high prestige in the locality. Within the documented technical tradition of Mu Drum Dance in Cangyuanwazuzizhi, Yunnan: The wooden drum dance is a folk dance passed down among the Miao, Yi and Wa peoples of Southwest China, performed as dance set to the beating of wooden drums in ritual observance. Its drums are usually made by cutting down a naturally grown tree trunk and hollowing out the interior to shape the body. A wooden drum dance in general forms part of a large-scale sacrificial observance in which the whole ethnic group takes part; the wooden drum serves as the symbol of the group, and the ritual centred on beating the wooden drum and dancing the wooden drum dance is saturated with meanings of ancestor worship and nature worship, bearing the distinct marks of primitive culture. Cangyuan County now has more than seven hundred wooden drums of large, medium and small size, and ninety percent of the people can dance the wooden drum dance and sing wooden drum songs. The Cangyuan Wa wooden drum dance consists of four parts: dragging the wooden drum, entering the wooden drum house, beating the wooden drum, and sacrificing to the wooden drum. At every New Year celebration, Wa men, women, young and old all dress in new clothes and, to the beating of the wooden drum, circle the wooden drum house hand in hand and dance. They express their reverence for the wooden drum by bending the knees and bowing the waist; regardless of age or sex, everyone moves slowly round the circle in the counterclockwise direction, the movements consisting mainly of swinging the arms, walking steps and stamping the feet. On the first beat the right foot steps forward and diagonally to the right, both hands raise with the elbows bent to above and to one side of the head, and the body leans back; on the second beat the left heel taps out a step, both hands swing down and diagonally behind, and the body leans forward. This repeats in cycles, the movements regulated and steady. The wooden drum dance runs through the whole wooden drum sacrifice. The dance is accompanied by the lead singing of those who beat the wooden drum and by everyone singing as they keep time with their steps, and the lyrics mostly recount the nation's history, sacrifices, labour and production, and life. When the wooden drum dance is danced the drums shake the sky, the dancers' hair flies loose, and the movements are rugged and uninhibited, ardent and wild, expressing the industrious and courageous character of the Wa people. The wooden drum is the instrument that communicates with the spirits in Wa legend, is regarded as the source of the nation's proliferation, and is the symbol of Wa history and culture. The wooden drum dance is the culmination of the Wa people's folk song and dance and the most direct and vivid embodiment of Wa culture. It has always been loved by the broad Wa populace and has played an irreplaceable role in bringing the national spirit together. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Dragging, housing, striking and offering": The dance runs through all four stages of the drum rite: dragging the log, housing it, striking it and offering to it. "Knees bent, circling anticlockwise": At festivals the whole village circles the drum house anticlockwise, knees bent and waists bowed in reverence, swinging arms, stepping and stamping. "Lead singing and historical verse": The drummer's lead singing and the crowd's answering song tell of history, sacrifice and daily labour as the drums thunder and hair flies. "Representative pieces": Pieces such as Gaogelon Meng, the hair-swinging dance and Jialinsai have become its best-known representatives.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

National representative bearer of Mu Drum Dance (Cangyuan Wa Wooden Drum Dance), a fourth-batch national intangible cultural heritage project. Devoted to the traditional culture of his own people, he has committed himself to protecting and transmitting the wooden drum dance; his son Chen Weidong and his disciple Li Aixing have already mastered the history, rituals and techniques of the Cangyuan Wa wooden drum dance and have become a mainstay of its transmission.

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. Chen Gaibao · National Representative Bearer Archive