Zhaxiangjiang

01 · Lineage & Regional School

Zhaxiangjiang, Male, Tibetan, from Yushuzangzuzizhi, Qinghai, is a fifth-batch national representative bearer of Xianzi Dance (Ⅲ-19). The tradition is documented in Yushuzangzuzizhi, Qinghai. Within the regional tradition and school record of Xianzi Dance in Yushuzangzuzizhi, Qinghai: Yushu Yiwu is transmitted in the Tibetan settlements of Yushu City, Chengduo, Nangqian, Zadoi, Zhiduo and Qumalai in Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province, and is most concentrated in the villages of the agricultural districts along the Tongtian and Lancang rivers. The melodies and lyrics of each county and city show marked regional differences; the coloured sleeves and waist ornaments of the dancers' Tibetan robes are also not all the same. The prefectural and county cultural centres are the main institutions relied on for collecting, organizing, teaching and transmitting Yiwu. Yushu Yiwu is performed mainly at horse-racing festivals, monastery Dharma assemblies, temple fairs and the welcome ceremonies of villages. Men and women form separate ranks, the men carry the xianzi fiddle and play it as they walk, and the women swing their long sleeves and dance to the beat. The annual Yushu Prefecture Horse-Racing Festival is the occasion on which Yiwu is displayed in concentrated form, with representative teams from each county and township taking the floor in order, and major ceremonial occasions at monasteries and villages also use Yiwu to welcome guests.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

Male, Tibetan, born in March 1962 in Yushu City, Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province. He was born into a family of Yushu Yi dance performers; influenced by his family, he loved dance from an early age and received direct instruction in performance technique from traditional Yushu Yi dance artists. He became a Yushu Yi dance performer at the age of ten, began performing away from home at seventeen, and took disciples at twenty-two; to date he has more than five hundred disciples. His performances have been commended by the local cultural authorities, and he has often led the dancing at the annual Yushu Prefecture horse racing festival and on major ceremonial occasions in monasteries, temple fairs and villages, as well as leading his dance troupe in major festival performances within and beyond Qinghai Province. He has long devoted himself to performing, collecting and organising the Yushu Yi dance and to training its bearers. Within the documented technical tradition of Xianzi Dance in Yushuzangzuzizhi, Qinghai: Yushu Yiwu is a folk dance widely transmitted in the Yushu Tibetan area of Qinghai Province and has a long history. From the late Palaeolithic period onwards, the ancestors of the Tibetan people have lived and multiplied in the Yushu area. In the Yushu region along the banks of the Lancang River and the Tongtian River, agriculture is relatively developed and the population concentrated; the Tibetan ancestors long engaged there in collective productive labour, and in that labour created Yushu Yiwu, in which they sing while dancing and dance while carrying song. There are more than four hundred kinds of Tibetan folk dance in Yushu, of which Yiwu accounts for more than half. The names of the individual Yiwu dance types are not all the same, but most have already formed unified appellations, such as "Alatala", "Gesala", "Gasong Yazhuo", "Lachamao", "Qiongzhosuona Cuo", "Ziqiong Gasong Zhuoma", "Zhaxicaiqiong Caida" and "Suoamule Mao". The dance carriage of Yushu Yiwu is flowing and free, the movements rise and fall greatly, the steps are strong and powerful, the rhythm is bright and smooth, and the style is bold and unrestrained. The basic movements of female dancers are nine in number: dot-step sway, double twist step, cushion step jump, double circling hands, single twist step, leisurely leg swing left and right, advancing dot step, turning, and step-forward-step-back. Male dancers hold the xianzi fiddle, playing and singing as they go, and their footwork is similar to that of the female dancers. Among these, the coloured sleeve is the basic characteristic of Yushu Yiwu, and the three-steps-one-bend is the basic action within its dance steps. The lyrics of Yushu Yiwu mostly draw on traditional subject matter, chiefly praising the landscape of the homeland, singing of labour and life, and praying for good fortune and happiness. Yushu Yiwu is the most representative folk dance form among Tibetan dances and is deeply loved by the Tibetan people of Yushu. At present Yushu Yiwu is a required dance form in folk dance courses at professional dance schools throughout the country. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Ala Tala, Gesa La, Gasong Yazhuo": Names of individual Yushu Yi dances; of over four hundred Tibetan folk dances in Yushu, more than half are Yi dances. "Nine basic women's movements": Women have nine basic steps from point-sway to pivot; the men play the fiddle as they sing, their footwork much the same. "Three steps one bend and the dancing sleeve": Sleeve work is the dance's signature and the three-step bend its basic step, with sweeping movements and brisk rhythm. "Lyrics praising home hills and rivers": Its lyrics are traditional, praising the homeland, celebrating work and praying for good fortune, and the dances keep their original form.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

He is a representative bearer of Xianzi Dance (Yushu Yi Dance), a fifth-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. Zhaxiangjiang · National Representative Bearer Archive