Yunzhang

01 · Lineage & Regional School

He has taught many disciples; Basong and Wangdui stand out among the many students of Reba song and dance and are his important successors. Within the regional tradition and school record of Reba Dance in Diqingzangzuzizhi, Yunnan: The Diqing folk call Reba dance "tiao Reba", "tiao Le'ba" or "linggu wu" (drum dance); different schools have formed according to the region and the specialities of the inheritors. Sacrificial Reba is transmitted by monks; as a Reba art form born of the Bon-Buddhist synthesis, it is naturally imbued with Buddhist incense and preserves the elegance, solemnity and gravity of Buddhist culture. Its content and forms arose to suit the production and living customs, religious customs, geography and settlement patterns of the local ethnic groups, and so carry a strong local flavour and regional character. It has been nourished by the song-and-dance art, religious culture, storytelling and comic skits of the Tibetan people, and reflects in its own distinctive forms the connotations of several cultures blending together, as well as the spiritual traits of the local people — reverence for nature and acceptance of their fate. The transmission of Reba in Diqing is closely tied to the movement of performers along the Tea Horse Road: in former times itinerant Reba troupes entered the Weixi and Deqin areas along the ancient Yunnan-Tibet road, performing at village weddings, house-warming celebrations and harvest festivals; the performers were usually versed in storytelling and singing, acrobatics and xianzi. Because Tacheng town stands at a key point on the old road, it gradually became the most concentrated centre of Reba transmission in Diqing, and local people call a lead dancer of outstanding skill a "chongbei" (leader); the Sinong Reba of Yunling in Deqin and the Naxi Le'ba of Jinjiang town each formed a branch of their own, with transmission carried on mainly through families and from master to apprentice.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

Born in Tacheng Town, a home of Reba song and dance, he was steeped in Reba music and dance from childhood, and in 1980 began learning the eighteen melodic passages and the dance methods of Reba dance from the provincial-level Reba dance bearer Chudeng as well as from Basong and Yeji'ani. Because of his high, powerful voice and consummate skill he became the chongbei, or leader, of Reba dance in his village, performing Reba song and dance at folk festivals and weddings. He took part in the recording of the China Central Television series Tian Ci Kang Ba (Kham Bestowed by Heaven). Within the documented technical tradition of Reba Dance in Diqingzangzuzizhi, Yunnan: Reba dance is a traditional dance form performed by itinerant professional troupes who lived by their art; centred on the ringed hand drum and combining storytelling and singing, song and dance, acrobatics, qigong and comic skits into one composite art, it is mainly transmitted in Tacheng town of Weixi County, Yunling Township of Deqin County, Wujing Township and Shangjiang Township of Shangri-La County, and Jinjiang town of the Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Yunnan Province. "Reba" means long hair that sticks together, that is, a long clinging braid of hair. Hair is woven into netted tassel garments: the black-and-white yak-hair netted tassels woven by Reba performers and tied around their waists. Besides the Sinong Reba, which mainly entertains the people, Diqing Reba dance also includes the sacrificial Reba types — the Zimu Xiong Lisu Reba of Wujing Township, the Shenchuan Reba of Tacheng, the Liba of the Lisu people of Shangjiang, and the Le'ba of the Naxi people of Jinjiang town — which serve to amuse the deities and to pray for favourable weather and good harvests in the locality. Reba dance as transmitted in the Tibetan-inhabited counties and prefectures of Diqing falls into two major categories, sacrificial Reba and skill-based Reba. Skill-based Reba was originally taken up to make a living, so its repertoire is freshly composed and rich and varied; it is technically demanding, and its style is rugged and uninhibited, passionate and exuberant. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Ritual Reba and virtuoso Reba": Diqing's Reba divides into ritual and virtuoso kinds, the latter once a means of livelihood, technically demanding and uninhibited in style. "Sinong Reba": The chiefly entertaining branch, set beside ritual forms such as the Zimuxiong Lisu Reba and the Naxi Leba of Jinjiang. "The net-fringe costume": The name Reba means long, matted braids; performers wear a net fringe braided from black-and-white yak hair at the waist. "The chongbei and the eighteen stanzas": The inheritor Yun Zhang learned the eighteen sung stanzas from provincial inheritors and became his village's chongbei, or leader.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

Male, Tibetan, born in July 1944, died in August 2018, a native of Weixi Lisu Autonomous County, Yunnan Province. He was a representative bearer of Reba 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. Yunzhang · National Representative Bearer Archive