Lamao
01 · Lineage & Regional School
Lamao, Female, Tibetan, from Guide, Qinghai, is a fifth-batch national representative bearer of Zerou (Ⅲ-93). The tradition is documented in Guide, Qinghai. Within the regional tradition and school record of Zerou in Guide, Qinghai: Shangyou Zerou is an art combining song and dance, with fairly regular musical forms and lyrics, distinctive regional character and broad popular participation. Zerou has been transmitted in Xapai Village, Hexi Town, Guide County, Hainan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai, for more than four hundred years. In local Tibetan, Xapai is called “Shangyou”, so this branch of Zerou takes the name Shangyou Zerou; it is also known popularly as “Ashize”, and it is one of the branches of Tibetan song-and-dance that preserves the most ancient ritual procedures. Zerou was originally connected with the customs of tribal gatherings and of offering song and dance at weddings and New Year; song and dance are combined, and its musical forms and lyrics are fairly regular. Among its features, the woman's high leg lift and large swinging of the body are seldom seen in Tibetan dance, and they have made it the most representative dance item of Xapai Village.
02 · Mastery & Signature Works
She is a Tibetan woman born in May 1951 in Guide County, Qinghai Province. Fond of dance since childhood, at the age of six she began learning the folk dance Shangyou Zerou from the veteran folk artist Zhuoma and from her mother, Bomao Zhuoma, gradually mastering its movements, vocal style and melodic modes. At ten she became a performer of Shangyou Zerou, and from the age of eleven she took part in performances at village weddings and festivities and in cultural events at provincial, prefectural and county level. At fifteen she began performing with the Xiapai Village song and dance troupe. Her movements are light and graceful, her lines vivid and finely wrought, and her singing bright and melodious, with strong artistic expressiveness. In practice her skills have matured and she has developed her own artistic characteristics. Within the documented technical tradition of Zerou in Guide, Qinghai: In Xapai Village, Hexi Town, Guide County, Hainan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province, Tibetan song-and-dance is very flourishing, and Shangyou Zerou stands out most among it. “Shangyou” means “Xapai”. Zerou is also known as “Ashize”. Shangyou Zerou has been sung and danced in Xapai Village for more than four hundred years, and through song accompanying dance it expresses the villagers' endless love for the natural scenery of their home village. Zerou is of many kinds and rich in content; it not only expresses a strong self-entertainment quality but also contains a strong festive and ritual quality and highly skilful performance. Over a course of several hundred years of evolution, its singing has accommodated and drawn on many things; its melodies have grown from a few at the beginning to more than twenty today, and the structure of its works and its performance have also become increasingly mature, making it a classic representative among Zerou forms. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Shangyou and Ashize": Shangyou means Xiaopai village and the form is also called Ashize; it has been sung there for over four centuries with song accompanying dance. "More than twenty melodies": Over the centuries its singing absorbed many influences, growing from a few melodies to more than twenty and maturing into the classic form of zourou. "A rare high knee lift": It keeps Tibetan dance's hallmarks while adding bold carriage, large amplitude and a high knee lift rare in the tradition, its name itself meaning to romp and play. "Wedding and new-year dancing": Strongly self-entertaining yet ceremonial and technically demanding, it is staged at village weddings and at provincial, prefectural and county cultural events.
Shangyou and Ashize
Shangyou means Xiaopai village and the form is also called Ashize; it has been sung there for over four centuries with song accompanying dance.
More than twenty melodies
Over the centuries its singing absorbed many influences, growing from a few melodies to more than twenty and maturing into the classic form of zourou.
A rare high knee lift
It keeps Tibetan dance's hallmarks while adding bold carriage, large amplitude and a high knee lift rare in the tradition, its name itself meaning to romp and play.
Wedding and new-year dancing
Strongly self-entertaining yet ceremonial and technically demanding, it is staged at village weddings and at provincial, prefectural and county cultural events.
03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status
She is a fifth-batch national representative bearer of Zerou (Shangyou Zerou), a national intangible cultural heritage project. She has been engaged in transmitting the project since 1992 and has trained a group of bearers.
04 · Associated Heritage Item Dossier
Historical origin
Zerou has been transmitted in Xapai Village, Hexi Town, Guide County, Hainan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai, for more than four hundred years. In local Tibetan, Xapai is called “Shangyou”, so this branch of Zerou takes the name Shangyou Zerou; it is also known popularly as “Ashize”, and it is one of the branches of Tibetan song-and-dance that preserves the most ancient ritual procedures. Zerou was originally connected with the customs of tribal gatherings and of offering song and dance at weddings and New Year; song and dance are combined, and its musical forms and lyrics are fairly regular. Among its features, the woman's high leg lift and large swinging of the body are seldom seen in Tibetan dance, and they have made it the most representative dance item of Xapai Village.
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.
| Bearer | Declared area | Roster code | Relation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lamao | Guide, Qinghai | 05-2280 | This page |
06 · Archival Sources & Bibliography
This static English edition is rendered at the edge for search engines, AI crawlers and readers without JavaScript. Compiled from official national representative bearer archival records and the associated project dossier, organized by topic and translated into English. 阅读中文版。