Tian Zhixin
01 · Lineage & Regional School
Tian Zhixin, Male, Tujia, from Xiangxitujiazumiaozuzizhi, Hunan, is a sixth-batch national representative bearer of Tujia Hand-waving Dance (Ⅲ-17). The tradition is documented in Xiangxitujiazumiaozuzizhi, Hunan. Within the regional tradition and school record of Tujia Hand-waving Dance in Xiangxitujiazumiaozuzizhi, Hunan: The Tujia hand-waving dance of western Hunan takes the Tujia villages around Longshan County, Baojing County and Yongshun County as its core transmission area, and the greatest number of surviving hand-waving halls are preserved in the Xiche River basin and the Nongche area of Longshan County. The large hand-waving dance is jointly organized by several villages, sacrifices to the god Bada, and can involve several thousand people; the small hand-waving dance takes one surname and one village as its unit, sacrifices to the ancestors of that surname, is performed on the village flat, and is usually led in the dance by an elder of the clan. The hand-waving dance arose in the ancient ancestor-worship rituals of the Tujia people. Judging from the surviving stele of the Baba Dawang Temple and the county gazetteer of the Qing dynasty, the hand-waving dance already has a history of close to a thousand years. The Tujia hand-waving dance of western Hunan integrates song, dance, music and drama, and expresses a broad and rich range of historical and social life: the creation of heaven and earth, the propagation of humankind, national migration, hunting and fishing, sericulture and weaving, slash-and-burn cultivation, warfare in antiquity, mythological legend, food and daily life.
02 · Mastery & Signature Works
The bearer record for Tian Zhixin is anchored in the documented technical standards of Tujia Hand-waving Dance in Xiangxitujiazumiaozuzizhi, Hunan. Within the documented technical tradition of Tujia Hand-waving Dance in Xiangxitujiazumiaozuzizhi, Hunan: The Tujia hand-waving dance of western Hunan is the folk dance that carries the most distinctively Tujia character and reflects the oldest Tujia customs most directly. It is now transmitted mainly in Longshan, Baojing, Yongshun and other places in the Tujia areas of western Hunan. It is generally performed at night from the third day to the fifteenth day of the first month of the lunar calendar. Its dance content is structured according to the ritual procedure described above. The Tujia hand-waving dance has a bold, unadorned carriage, with movements such as single waving, double waving, circling wave, and waving while jumping. The dancing ground is generally a flat open space. The dance is divided into the large hand-waving dance and the small hand-waving dance: the large one sacrifices to the founding ancestor of the clan on a grand scale, with more than a thousand dancers and tens of thousands of spectators; the small one mainly sacrifices to the ancestors of one surname and is on a much smaller scale. Its music comprises vocal accompaniment and instrumental accompaniment. The vocal part mainly includes the qichang song (opening melody) and the baishou song, the instruments are mainly the drum and the gong, and a single piece often changes according to the content and movements of the dance. The movement characteristics of the hand-waving dance are following the beat in the same direction, bending the knees, trembling and sinking, expressing a vigorous and powerful, free and unrestrained style. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Great hand-waving and small hand-waving": Great hand-waving honours the clan's common ancestor with over a thousand dancers; small hand-waving honours a single surname's ancestor. "Single, double, whirling and stepping swings": The basic postures of the dance: single, double and whirling swings of the arms while dancing on the village threshing ground. "Same-side step, bent knee, tremble and sink": The movement keys of the dance — same-side arm and leg, bent knees, tremor and sinking weight — produce its bold style. "The broken stele of the Eight Bishops' Temple": A broken Qing stele from the Eight Bishops' Temple and local gazetteers suggest the dance is nearly a thousand years old.
Great hand-waving and small hand-waving
Great hand-waving honours the clan's common ancestor with over a thousand dancers; small hand-waving honours a single surname's ancestor.
Single, double, whirling and stepping swings
The basic postures of the dance: single, double and whirling swings of the arms while dancing on the village threshing ground.
Same-side step, bent knee, tremble and sink
The movement keys of the dance — same-side arm and leg, bent knees, tremor and sinking weight — produce its bold style.
The broken stele of the Eight Bishops' Temple
A broken Qing stele from the Eight Bishops' Temple and local gazetteers suggest the dance is nearly a thousand years old.
03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status
In 2025, Tian Zhixin was announced in the sixth batch of national representative bearers for Tujia Hand-waving Dance, with Xiangxitujiazumiaozuzizhi, Hunan as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Tujia Hand-waving Dance in Xiangxitujiazumiaozuzizhi, Hunan: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2006 (batch 1), with Xiangxitujiazumiaozuzizhi, Hunan as its declared area, and Xiangxi Intangible Cultural Heritage Safeguarding Center as its safeguarding unit. Since the project was inscribed in the national inventory, its declared area and safeguarding unit have carried out documentation, transmission and presentation within the national safeguarding framework. Together, the inventory record and the project archive form the public documentary basis for the bearer’s transmission practice.
04 · Associated Heritage Item Dossier
Historical origin
The hand-waving dance arose in the ancient ancestor-worship rituals of the Tujia people. Judging from the surviving stele of the Baba Dawang Temple and the county gazetteer of the Qing dynasty, the hand-waving dance already has a history of close to a thousand years. The Tujia hand-waving dance of western Hunan integrates song, dance, music and drama, and expresses a broad and rich range of historical and social life: the creation of heaven and earth, the propagation of humankind, national migration, hunting and fishing, sericulture and weaving, slash-and-burn cultivation, warfare in antiquity, mythological legend, food and daily life.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tian Renxin | Xiangxitujiazumiaozuzizhi, Hunan | 02-0363 | Same declared area |
| Zhang Mingguang | Xiangxitujiazumiaozuzizhi, Hunan | 02-0364 | Same declared area |
| Tian Jingren | Youyangtujiazumiaozuzizhi, Chongqing | 03-0918 | Other regional school |
| Tian Jingmin | Youyangtujiazumiaozuzizhi, Chongqing | 04-1564 | Other regional school |
| Peng Chengjin | Laifeng, Hubei | 05-2223 | Other regional school |
| Tian Weizheng | Youyangtujiazumiaozuzizhi, Chongqing | 05-2224 | Other regional school |
| Tian Zhixin | Xiangxitujiazumiaozuzizhi, Hunan | — | 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。