Li Guangde

01 · Lineage & Regional School

Li Guangde, Male, Miao, from Puan, Guizhou, is a sixth-batch national representative bearer of Miao Lusheng Dance (Ⅲ-23). The tradition is documented in Puan, Guizhou. Within the regional tradition and school record of Miao Lusheng Dance in Puan, Guizhou: The "Mengsa" Miao number more than one hundred thousand in northwestern Guizhou; they live mainly in the mountains of the Beipanjiang basin. Because the women wear a wooden comb shaped like a crescent moon and insert it askew into the hair bun, they are known as the "crooked-comb Miao". The Puan Miao lusheng dance is bound to the funeral and sacrificial rites of the "Mengsa" Miao; it is the sacred dance with which this branch escorts the spirit of the deceased and entertains the gods. It is transmitted among the long-settled villages of the "Mengsa" Miao in Longyin Town and Baisha Township along the south bank of the Beipanjiang River in the northern part of Pu'an County. The dance is performed mainly by men and is generally taught by the Miao moshi (the ritual master who ferries the soul of the dead across); anyone wishing to become an apprentice of a moshi must hold an initiation ceremony, while other learners can master it simply by watching attentively, consulting elders and practising hard. Throughout the funeral rite, a dozen or several dozen people dance while some blow the lusheng and others swing wooden sticks, to the beat of the skin drum and the music of the lusheng.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

The bearer record for Li Guangde is anchored in the documented technical standards of Miao Lusheng Dance in Puan, Guizhou. Within the documented technical tradition of Miao Lusheng Dance in Puan, Guizhou: The Miao lusheng dance (called "Re'aide Geng" in Miao) is a traditional dance accompanied by the lusheng, played and danced by the performers themselves. The Miao lusheng dance mainly transmitted among the long-settled villages of the "Mengsa" Miao (a branch of the Miao in the Sichuan-Yunnan-Guizhou dialect area) in Longyin Town and Baisha Township, Pu'an County, Guizhou Province, is a traditional sacrificial dance bound to funeral and sacrificial rites. Its area of transmission lies in the north of Pu'an County, in the region on the south bank of the Beipanjiang River. According to the County Gazetteer of Pu'an County in Guizhou Province, the "Mengsa" Miao migrated to Pu'an at the end of the Ming dynasty. Ni Lue of the Ming recorded in the Wild History of Nanzhao that "every year at the Mengyue festival the men blow the lusheng and the women shake bells and sing in chorus, dancing shoulder to shoulder, tireless all day long". There is no record of when the Miao lusheng dance began, but judging from its legends, its performance forms and its accompanying music, it has a history of at least five hundred years. The Miao lusheng dance of Pu'an County is the sacred dance in which the "Mengsa" Miao escort the spirit of the dead and entertain the gods during their funeral rites; a dozen or several dozen people dance while some blow the lusheng and others swing wooden sticks, to the beat of the skin drum and the music of the lusheng. The movements are rough and powerful, mysterious and uncanny; the steps can be summarised as walking, shifting, striding, turning, standing, kicking, crossing, hooking and tumbling. The movements fall into four parts: Jiaogu (Gengzi drum), meaning blowing the lusheng to "invite the spirit" and "welcome the guest"; Suogeng (Changzipiao), meaning hunting; Gaozhuang Degeng (Hongge Geng), meaning dancing the lusheng dance, itself composed of three parts, the three-beat drum, the four-beat drum and the six-beat drum; and Leganche, meaning sounding the lusheng and brandishing wooden sticks to escort the deceased on the way. Traditional movements include "Qiao Hejiu", "Qiuyin Gunsha" and "Gunshanzhu". The lusheng dance of the "Mengsa" Miao in Pu'an has clear gender and stylistic features: it is performed mainly by men, its dance form is rough and powerful, unrestrained and ardent, and it demands a high degree of technical skill; at the same time it expresses both the significance carried by its cultural function and the artistic expression of its music-and-dance form. This heritage item is generally taught by Miao moshi (the ritual masters who ferries the soul of the dead across). Only those who wish to become apprentices of a moshi hold an initiation ceremony; other learners who wish to learn it can master it simply by watching attentively, consulting elders and practising hard. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "The four movement sections": Four sections follow in order: summoning the spirit, hunting, the drum-led lusheng dance in three, four and six strokes, and escorting the dead with pipes and staves. "Drinking, worm-rolling and the rolling pearl": Traditional movements include Clever Drinking, Earthworm Rolling in Sand and Rolling Pearl, robust and highly technical. "Transmission by the ritual master": Taught by the Miao mortuary masters, it requires a formal apprenticeship only for those seeking to become masters themselves. "The moon-dance record in Nanzhao Yeshi": Ni Lüe's Ming miscellany records men piping and women ringing bells as they danced shoulder to shoulder all day at the spring moon dance.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

In 2025, Li Guangde was announced in the sixth batch of national representative bearers for Miao Lusheng Dance, with Puan, Guizhou as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Miao Lusheng Dance in Puan, Guizhou: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2014 (batch 4), with Puan, Guizhou as its declared area, and Puan County Cultural 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

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. Liguangde (Puan, Guizhou) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Liguangde · China ICH Official Archive