Xie Yuqiu
01 · Lineage & Regional School
Xie Yuqiu, Male, Han, from Shenzhen, Guangdong, is a sixth-batch national representative bearer of Qilin Dance (Ⅲ-43). The tradition is documented in Shenzhen, Guangdong. Within the regional tradition and school record of Qilin Dance in Shenzhen, Guangdong: The Dashuan'keng qilin dance is centred on Dashuan'keng Village, Dalang Subdistrict, Longhua District, Shenzhen City, and the villagers are all Hakka; according to legend their ancestors came from Wuyi Lane in Henan, moved through Fujian into Guangdong, and settled here during the Jiajing reign of the Ming dynasty. The village is formed around the Xie clan as its main body. The qilin team assembles before the clan hall, offers worship and then sets out, performing on occasions such as the Spring Festival, clan ancestral rites, weddings and the completion of new houses in the village. Its influence reaches as far as the New Territories of Hong Kong, where village artisans once crossed the border to teach, so that one and the same set of qilin routines circulates among the Hakka villages of Shenzhen and Hong Kong. The qilin dance of Dashuan'keng Village began in the Jiajing reign of the Ming dynasty (the time when the ancestors of the Xie clan settled in this locality), and it has a history of more than 400 years to the present day.
02 · Mastery & Signature Works
The bearer record for Xie Yuqiu is anchored in the documented technical standards of Qilin Dance in Shenzhen, Guangdong. Within the documented technical tradition of Qilin Dance in Shenzhen, Guangdong: All the residents of Dashuan'keng Village are Hakka; according to legend their ancestors came from Wuyi Lane in Henan and later moved into Guangdong by way of Fujian. The qilin dance custom of Dashuan'keng Village is a typical expression of Hakka folk custom. The 'qilin' used in the Dashuan'keng performance is about six metres long, draped in red and hung with green, dazzling to the eye; the dance consists of such routines as Paying Homage at the Front Hall, Walking the Great Enclosure, Meeting of the Two Qilins, Gathering the Greens, Touring the Garden, Dozing Off, Walking the Great Enclosure again, and the Three Bowings. A martial arts performance follows. The accompanying instruments are the drum, bronze gong, bronze cymbals and suona (called xidi by the local people). The performance is led mainly by the tune pattern [Sanqi Tou], and the melodious music is closely matched to the qilin dance, each giving the other its due. The Dashuan'keng qilin dance comparatively comprehensively and completely inherits the routines and the performance techniques of the qilin dancers of former generations. It is representative among the local traditional dances of Shenzhen and enjoys a certain influence in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Greeting the hall, circling the enclosure and the meeting of two qilin": The opening routines: saluting the ancestral hall, circling the ground, and the meeting of two qilin that raises the first climax. "Plucking greens, strolling the garden, dozing, triple bow": The main body of the dance: plucking the greens, strolling the garden, dozing, then a second circling closed by three bows before the martial display. "The six-metre qilin and the xidi melody": The local specification: a six-metre qilin in bright colours, accompanied by drum, gong, cymbals and the local shawm chiefly playing the Sanqitou tune. "The Xie lineage and the Wuyi Lane tradition": All the villagers are Hakka, said to descend from Henan by way of Fujian; the qilin dance began when the Xie ancestors settled here in the Jiajing era.
Emerging from the cave, chewing the foot, teasing the tail, dozing
One of the core routines, modelling the qilin on the head-shaking and tail-wagging of cats and tigers with martial-arts footwork woven in.
Laying out, kicking and plucking the greens
The linked passages dealing with the greens, from laying them out through testing and kicking to plucking them, and the most demanding part of the set.
Narcissus, cross-clear, starling garden and king-turning
Four named routine segments that run alongside the cave and greens passages and give the Yongshengtang style its distinctive sequence.
Boxing, broadsword, staff, trident, needle and paired combat
The martial display that follows the qilin dance: boxing and weapons in sequence, ending with paired combat on the same stance and footwork as the dance.
03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status
In 2025, Xie Yuqiu was announced in the sixth batch of national representative bearers for Qilin Dance, with Shenzhen, Guangdong as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Qilin Dance in Shenzhen, Guangdong: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2011 (batch 3), with Shenzhen, Guangdong as its declared area, and Shenzhen Longhuaqudalang Office Dachuankengqilin Association 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 Bantang Yongsheng Hall qilin dance is named for its meaning that 'the qilin is always victorious', and it was devised in 1840 by Ao Toutou Si (a personal style name), the founder of the Bantang Yongsheng Hall qilin dance. Beginning in 1841, the Yongsheng Hall qilin dance was invited to give performances in various localities.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yang Yinhai | Huanghua, Hebei | 03-0928 | Other regional school |
| Zhang Xishan | Houma, Shanxi | 05-2248 | Other regional school |
| Songzhang | Lankao, Henan | 05-2249 | Other regional school |
| Liu Jintang | Hong Kong, China | — | Other regional school |
| Hanzhiyong | Sui, Henan | — | Other regional school |
| Xie Yuqiu | Shenzhen, Guangdong | — | This page |
| Zhang Zhiming | Shenzhen, Guangdong | — | Same declared area |
| Liu Weituan | Dongguan, Guangdong | — | Other regional school |
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。