Liu Weituan

01 · Lineage & Regional School

Liu Weituan, Male, Han, from Dongguan, Guangdong, is a sixth-batch national representative bearer of Qilin Dance (Ⅲ-43). The tradition is documented in Dongguan, Guangdong. Within the regional tradition and school record of Qilin Dance in Dongguan, Guangdong: Zhangmutou is the only Hakka township of Dongguan City, and the qilin dance is transmitted with each surname's clan as its unit. The town has long observed the rule that 'each surname treats itself as one school', and a single line of teaching circulates only inside the clan. Every year after the autumn harvest the clan's young men gather in the 'fist hall' annex built onto their own clan hall to practise kung fu and dance, taught by word of mouth and demonstration from the clan's own qilin master, and they go out to pay New Year calls in the Spring Festival that follows. When the qilin teams of the various surnames visit one another inside the town, they must enter the village in order of age and rank, first kowtowing before the other side's clan hall and door gods, and only then presenting their art on the drying yard. Zhangmutou Town is the only Hakka township of Dongguan City, and the qilin dance was brought south by Hakka people from the north during the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, so it has a history of more than 450 years.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

The bearer record for Liu Weituan is anchored in the documented technical standards of Qilin Dance in Dongguan, Guangdong. Within the documented technical tradition of Qilin Dance in Dongguan, Guangdong: The qilin dance is the Hakka traditional dance of Zhangmutou Town. A qilin dance performance is given by one young man dancing the qilin's head and one boy dancing the qilin's tail, to the accompaniment of gongs, drums and suona. The Zhangmutou qilin dance is divided into two parts, the 'head set' (Linzhi Chengxiang, 'the qilin's hoofs bring auspiciousness') and the 'tail set' (Caiqing Cifu, 'gathering the greens to bestow blessings'). The 'head set' depicts such actions as the qilin combing itself, licking its feet, licking its tail, licking its body and washing its face; the 'tail set' depicts the arduous process in which the qilin seeks the greens, smells them, tests them, looks for them, teases them, gathers them, eats them and spits them out, signifying that the qilin brings blessings to the human world and brings people fine blessings. A martial arts performance follows. The Zhangmutou qilin dance is always taught by the master through word of mouth and personal demonstration, and each surname treats itself as one separate school, mostly handed down from ancestors and inherited generation by generation. Every year after the autumn, the young men of the same clan and the same surname in the village gather at the 'fist hall' inside their own clan hall to practise kung fu, where the qilin master of their own clan teaches the qilin dance. The Hakka of Zhangmutou hold that 'of the nine sons of the dragon, the qilin is the eldest', and it is precisely from this that the qilin dance has received its distinctive cultural content. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "The first set, Linzhi Chengxiang": The first half of the dance, in which the qilin grooms itself - combing, licking feet, tail and body, washing its face - in soft and continuous movement. "The second set, plucking the greens": The second half proceeds through eight stages of seeking, sniffing, testing, finding, teasing, plucking, eating and spitting out the greens. "The clan boxing hall": Each surname keeps its own lineage of masters; after the autumn harvest young clansmen train in the boxing hall of their own ancestral hall. "The qilin as eldest of the dragon's sons": Local Hakka hold that the qilin is the eldest of the dragon's nine sons, which lends the dance its particular meaning as an auspicious clan emblem.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

In 2025, Liu Weituan was announced in the sixth batch of national representative bearers for Qilin Dance, with Dongguan, Guangdong as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Qilin Dance in Dongguan, Guangdong: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2011 (batch 3), with Dongguan, Guangdong as its declared area, and Dongguan Zhangmutou Town Culture Service Center (Dongguan Zhangmutou Town Sports Management Service 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. Liuweituan (Dongguan, Guangdong) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Liuweituan · China ICH Official Archive