Shi Guangrong

01 · Lineage & Regional School

Shi Guangrong, Male, Miao, from Qiandongnanmiaozudongzuzizhi, Guizhou, is a sixth-batch national representative bearer of Miao Gupiao Dance (Ⅲ-140). The tradition is documented in Qiandongnanmiaozudongzuzizhi, Guizhou. Within the regional tradition and school record of Miao Gupiao Dance in Qiandongnanmiaozudongzuzizhi, Guizhou: It has two strings, and can produce eight pitches that correspond to the eight tones of the local Miao language. Anyone who understands the local Miao language can tell accurately what a gupiao melody is expressing simply from the sound of the instrument. This traditional dance is handed down from generation to generation in the local Miao villages mainly through communal transmission. The Miao Gupiao Dance is an important medium for socialising and courtship among young Miao men and women, and many young people have formed lifelong marriages through it. It has a marked regional and ethnic character and is an important component of Miao culture. According to the local Miao Ancient Songs, the Miao Gupiao Dance originated in commemoration of the “Gourd Brother and Sister”, the pair who survived the great flood and then re-created humankind.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

The bearer record for Shi Guangrong is anchored in the documented technical standards of Miao Gupiao Dance in Qiandongnanmiaozudongzuzizhi, Guizhou. Within the documented technical tradition of Miao Gupiao Dance in Qiandongnanmiaozudongzuzizhi, Guizhou: The Miao Gupiao Dance, called “gix hab” (geha) in Miao and rendered into Chinese as “Gupiao Dance”, is a traditional folk dance in which the gupiao qin, an ancient gourd fiddle, is the instrument that leads the dance. It circulates mainly in the areas inhabited by the Miao of the “Hundred-Bird Costume” branch in Qiandongnan and Qiannan, with Yaohui and Songlong in Yaohui Township, Danzhai County, as the core area, extending to Yemeng and Guyue in Dadi Township, Leishan County, to Baibei in Rongjiang County, and to the Miao villages of the Yangfu, Wubu and Bajie areas of Dujiang Town, Sandu County, Qiannan Prefecture. The natural setting here is beautiful, with high mountains and steep slopes, and the culture of the Miao Gupiao Dance has been comparatively fully preserved. The main prop of the Gupiao Dance, the gupiao qin, is made of paulownia wood, strung with bovine sinew and bowed with horsehair or palm fibre. The Miao Gupiao Dance is plain and unadorned, with a resonance that lingers long, forming a marked contrast to the bright and lively character of the lusheng dance. Its dance formation places the man playing the “geha” at the front as the leader of the dance, with the women following behind; they line up in a row and dance gracefully in an anticlockwise direction. The movement is to hold the hands at the abdomen and swing them up and down, over and over. The dance steps are mostly in four, and there are also three-step, five-step and seven-step forms. The three-step dance turns after every three steps, moves forward with straight steps, moves back and changes step to left and right; the rhythm of the four-step dance turns after every four steps, with stamping of the feet and changes of movement, and so on; all of these have formed fixed patterns. The Miao Gupiao Dance is divided into the sacrificial type and the recreational type. The sacrificial dance has a solemn and dignified atmosphere, and the dancers are mostly middle-aged and elderly men and women; its repertoire includes “Invitation”, “Praise”, “Labour”, “Farewell” and other pieces. The melodies of the recreational dance are mostly in the mode of love songs, with more than a hundred pieces such as “Let’s Dance Together” and “Wandering for Friendship While Still Young”. To dance the Gupiao Dance one must wear the “Hundred-Bird Costume”. The “Hundred-Bird Costume” is silk woven with bird designs, the most magnificent sacrificial garment of the local Miao people. The Miao Ancient Songs say: “The boughs of the white sweetgum tree stretch across the sky, and two of them droop down — one becomes a lusheng and one becomes a gupiao qin” — which shows that the gupiao qin is as ancient as the lusheng. The Gupiao Dance is bound up with a whole series of cultural phenomena peculiar to the Miao, namely the sweetgum tree — Butterfly Mother — the great flood — the Gourd Brother and Sister re-creating humankind. A large part of the Gupiao Dance repertoire reflects the fishing and hunting activities of the Miao. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Invitation": The sacrificial dance has a solemn and dignified atmosphere, and the dancers are mostly middle-aged and elderly men and women; its repertoire includes “Invitation”, “Praise”, “Labour”, “Farewell” and other pieces. "Praise": The sacrificial dance has a solemn and dignified atmosphere, and the dancers are mostly middle-aged and elderly men and women; its repertoire includes “Invitation”, “Praise”, “Labour”, “Farewell” and other pieces. "Labour": The sacrificial dance has a solemn and dignified atmosphere, and the dancers are mostly middle-aged and elderly men and women; its repertoire includes “Invitation”, “Praise”, “Labour”, “Farewell” and other pieces. "Farewell": The sacrificial dance has a solemn and dignified atmosphere, and the dancers are mostly middle-aged and elderly men and women; its repertoire includes “Invitation”, “Praise”, “Labour”, “Farewell” and other pieces.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

In 2025, Shi Guangrong was announced in the sixth batch of national representative bearers for Miao Gupiao Dance, with Qiandongnanmiaozudongzuzizhi, Guizhou as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Miao Gupiao Dance in Qiandongnanmiaozudongzuzizhi, Guizhou: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2021 (batch 5), with Qiandongnanmiaozudongzuzizhi, Guizhou as its declared area, and Qiandongnan Zhou 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

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. Shiguangrong (Qiandongnanmiaozudongzuzizhi, Guizhou) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Shiguangrong · China ICH Official Archive