Hu Liangang

01 · Lineage & Regional School

Hu Liangang, Male, Han, from Tumotezuoqi, Inner Mongolia, is a sixth-batch national representative bearer of Taige (Ⅹ-87). The tradition is documented in Tumotezuoqi, Inner Mongolia. Within the regional tradition and school record of Taige in Tumotezuoqi, Inner Mongolia: The 'nao' in naoge is a dialect word of parts of Shanxi, Shaanxi, and Inner Mongolia, meaning to lift something up and carry it on the shoulder. According to local folk belief, any child who has appeared on a naoge will enjoy health, happiness, peace, and good fortune throughout life. Taige (raised pavilions) originated from deity-welcoming festival gatherings in the Central Plains region, and later spread to the southeastern coast and the northwestern region; it was highly popular for a time during the Qing dynasty, and in the course of its transmission it combined with local conditions in different places, developing distinct characteristics. Naoge is a kind of folk shehuo (festival festivity) beloved by the people of the Hohhot region of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Inner Mongolian naoge was introduced from northern Jin (northern Shanxi) in the mid-Qing dynasty and has undergone more than three hundred years of development and evolution; among it, the naoge of Bikeqi Town, Tumed Left Banner, is the most famous.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

The bearer record for Hu Liangang is anchored in the documented technical standards of Taige in Tumotezuoqi, Inner Mongolia. Within the documented technical tradition of Taige in Tumotezuoqi, Inner Mongolia: Taige — also called 'taijiao' (raised corners), 'taige' (raised songs), 'gaotai' (high raises), 'naoge' (naoGe), 'naoge' (NaoGe, head-borne pavilions), and 'gaozhuang' (high displays) — is a folk procession performance form in traditional festival activities. In a taige performance, several children dressed as ancient-costumed opera figures are arranged into elaborate tableaux according to the plot, fixed to iron pillars and brackets on a square pavilion, which bearers carry as they walk. Traditional taige tableaux are mostly drawn from plays such as The Butterfly Lovers, The Marriage of the Heavenly Fairy (Tianxian pei), The Legend of the White Snake, Journey to the West, Zhaojun Goes Beyond the Frontier, The Blue Bridge Meeting, The Yellow Crane Tower, and The Fisherman's Revenge (Daiyu sha jia). The tableaux stand about 3 to 5 meters high, and the pavilions have three to five tiers, generally with one person per tier; some have four on the bottom tier, five or six in the middle tier, and one on the top tier. In a taige procession, four pavilions are generally used, and at most six or even eight may be used, each carried forward by four or eight bearers. Taige fuses painting, opera, colored paper craft, and paper sculpture into one, with elegant forms and spectacular scenes; it is loved by the broad masses and has long remained prevalent among the people. Naoge is generally performed by a combination of an adult and a child: the adult below wears an iron frame on the upper body, called the 'sejiao' (color foot); the child 'carried above' is likewise fixed with an iron frame, called the 'sexin' (color core). The person 'carrying' below must keep his waist straight; twisting, trembling, swaying, walking, dancing, and rotating are the characteristics of his movements — in twisting, all the force is applied below the knee to the lower leg, and in the course of moving he must carry the child above along in the swaying. The young performers are generally chosen from pretty boys and girls of three to eight years old; after putting on brightly colored costumes they are made up as various historical or opera figures, further decorated with flowers, plants, and colorful clouds; the adult holds up the back of their heads and their arms, and they dance naturally to the clanging rhythms of gongs and drums, appearing lively, lovely, and genuinely moving. Naoge in the Inner Mongolia region has a wide range of subjects and rich content, including myths and folk legends such as The Butterfly Lovers, The Marriage of the Heavenly Fairy (Tianxian pei), The Legend of the White Snake, and Journey to the West, as well as stories expressing the history and culture of the Inner Mongolia region such as Zhaojun Goes Beyond the Frontier. Naoge is a combination of grassland culture and Yellow River culture; it integrates drama, acrobatics, fine art, dance, and music, displaying the profound heritage of Yellow River culture and distinct ethnic characteristics. For many years, naoge — symbolizing auspiciousness, joy, and peace — has become one of the important folk activities enjoyed by the people of all ethnic groups in Inner Mongolia. On every festive day, folk artists set up their naoge and take to the streets, expressing through moving tableaux and stories the longing and love of the people of all ethnic groups for a better life. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "The colour-foot and colour-core": An adult wears the iron frame as the colour-foot while the child held above, fixed in a frame of his own, is the colour-core. "Power from the calf downward": The bearer keeps his waist straight and drives every twist from the calves, carrying the child above along. "Costuming children of three to eight": Children of three to eight are dressed in bright costumes as historical or opera figures, trimmed with flowers and clouds. "The naoge of Bikqiqi town": Introduced from northern Shanxi in the mid-Qing, it has evolved for over three centuries, best known at Bikqiqi.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

In 2025, Hu Liangang was announced in the sixth batch of national representative bearers for Taige, with Tumotezuoqi, Inner Mongolia as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Taige in Tumotezuoqi, Inner Mongolia: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2008 (batch 2), with Tumotezuoqi, Inner Mongolia as its declared area, and Tumotezuo Banner Culture Library 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. Huliangang (Tumotezuoqi, Inner Mongolia) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Huliangang · China ICH Official Archive