Li Dazhi

01 · Lineage & Regional School

In 1946 he was apprenticed to the celebrated Huaidian civil-lion artists Ma Changqing, Lao Chuobiao, Ma Zhongtai and Li Dachun, and later studied under Pang Shuceng and Ma Busheng, learning to make props for the female civil lion, the qilin and the one-horned tiger and to play instruments such as the bielizi. Within the regional tradition and school record of Lion Dance in Shenqiu, Henan: The forms of lion dance differ from place to place across China, and their regional characteristics are very distinct. The Hui ethnic civil lion dance (wenshizi wu) of Huai dian in Shenqiu is a form of folk dance peculiar to the ethnic minority living in the Central Plains. It originated in the “five-direction lion dance” (wufang shizi wu) and the “foreigners wearing a lion” (huren jiashizi) of the Western Regions in the Han and Tang dynasties. In the first year of the Duanping era of the Southern Song (1234), when the Mongol general Chahan was pacifying the Jin, the Hui civil lion dance was brought into the Central Plains by Hai Bi'er, a Persian from Nishapur, and circulated for a long time in Huai dian Hui Ethnic Town, Shenqiu County. Huai dian Town, Shenqiu County, Henan Province, lies at the confluence of the Shaying River and the Xicai River, and waterways crisscross its territory. The Hui people who have lived here for generations are descendants of Persians, Kipchaks and Kangli people who were forcibly conscripted into the Central Plains from Central Asia in the Yuan dynasty.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

In 1992 he became head of the Dongguan Gongyi Civil Lion Society. In 2006 he became the first president of the Shenqiu County Hui Civil Lion Culture Association. His lion dance leaps and bounds, moving and pausing by turns, utterly lifelike; the whole dance displays the richness of Hui culture. His representative works include San Shi Nao Chun (Three Lions Celebrate Spring), Shen Shou Du Jiao Shou (The Divine One-Horned Beast), Ji Xiang Qi Lin (Auspicious Qilin), Shi Zi Wang Yue (The Lion Gazing at the Moon) and Mu Zi Shi Qing (Mother and Cub). He actively organises members to take part in various festivals and competitions. He has trained a hundred students in succession, enabling the craft to be transmitted intact and systematically. Within the documented technical tradition of Lion Dance in Shenqiu, Henan: Lion dance, also called “shizi wu” (lion dance), “shi deng” (lion lantern), “wu shi” or “wu shizi”, is an important component of the traditional Chinese hundred-performances and acrobatics repertoire. Lion dance has a long history. It is widely popular in the Han areas of China and appears frequently in festival celebrations such as the Spring Festival, using lively and cheerful performance to express the Chinese people's good wishes for auspiciousness and the warding off of disaster. It is generally divided into two major types, the southern lion and the northern lion. The southern lion is agile and fierce and often performs high-difficulty techniques; the northern lion is playful and naive and usually performs teasing and frolicking movements. The Huai dian civil lion changed the mighty form of the king of beasts, creating out of a compassionate heart the image of a gentle lion, intending by this to enlighten those in power to reduce ferocity and practise benevolent government. After exchanging and communicating with the local Han ethnic beast dances of Shenqiu, the Huai dian civil lion gradually formed three parts of performance content: the single-horned tiger dance, the qilin dance and the lion dance. In performance, first the sounds of the qilin calling, the lion roaring and the tiger bellowing are played out to the rhythm of drums, gongs and cymbals; then the single-horned tiger appears and makes a circuit while looking around; the qilin performs the story of “the qilin delivering a son”; finally the civil lion appears and displays a series of movements such as patrolling the mountain, scratching an itch, drinking water, licking its fur, viewing the scenery and giving birth to a young lion. Today, when the cultural connotations of traditional folk festivals are constantly being weakened, the Huai dian civil lion is gradually losing its performance platforms and its artistic level has fallen sharply. Many artists can no longer appear on stage because of their advanced age, so this fine national folk art faces a serious survival crisis and urgently needs protection. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "The one-horned tiger dance": The first of the three parts of the Huaidian civil lion: after qilin cries, lion roars and tiger howls, the one-horned tiger enters to survey the ground. "The qilin bringing sons": The second part, in which the qilin enacts the bringing of sons, the most auspicious passage of the Hui civil lion. "The civil lion's daily life": The final section, showing the lion patrolling, scratching, drinking, licking its coat, viewing the scene and bearing cubs, an image of gentleness meant to move rulers toward benevolence. "The five-directions lion and the barbarian lion": The Huaidian Hui civil lion descends from the five-directions lion dance and the barbarian counterfeit lion of Han-Tang Central Asia.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

He was a man of Hui ethnicity, born in November 1931 in Shenqiu County, Henan Province, and died in October 2010. He was a national representative bearer of Lion Dance (Huaidian Civil Lion), a third-batch national intangible cultural heritage project.

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. Li Dazhi · National Representative Bearer Archive