Lu Chaojin
01 · Lineage & Regional School
He is the fourth-generation transmitter of a family renowned for tiaocai (the dish-serving dance) and for suona and gourd pipe performance. Within the regional tradition and school record of Yi Tiaocai in Nanjianyizuzizhi, Yunnan: According to the way the dishes are carried, “tiaocai at the banquet table” is divided into three forms — “tiaocai of head-work”, “tiaocai of mouth-work” and “tiaocai of hand-work” — which are relatively independent of one another yet also perform as a whole. It originated in ancient sacrificial rites and has been transmitted without interruption for a long time in the Yi areas of Nanjian.
02 · Mastery & Signature Works
Male, of Yi ethnicity, born in March 1966 in Nanjian Yi Autonomous County, Yunnan Province. At sixteen he began to learn dage, tiaocai, and the playing of the gourd pipe and the suona. Under the instruction and guidance of his elders he often took part in performances at weddings and funerals, mountain gatherings and temple fairs. He is thoroughly familiar with the whole sequence of tiaocai routines and excels at banquet tiaocai and stage tiaocai; he handles with ease such feats as Shou Tuo Jin Ding (Holding the Golden Tripod on the Palm), Xi Que Dun Wo (The Magpie Crouching in Its Nest) and Cang Ying Cuo Jiao (The Fly Rubbing Its Feet). He can also play the sixteen-step and twelve-step dage tunes on the gourd pipe, and such suona tunes as Tian Tang Diao (Tune of Paradise) and Long Tai Tou (The Dragon Raises Its Head). Since 1992 he has travelled many times to Beijing, Kunming and other places for major performances. He passes his skills on to the community without reserve and encourages people to take an active part in tiaocai. Within the documented technical tradition of Yi Tiaocai in Nanjianyizuzizhi, Yunnan: Yi tiaocai, also known as “the carried-dish dance”, is called “wuqieba” in Yi; it is a ceremonial and customary dance handed down in Nanjian Yi Autonomous County, Yunnan Province. When the Yi people set out the dishes at a folk banquet, they commonly dance this dance in order to honour the guests and add to the festive atmosphere. To the accompaniment of the Fengsheng Yue, the dancers begin to move holding dishes or trays on their palms; the dance postures consist mainly of spins, with the sleeves whirling and the poses multiplying, at one moment vigorous and at another light and graceful. Yi tiaocai commonly divides into two large categories, “tiaocai at the banquet table” and “tiaocai as a performance”; the performance form is based on the banquet-table dance, while taking the many dage steps transmitted within Nanjian County as its main dance steps. According to style of performance, “tiaocai as a performance” is divided into three kinds: “Wuliangshan-system Black Yi tiaocai”, “Ailaoshan-system Black Yi tiaocai” and “Wuliang Township Hongxing Village White Yi tiaocai”; according to the place of performance, it is again divided into two forms, “stage tiaocai” and “square tiaocai”. “Stage tiaocai” is tiaocai performed on a stage, usually with some twenty performers, the dance movements rough and bold, vigorous and forceful, and the singing high and resonant; “square tiaocai” has a spacious venue and anywhere from a few dozen to several hundred performers, producing an artistic effect of grandeur and of neatness and harmony. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Head, mouth and hand techniques": Table-side serving splits into head-balancing, mouth-carrying and hand-carrying techniques. "Wuliang and Ailao mountain styles": Performance tiaocai divides by style into Wuliang and Ailao Black Yi and Hongxing village White Yi, and by venue into stage and square forms. "Golden tripod, magpie crouch, fly rubs its feet": Acrobatic serving tricks danced with trays to the music of Fengsheng Yue, mostly spinning and sleeve work. "Lu Chaojin": Lu Chaojin of Nanjian learned the whole tiaocai sequence young and also plays reed pipe and suona tunes.
Head, mouth and hand techniques
Table-side serving splits into head-balancing, mouth-carrying and hand-carrying techniques.
Wuliang and Ailao mountain styles
Performance tiaocai divides by style into Wuliang and Ailao Black Yi and Hongxing village White Yi, and by venue into stage and square forms.
Golden tripod, magpie crouch, fly rubs its feet
Acrobatic serving tricks danced with trays to the music of Fengsheng Yue, mostly spinning and sleeve work.
Lu Chaojin
Lu Chaojin of Nanjian learned the whole tiaocai sequence young and also plays reed pipe and suona tunes.
03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status
He is a national representative bearer of Yi Tiaocai, a third-batch national intangible cultural heritage project.
04 · Associated Heritage Item Dossier
Historical origin
It originated in ancient sacrificial rites and has been transmitted without interruption for a long time in the Yi areas of Nanjian.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lu Chaojin | Nanjianyizuzizhi, Yunnan | 03-0941 | This page |
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。