Fengjiming

01 · Lineage & Regional School

Growing up in a Blang mountain village, he began at the age of eleven to learn the making of the fengtong drum and the fengtong drum dance from Master Wanqi of his own village. Within the regional tradition and school record of Blang Fengtong Drum Dance in Shuangjianglahuzuwazubulangzudaizuzizhi, Yunnan: The participants may be divided into a male team and a female team. The men carry the bee drum on their backs and beat it as they dance, looking romantic and free and easy; the women hold handkerchiefs in their hands and swing them to the rhythm of the drum as they dance, merrily and unconstrainedly. The bee-drum dance is transmitted mainly in the Blang villages of Bangbing Township and Dawen Township in Shuangjiang County; the Cultural Centre of Shuangjiang Lahu, Wa, Blang and Dai Autonomous County is the protecting unit. At fourteen years old Feng Jiming already had a command of both making the bee drum and the traditional drum patterns, and became the drum king of the village and a leader and organizer of its festival dancing activities. The Blang bee-drum dance is the general term for drum dancing among the Blang people. It originates in the Blang creation myth and in sacrificial rites, and is transmitted in Blang villages such as Bangbing Township and Dawen Township in Shuangjiang Lahu, Wa, Blang and Dai Autonomous County, Lincang City, Yunnan Province.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

Male, of Blang ethnicity, born in November 1955 in Shuangjiang Lahu, Va, Blang and Dai Autonomous County, Yunnan Province. By the age of fourteen he had gained a comprehensive command of the craft of making the fengtong drum, the playing of the traditional drum patterns, and the highly demanding techniques of the fengtong drum dance, and he became known as the Drum King of his village. In 1971 he joined the county cultural performing arts troupe, where through diligent study and training he came to be called the Prince of the Fengtong Drum. In 1984 he gave up his public post and returned home to work the land. He has served as organizer and leader of the festive dance activities held each year in the Blang mountain villages, and he enjoys considerable recognition and influence among the local people. Within the documented technical tradition of Blang Fengtong Drum Dance in Shuangjianglahuzuwazubulangzudaizuzizhi, Yunnan: The Blang bee-drum dance consists of three parts: dancing the bee drum (keguang), dancing the elephant-foot drum (keguangjin) and dancing the handkerchief (xiwupajie). It has five repertoires and two basic kinds of steps, a three-step and a five-step; the movements of the three-step dance are gentle and slow, while those of the five-step dance are stirring and vigorous. The bee-drum dance is suitable both for open-air performances in a public square and for stage performance, and the number of participants can be large or small; the participating Blang people often line up in one or two rows and dance with ease on the roads or in the square of the village. During the dance the elephant-foot drum, the jinmang, the gong and the small cymbals accompany from the side; the whole dancing scene is magnificent and the postures beautiful, showing strong power to move those who watch. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Drum, elephant-foot drum and towel dance": The dance comprises three parts: the barrel drum, the elephant-foot drum and the towel-waving dance. "Three-step and five-step forms": Five routines and two basic steps: the three-step is soft and slow, the five-step vigorous and firm. "Men drum, women wave towels": The men carry and beat the drums, the women wave towels to the beat. "Feng Jiming": Feng Jiming, born in Shuangjiang in 1955, joined the county troupe in 1971 and has since led village drumming.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

National representative bearer of the Blang Fengtong Drum Dance, 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. Fengjiming · National Representative Bearer Archive