Anzhao
01 · Historical Records
Anzhao is called "Naten Jinmore" in the Tu language, meaning a dance in which people dance in a circle. Its history is bound up with the custom of the Tu ancestors of using circle dances to pray for blessings and ward off disaster, and it has long been used at folk festive occasions and wedding ceremonies. In the past a Tu wedding was held over several days running, and links such as fetching the bride and entertaining guests all involved "turning the Anzhao", led in song by one or two "durijin" (skilled singers), with the other dancers joining in and singing the accompanying words, often through the night until dawn; in the survey of folk ethnic dances carried out in the 1980s, the tunes and lyrics of Anzhao were recorded section by section, and these records became the main basis for reconstructing the order of "turning the Anzhao" today.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Anzhao (called "Naten Jinmore" in the Tu language, meaning a dance in which people dance in a circle) is transmitted in Huzhu Tu Autonomous County, Qinghai Province; it is a mass song-and-dance form used to offer praise and pray for blessings at folk festive occasions and wedding ceremonies. There is a Tu folk legend about the origin of Anzhao: in ancient times a clever Tu girl, in order to rid the people of a harmful evil, composed and performed the circle song and dance Anzhao, and the whirling circle dance so confused the eyes and mind of a demon called Wang Mang that the people seized the chance to snare the demon with ropes and kill him. From then on the Tu people led peaceful days, and Anzhao was left behind as this song-and-dance form. There is no limit on the number taking part in the Anzhao dance; two or three people or as many as several hundred will do, and men and women, young and old, may join at any time. There is no instrumental accompaniment while dancing; usually one or two "durijin" (skilled singers) lead the singing, the other dancers follow and sing the accompanying words, and following the order of men in front and women behind, they sing, dance and turn clockwise, which is why it is also called "turning the Anzhao". Turning the Anzhao is one tune and one dance: each dance section consists of a single song and several movements, repeated cyclically in the customary order, and often singing and dancing through the night until they have had their fill. The content of the Anzhao song and dance is chiefly to bless the prosperity of the ethnic group and the locality and to pray for peace under heaven and abundant harvests; to praise the bounty of the deities of mountains and rivers and to sing of the ancestors' industrious opening up of their homeland; and to express love of the native land and longing for a good life. However, as time has changed and the ethnic groups have exchanged and blended with one another, many of the old Tu artists skilled in performing Anzhao have passed away. Although some Tu tourist reception centres also perform the Anzhao dance for visitors, it has gradually lost its original characteristics.
The Durijin leading the chorus
Without instruments, one or two expert singers lead while the dancers follow, answering in refrain as they sing, dance and turn clockwise with men in front.
One tune, one dance
Each dance section pairs one song with a set of movements, repeated in a customary order through the night until everyone is satisfied.
The legend of Wang Mang
A legend tells of a clever Tu girl who devised the circle dance to bewilder the demon Wang Mang, allowing the people to rope and kill him.
The themes of the lyrics
Its lyrics bless the people and the land, pray for peace and harvest, praise the gods of mountain and river and celebrate the ancestors who opened the homeland.
Xi Yuxiu
Xi Yuxiu, born in 1964, learned the dance, tunes and lyrics from her parents in 1972 and performed at the county's Spring Festival events for six years running.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Anzhao takes Huzhu Tu Autonomous County in Qinghai Province as its centre, being handed down generation by generation in the manner of "turning the Anzhao" in the townships and villages where the Tu live; the Huzhu Tu Autonomous County Cultural Centre undertakes protection of the project. The Tu settlement area of Huzhu borders Gansu to the east and the Huangshui River to the south, and keeps up exchanges of wedding song and dance with Tu villages in places such as Minhe and Datong. There is no limit on the number taking part in Anzhao; men and women, young and old, may join at any time, there is no instrumental accompaniment, and everyone sings, dances and turns clockwise following the order of men in front and women behind. Tourist reception centres often use Anzhao as a programme for welcoming guests, but occasions on which song and dance continue through the night in the traditional order are now rarely seen.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Anzhao, this traditional Tu song-and-dance form, has high value for ethnic history and culture. Xi Yuxiu (official archival record of the associated inheritor): Female, Tu ethnicity, born in December 1964, from Huzhu Tu Autonomous County, Qinghai Province. In 1972 she began learning the Anzhao dance and its tunes and lyrics from her parents; her movements are expansive and her tunes and vocal style supple and pure, highly distinctive in character. Over years of transmission and performance she has served as performer, choreographer and teacher, playing an active part in uncovering, transmitting and developing the Tu Anzhao. From 1987 to 1992 she performed Anzhao for six consecutive years in the Spring Festival mass cultural activities organised by Huzhu County, and she also performed the Tu Anzhao on a rural cultural programme produced by China Central Television. Representative inheritor of Anzhao, a national-level intangible cultural heritage project in the fifth national-level batch.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Xi Yuxiu 05-2293
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
This static English edition is rendered at the edge for search engines, AI crawlers and readers without JavaScript; it mirrors the bilingual dossier. 阅读中文版，或返回 英文名录。