Longyan Caichadeng
01 · Historical Records
The dance grew out of the tea-picking activity of the working people. It portrays a group of artless mountain village girls carrying tea baskets and following the shrewd and humorous tea man and tea woman as they wade through rivers and climb mountains to go up for tea picking, together with the joy of a scene in which they live in harmony with nature, with the tea gardens and the butterflies. Longyan tea-picking lantern can be traced back at least to the Qing dynasty. Judging by its dress, the original Longyan tea-picking lantern clothed the tea man in a Chinese robe with a waist sash, the attire of Han men of the Central Plains; the tea woman wore a yinhaobao coiffure and a wide-lapel gown in cobalt blue with brocade edging, the everyday dress of the Minnan women around Quanzhou and Zhangzhou; and the tea-picking girls all wore pearl-and-jade forehead ornaments, their hair combed into swallowtail buns, their bodies in bright red patterned lotus gowns with silk girdles tied at the slender waist, the traditional style of dress of women of the Central Plains.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Longyan tea-picking lantern is a folk dance circulating in the city and the countryside of Longyan, Fujian Province, that fuses storytelling and singing, opera and dance into one. To this day tea-picking lantern troupes are still active in the fields and lanes of more than 20 townships of Xinluo District, Longyan City, sustained by the verbal teaching and personal example passed between masters and apprentices. Longyan tea-picking lantern is performed mostly at the New Year, at temple fairs, in street processions and during celebrations, using spoken lines and singing in the Longyan dialect, in the hope of prosperity in wealth and in offspring. The early dance also intercalated a great deal of storytelling and singing and short opera plays, so that it was a comprehensive mass song-and-dance form fusing storytelling and singing, opera and dance. The basic step of Longyan tea-picking lantern, the caicha bu (tea-picking step), is light and fine in footwork with the body held upright; it renders the light, small steps of the tea-picking girls walking the narrow ridge paths of the tea hills and the bold sideways twist of the hip, and it carries a coarse flavour of the wild mountains and is full of vitality. In the passages that depict crossing hills and mountains, such as liba hua (fence flower), shui bolang (wave of water) and shuangshui quan hua (double water-ring flower), and in the interlaced floral patterns such as jiandao gu (old scissors), meihua chuanchuan (plum blossom threading through) and hudie hua (butterfly flower), the dance steps are richly varied and are marked by a distinct artistry and individuality. The roles of the tea man and the tea woman have a character of their own. In tea-picking lantern performance they are commonly called the shifu (the masters), and they lead the troupe and act as its overall director. In performance the masters are resourceful, witty and humorous, adapting to whatever arises and composing verses on the spot, often using the slang familiar to local farmers and speaking out spontaneously rhymes that draw the audience's acclaim. The tea man and the tea woman also double as butterflies: they hold a single butterfly in one hand, or dance two butterflies with bamboo stalks of differing lengths in the hands, or a butterfly in each hand, shooting alternately to left and right, bowing forward and back, and leading the tea-picking girls into the single swoop, the double swoop or the chain of swoops. The pieces of Longyan tea-picking lantern, such as zhengcai (upright picking), daocai (reverse picking) and jianjianhua (shears flower), have a lively rhythm and are melodious and beautiful. The band is chiefly percussion. To the accompaniment of silk-stringed folk instruments it adds the bronze bell, the small chamber drum, the small bowl gong and gongs and cymbals of large and small size, and it directs the band with drumbeats so that the dance steps are unified and the performance rhythm is even. Its repertoire includes Da Bugang (Mending the Jar), Da Huagu (Beating the Flower Drum), Naohua Deng (Lantern Display), Mai Huaxian (Selling Flower Thread), Shuang Fuchuan (Two Boats Supported), Ku Wugeng (Crying at the Fifth Watch) and Lan Jizi.
The tea master and mistress
Known as the masters, the tea man and woman lead the dance, improvising witty verses in local idiom and waving butterflies to draw single, double and chain pounces from the girls.
The tea-picking step
The basic tea-picking step is light, small and upright, showing girls on a mountain path with bold hip swings and a rugged, vigorous mountain air.
Fence, wave and scissor figures
Passages such as the fence flower, water wave, scissor figure and plum-blossom threading show the dancers crossing hills with varied and highly individual steps.
The tunes and band
Tunes such as Zhengcai, Daocai and Jianjianhua are brisk and melodious, played by a percussion-led band with bell, small drum, small gong and cymbals.
The playlet repertoire
In its early form the dance included narration and short playlets, of which Da Bu Gang, Da Hua Gu, Nao Hua Deng and several others survive.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Longyan tea-picking lantern circulates in the city and the countryside of Longyan, Fujian Province. To this day tea-picking lantern troupes are still active in the fields and lanes of more than twenty townships of Xinluo District, Longyan City, sustained by the verbal teaching and personal example of masters and apprentices, and the Longyan Tea-Picking Lantern Research Association of Xinluo District undertakes the protection of the item. Troupes generally consist of the tea man, the tea woman (commonly called the shifu, the masters) and the tea-picking girls. Performances are held mostly during the lunar New Year, at temple fairs, in street processions and at celebrations, using spoken lines and singing in the Longyan dialect, in the hope of prosperity in wealth and in offspring. Because the routines passed down orally differ from village to village, the steps and formations of tea-picking lantern vary slightly between the outskirts of Longyan city and the mountain townships.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Longyan tea-picking lantern is renowned at home and abroad. Whether in the dance steps of the tea-picking girls or in the improvised versification, spoken lines and sung text of the tea man and the tea woman, it is rich in the flavour of life and in artistic appeal, and it has high aesthetic value and social and cultural value; it is also an important point of reference for the study of Longyan's regional culture.
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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