Yihuanghegang Dance
01 · Historical Records
This calling gradually evolved into a tune and developed into a mountain song with a rich range of rises and falls. At first the striking of the carrying pole was no more than holding it in the hand or resting it on the shoulder and knocking it lightly against something in time with the rhythm of the mountain song. Later it developed into striking and scraping with the front face, the back face and the notch where the blade of the sickle meets the socket, in time with the rhythm of the song, so as to produce different timbres and different intensities. The carrying pole in turn developed into one that was planted in the ground and varied in style, the movements changed from a walking step into formations, singing and dancing were combined, and Yihuang carrying-pole dance took shape.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The hegang is the bamboo pole used for carrying firewood and rice straw, sharpened at both ends so that it can easily be passed through the load. At first the carrying-pole dance had no strict line of transmission; the woodcutters taught themselves by following their elders. Yihuang County of Jiangxi Province lies in the mountains, has a high forest cover and is frequently visited by fierce beasts, so woodcutters going up the mountain had to travel in company, and they therefore struck the carrying pole with a sickle to call their companions up the mountain. The hegang songs are simple low-register mountain songs on a three-note scale, that is, the 1-2-3 or the 5-6-1 scale, in 5/8 or 6/8 time. The melodic line runs freely, the rhythm is steady, one syllable is set to one note with no drawn-out melisma, and matched with the striking of the pole it is full of interest. The striking generally follows the rhythm of the singing: either one person strikes and sings alone, or one sings while another strikes, or they strike and sing in antiphon. The lyrics are not fixed and are filled in on the spot, drawing on the scene to express feeling, joking and posing riddles, or talking of love, and they are usually sung on the way up the mountain or during a rest. The basic movements of Yihuang carrying-pole dance include ordinary walking, the single straddling step and the double straddling step, with the pole held in the hand, carried on the shoulder or grasped in the hand. The performance forms include solo dancing and solo singing, antiphonal striking and singing by a man and a woman with no dance movement, antiphonal striking and singing by a man and a woman each with their own dance movement, and group dance in which all strike and dance while singing, together with solo singing and dancing. The sung text is flexible and varied, divided into huage (flower songs) and suoge (lock songs), that is, love songs and riddles. Flower songs are generally sung in antiphon, while lock songs observe the rule of “eight strikes and eight openings”, that is, eight riddles are set and then solved one by one. After each hegang song has been sung, a drawn-out shout of “Yo — wei!” is usually added. When a group performs together it is invariably added, generally after the lead singer has finished, the whole group joining in the shout so as to heighten the atmosphere.
Striking pole and sickle
The carrying pole is a sharpened bamboo staff; strikers learned to use the flat and back of the sickle and the notch where blade meets socket to produce varied tones.
The three-note mountain song
The songs use only a three-note scale in 5/8 or 6/8 time, sung syllable for syllable without melisma and matched to the striking of the pole.
Flower songs and lock songs
Lyrics divide into love songs sung antiphonally and riddle songs that set eight riddles and unlock them one by one, each verse often ending in a drawn-out shout.
Straddling steps and grips
Its basic movements are ordinary walking, single and double straddling steps, with the pole held in the hand, carried on the shoulder or grasped at the end.
Calling to companions and the fork game
Because the mountains held wild beasts, woodcutters struck the pole to call companions, a cry that grew into song; their rest game propped three poles into a fork to be knocked down with a thrown sickle.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Yihuang carrying-pole dance, called daohedan by the local people, is a folk dance circulating in Yihuang County of Jiangxi Province and the surrounding area, in which sickles strike the carrying poles. It grew out of going up the mountain to cut firewood and combines singing with dancing. The game element is called dacha: three carrying poles are propped into a three-way fork, each participant stakes a bundle of firewood, the players take turns throwing their sickles, and whoever knocks the fork down wins. Yihuang carrying-pole dance arose spontaneously among people at their labour, and its improvised lyrics test quick wit. It is a symbol of the intelligence of the working people, an entertainment for the local people in their spare time after labour, and an important medium for drawing people together and for young men and young women to convey their affections. It reflects above all the production and living environment of the people of Yihuang in the age of farming, is thick with the flavour of life, and fully expresses the beauty of the harmony between human beings and nature.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Yihuang carrying-pole dance arose spontaneously among people at their labour, and its improvised lyrics test quick wit. It is an entertainment for local people in their spare time after cutting firewood, and an important medium for drawing people together and for young men and young women to convey their affections; it reflects above all the production and living environment of the people of Yihuang in the age of farming. The antiphonal flower songs and lock songs observe the rule of “eight strikes and eight openings”, that is, eight riddles are set and then solved one by one, which turns the mountain song into a game of wit among the people; in the dacha game three carrying poles are propped into a three-way fork, each participant stakes a bundle of firewood, the players take turns throwing their sickles, and whoever knocks the fork down wins. Today this material is passed on chiefly by the older generation of woodcutters, and singers able to improvise lyrics in antiphonal reply are dwindling year by year.
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。