Tiger Play Dance
01 · Historical Records
The times of the formation of the various branches of shu laohu in the different parts of Jiaozuo can be roughly traced. The Zhongzhan Chang family martial tiger arose in the Wanli reign of the Ming dynasty, when the ninth-generation ancestors of the Chang clan, Chang Yixian and Chang Yigui, created it from the movements of the tiger. The Zhongzhan Xiaoshang tiger dance was shaped in the Daoguang reign of the Qing dynasty by Zhang Shuting, the nineteenth generation of the Zhang clan, who incorporated the family's inherited martial arts into the basis of the folk sacrifices to the Fire God and the Medicine King. The Qinyang yanzhuang tiger is performed at the annual sacrifice held on the ninth day of the fourth month to Wei Huacun, founder of the Shangqing school of Taoism. The Wen County tiger play has a history of more than two hundred years, going back to the folk artists of Xizhou village, who merged the war drum with the tiger dance.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Shu laohu is a traditional form of dance circulating in Jiaozuo City, Henan Province, and includes the Zhongzhan Chang family martial tiger, the Xiaoshang tiger dance, the Qinyang yanzhuang tiger and the Wen County tiger play of Jiaozuo. In the Jiaozuo dialect shua means “to play” or “to perform”. The Zhongzhan Chang family martial tiger arose in the Wanli reign of the Ming dynasty, when the ninth-generation ancestors of the Chang clan, Chang Yixian and Chang Yigui, created the performance of the martial tiger from the movements of the tiger. The Zhongzhan Xiaoshang tiger dance was shaped in the Daoguang reign of the Qing dynasty by Zhang Shuting, the nineteenth generation of the Zhang clan, who incorporated the family's inherited martial arts into the basis of the folk sacrifices to the Fire God and the Medicine King. The origin of the Qinyang yanzhuang tiger is closely connected with Taoism. At the annual sacrifice held on the ninth day of the fourth month to Wei Huacun, founder of the Shangqing school of Taoism, the tiger play and other folk shehuo displays each show their finest skills, and the tiger dance performance often includes a scene in which a Taoist priest, holding a whisk, tames the tiger. The Wen County tiger play has a history of more than two hundred years. The folk artists of Xizhou village merged the war drum with the tiger dance performance and created a tiger play of grand scale and solemn pomp, expressing the spirit of valiant fighters in battle. Shu laohu consists of two parts, the tiger dance and the ceremonial band. Its performance forms and routines fall roughly into three types. First, the flat-ground tiger, in which the performer makes various perilous movements on level ground. Second, the hill tiger, in which a platform 2.5 metres high, built in the middle of the performance area by stacking twenty square tables and two willow-ring chairs, is climbed step by step by the performer, who makes perilous movements in the shape of a tiger. Third, the high-mountain tiger, in which the performer climbs a 3-metre ladder, or a scaffold seven or eight metres high built from dozens of wooden benches with a large chair set on top, and one or several tigers climb up to perform. The ceremonial band consists of the percussion instruments drum, gong and cymbals, together with coloured flags of various kinds and firelocks. The inheritors master the traditional craft skills of making the tiger head, tiger skin and tiger tail, making their own props by hand with clay bodies, paper pulp, steel strips and painted sections of cloth. Shu laohu brings acrobatics, martial arts and dance together into one. The content of its performance routines is rich, it is highly pleasing to watch, and it has high cultural and artistic value.
Flat, hill and mountain tigers
Three forms: the flat tiger performs on level ground, the hill tiger climbs a 2.5m platform of tables and chairs, and the mountain tiger ascends a ladder or a seven-metre stool frame.
Making the tiger costume
Inheritors make the head, hide and tail by hand from clay moulds, papier-mâché, steel strips and painted cloth, the head turning and the tail rising with the steps.
The ceremonial band
The dance comprises the tiger troupe and a ceremonial band of drums, gongs, cymbals, coloured banners and firecracker guns that drives the leaping and crouching.
The Daoist tiger of Qinyang
The Qinyang tiger grew out of Daoist ritual; at the annual observance for Wei Huacun folk troupes showed their skills and a priest with a fly whisk would tame the tiger.
Zheng Xiaoyong
Zheng Xiaoyong, born in 1973 in Wenxian, has over three hundred performances behind him and has trained more than twenty apprentices, six of whom perform independently.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The local people took inspiration from the tiger's movements of bounding, leaping, pouncing and lying down, and, by means of the tiger's ferocity and majesty, set off the martial spirit of warriors who are valiant in battle. They created this folk by fusing together elements of martial arts, war and religion. As a distinctive form of folk art it has become an indispensable cultural symbol of the locality, and it plays an appreciable part in strengthening the cohesion of the community.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Zheng Xiaoyong (as recorded in the official file of the linked inheritor): male, of Han ethnicity, born in April 1973, a native of Wen County, Henan Province. As an inheritor of the tiger dance, on the basis of the performance skills handed down by his elders he has explored improvement and innovation. By enriching the dance movements he brings out the nimble spirit of the tiger's tail to the fullest degree, and further sets off the courage and tenacity of the northern tiger. He has more than three hundred performances to his practical experience, and he actively carries out the work of transmitting the local tiger dance. He is a representative inheritor of shu laohu among the national-level intangible cultural heritage items in the fifth batch. For several decades he has devoted himself to training successors, and has trained more than twenty apprentices, of whom six are able to perform independently.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Zheng Xiaoyong 05-2296
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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