Zongbaonao
01 · Historical Records
The performer of zongbaonao sews two palm-cloth pieces 40 centimetres long into a bag that wraps the head, wears a palm-fibre cape made by joining palm-cloth pieces with fine rattan, and winds an evergreen vine around the waist. With simple bodily movements such as shaking the head, flinging the arms, hand signs, handling the staff, twisting the waist, stamping the feet and pausing the step, the dance recreates the arduous history of the migration and hunting and the primitive slash-and-burn life of the Yao ancestors in the Xuefengshan area in ancient times. It is concise and archaic, rough and primeval.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Zongbaonao is a traditional Yao ritual dance, originating in the Meishan sacrificial activity current in the Meishan cultural circle of southwestern Hunan, and named for the way the dancer wraps the head in palm cloth during the sacrifice. It circulates mainly in the Yao townships of Changtang, Luoxi, Yuexi and Zhaiping in Dongkou County, Hunan Province, and in the surrounding Huaihua City and the Yao residential areas of Guizhou Province. Rebuilt in the twenty-ninth year of the Daoguang reign of the Qing dynasty by Huang Zhizhong and Zhang Zhennan, the Baoqing Prefectural Gazetteer on the Five Elements and on Martial Arts, compiled by Deng Xianhe, records: “In the fifth year of the Xining reign of the Song dynasty Meishan was opened, and the Yao disguised themselves as demons and spirits with palm-cloth heads and attacked the government troops.” It can be seen that zongbaonao has a history of nearly a thousand years at least. Dongkou County of Hunan Province lies in the southwest of Hunan Province, on the eastern foot of the Xuefengshan range. Zongbaonao is said to have evolved out of an ancient legend. Long ago a Yao woman lived on Xuefengshan and was carried off by robbers while gathering mountain fruits. Her son, in order to save his mother, took the Meishan mountain god as his teacher and practised his skills assiduously. So that the robbers would not notice him, he wrapped his head in palm cloth and, with the help of the three dong of Meishan, defeated the robbers and rescued his mother. In order to praise the virtue of the ancestors who sought their mother, saved her and honoured her, the Yao descendants of the Xuefengshan area have danced zongbaonao generation after generation, sacrificing to their ancestors and praying for blessings for the future. The Yao have no written script, and zongbaonao, in its rough and archaic artistic form, records the history and the traditions of the Yao ancestors. The related props include long and short staffs, bamboo water flasks, bows and arrows, hooking knives, straw sandals, nuo masks, sacrificial ritual implements, and percussion instruments such as the ox-horn trumpet, drums and gongs.
Palm-cloth head wrap and cape
Dancers wrap the head in a bag sewn from two 40cm palm-cloth pieces, wear a cape of palm cloth joined with rattan and wind an evergreen vine around the waist.
The gazetteer record
The Baoqing prefectural gazetteer records that in 1072 the Yao disguised themselves as spirits with palm-cloth heads to attack government troops, pointing to nearly a thousand years of history.
The legend of rescuing the mother
A legend tells how a Yao boy covered his head in palm cloth to rescue his kidnapped mother, and later generations dance in honour of that filial deed.
Head, arm and staff movements
Simple head swings, arm sweeps, hand signs, staff play, waist twists and stamping steps recreate the migration, hunting and slash-and-burn life of the ancestors.
Dai Changlu
Dai Changlu, born in 1962, learned the dance from the performer Feng Baolian at ten, led his troupe to the 2010 national ethnic minority festival and has trained over a hundred apprentices.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Zongbaonao circulates mainly in the Yao townships of Changtang, Luoxi, Yuexi and Zhaiping in Dongkou County, Hunan Province, and in the surrounding Huaihua City and the Yao residential areas of Guizhou Province. The hand technique, the steps, the formations and the routines of the dance troupes of each place differ from one another. The related props include long and short staffs, bamboo water flasks, bows and arrows, hooking knives, straw sandals, nuo masks, sacrificial ritual implements, and percussion instruments such as the ox-horn trumpet, drums and gongs. The Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Centre of Dongkou County, together with inheritors such as Dai Changlu, jointly undertake the work of recording and transmission.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Zongbaonao records the course of the Yao ancestors' struggle with nature in the period of the matrilineal clan, and is important corroborating material for the study of Yao history; it is also of considerable reference value for the study of Meishan culture and of nuo culture. It reflects the folk customs, the religious beliefs, the moral outlook and the wisdom of production and daily life of the Yao people in the Meishan cultural circle, and it has high artistic, social and cultural value. Dai Changlu (as recorded in the official file of the linked inheritor): male, of Yao ethnicity, born in October 1962, a native of Dongkou County, Hunan Province. Imbued with the zongbaonao dance from childhood, at the age of ten he became a pupil of the artist Feng Baolian to study the zongbaonao dance, and he systematically learned and examined the hand technique, steps, formations and routines of the zongbaonao dance of each region, and can now perform the classic zongbaonao dance with ease and freedom. In 2010 he led the zongbaonao dance troupe to take part in the Chinese minority intangible cultural heritage music and dance performance-concert organised by the Ministry of Culture and the National Ethnic Affairs Commission. In 2012 he took part in the cross-strait intangible cultural heritage exchange-month showcase performance organised by the Chinese Culture United Association. For many years he has devoted himself to the transmission and development of the zongbaonao dance and has trained more than a hundred apprentices. He is a representative inheritor of zongbaonao among the national-level intangible cultural heritage items in the fifth batch. In 2004 he led the zongbaonao dance troupe to take part in the performance at the first National Folk Arts Fair of Hunan Province and the second Environmental Protection Arts Festival of Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture, winning first prize.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Dai Changlu 05-2297
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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