Bouyei Zhuanchang Dance
01 · Historical Records
In deep winter of the forty-eighth year of the Kangxi reign (1709), taking advantage of the moment when the village head was pressing the people to deliver firewood and brushwood, they piled up great quantities of firewood at the headman's house and, late on the thirtieth night of the New Year, set a single fire to it and reduced the house to ashes.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
"Zhuanchang dance" is called "Lewu" in the Bouyei language, and is a traditional dance circulated among Bouyei villages in Ceheng County, Guizhou Province. Bouyei zhuanchang dance is a dance that arose from struggles inside the village under the tusi native chieftain system. From the thirteenth to the fifteenth day of the first lunar month each year, men, women, old and young of the Bouyei villages gather in their finest dress at the village threshing floor to take part in it. Ceheng County lies in the southwest of Guizhou Province, where the Nanpan and Beipan rivers meet within its territory, and the Bouyei are the principal ethnic group there. The villagers gather together, men and women, old and young alike, beating gongs and drums and, hand in hand around the great fire, singing and dancing to their heart's content; they do not disperse gradually until the fifteenth, having danced since the first day of the new year. Later on, before performing the zhuanchang dance the people always first made an offering to Wang Baosai, both to recall that Wang Baosai had once defended the village with merit and to warn and admonish later generations. Over more than 300 years of evolution, zhuanchang dance gradually spread to the Bouyei villages throughout Ceheng County, and the custom of performing it from the thirteenth to the fifteenth day of the first lunar month each year took shape and has been observed down to the present day. Bouyei zhuanchang dance consists of four parts: the sacrifice, the opening invocation of the master, the dramatic performance, and the zhuanchang dance itself. The sacrifice includes the worship of the village god Wang Baosai and prayers for the blessing of the household retainers. The opening invocation of the master is performed by the sacrificial founding master, who imbues the props and the musical instruments with spirit so as to ensure that the zhuanchang goes smoothly. For the dramatic performance, props such as a paper house and firewood must be prepared, and villagers play the roles of the village head, the household retainers, women, old people and the like, acting out on the spot how the village head Wang Baosai oppressed the common people and was burned to destruction. In the zhuanchang dance itself, the villagers cheer around the bonfire, joining hands to dance the zhuanchang dance. Bouyei zhuanchang dance has eight named sections in all: "luo hei", "jin xie", "xia luo pan", "xian gei", "ang hei", "shun jin", "ga wai luan" and "le wu". When the spring ploughing season comes each year the Bouyei people perform the zhuanchang dance, praying to the spirits for blessings so that the farming may go smoothly and the five grains may be plentiful. Today Bouyei zhuanchang dance has gradually shifted from a ritual dance into an aesthetic and entertaining dance that the folk are glad to hear and see.
Rite, invocation, tableau and the dance itself
The four parts: sacrifice, invocation of the masters, the dramatic tableau of the tyrant and his servants, and the ring dance around the fire.
The eight named sections
The dance is divided into eight sections with Bie names, performed in sequence to complete the turning of the ground.
Wang Baosai and the fire of 1709
In the winter of 1709 the villagers stacked firewood at the tyrant's house and burned it down on New Year's eve; he is sacrificed to before every performance.
Paper house, firewood and the role players
A paper house and firewood serve the tableau in which villagers play the tyrant, his retainers, the women and the old people.
The threshing floor in the first lunar month
From the thirteenth to the fifteenth of the first lunar month the whole village gathers on the drying floor to sing and dance around a great fire.
Lewu, the Bie name of the dance
Known in the Bie language as lewu, the form spread from Weipang village over three centuries and has shifted from ritual towards entertainment.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
According to legend, in the Kangxi reign of the Qing dynasty Wang Baosai, village head of Weipang, a big village in Ceheng County, led the villagers in repelling an invader and became the local leader, but from then on he frequently oppressed the people so that they could not live in peace.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Bouyei zhuanchang dance contains many elements of Bouyei folk belief, social etiquette, ideals and moral concepts. Through performing the zhuanchang dance the Bouyei people can, in a spirit of pleasure, learn about the history, culture, customs and habits of their own ethnic group and receive moral education in gratitude, respect, solidarity and mutual help. It therefore has considerable social, cultural and artistic value.
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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