Erzige
01 · Historical Records
The Chun Guan wears Ming-dynasty official dress and a pair of paper-made spectacles; the Lao Guan wears the local Bai costume, with long whiskers cut from white paper, and leans on a staff.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Erzi ge is a traditional dance art with the characteristics of Nuo culture that is passed down among the Bai people of Jiancao Township, Yunlong County, Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province. The performance of Erzi ge has strict taboos; as a rule it is performed only at weddings or when a new house is built. The performing troupe consists of twelve people, who play respectively the Lao Guan, the Lao Ma, the Erzi, the Erzi's wife, the Chun Guan, the Langzhong (village doctor), the master of the house and the director. The director commands the whole performance. All these characters are played by men, who make themselves up to suit their roles. There are three Erzi, wrapped from head to foot in palm-leaf sheaths; one has a cow bell suspended at the buttocks and holds a pestle; another holds a flail. Erzi ge is a traditional cultural form of expression with characters, dialogue, a simple plot and a set performance procedure; it has both the features of dance and the performative character of drama. The performance is divided into three sections. The first section is "the Erzi disrupt the feast", with performances such as "jumping the four directions" and "the Erzi grabbing the red meat"; it is held at the daytime wedding banquet and drives off evil for the family to pray for peace. The second section is "the Erzi disrupt the wedding", with performances such as "blocking the decorated gate", "paying respects to the god of joy", "the Chun Guan tries the case" and "calling the dish names"; it is held on the night of the wedding. The third section is "sending off the earth god", with performances such as "sacrificing to the earth god", "raising the earth of the five directions" and "seeing the earth god off"; it is held at the very end of the event, sweeping miasma out of the new house and praying that the household of the master may be safe, that his descendants may thrive, and that everyone taking part in the Erzi ge performance may be blessed and safe. The dance mostly imitates birds and beasts or depicts everyday labour, such as "the lamb suckling" or "the hen searching for feed". Its rhythm alternates between two-beat and three-beat measures; the feet rub and stamp with force, the hands swing naturally with the music, the rhythm is lively and the mood stirring.
The deaf ones disrupt the feast
The first section, staged at the daytime wedding feast, with the four-directions dance and the scramble for red meat to drive off evil.
The deaf ones disrupt the wedding
The second section, performed on the wedding night, with blocking the decorated gate, worshipping the god of joy and the spring official's trial.
Sending off the earth god
The closing section, driving pestilence out of the new house and praying for the household's peace and increase.
Straw-wrapped figures with bells, pestle and flail
Three figures bound head to foot in palm fibre, one with a cattle bell and pestle, one with a flail, while the wives carry a cradle and goitre bag.
Lamb suckling and chicken pecking
Most of the dancing imitates birds and beasts or daily labour, in mixed duple and triple metre with firm rubbing and stamping feet.
The Yang Chunwen line
The fifth-batch national inheritor Yang Chunwen learned from Yin Guochen from the age of fifteen and has trained the present core of performers.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The three Erzi wives wear the dress of local Bai women, and one of them carries a baby basket on her back and hangs a wen bag at her side. Erzi ge is a form of Nuo cultural expression still inherited among the Bai people today. It reflects the ancient fertility customs, religious beliefs and folk practices of the local Bai people and has regional and ethnic cultural characteristics. In enriching the lives of the people, promoting social harmony, and helping people understand Bai history and culture, the Bai cultural mentality, religious beliefs, customs and habits, it has a value that cannot be ignored.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
"Erzi ge" is Bai and means "the dance danced by the mute". It is handed down mainly in two ways: division among the branches of a family, and apprenticeship to a master. Yang Chunwen (recorded in the official file of the associated inheritor): a male of the Bai ethnicity, born in April 1935, a native of Yunlong County, Yunnan Province. He has loved Erzi ge, a Bai folk art form, since childhood and has been engaged in performing and transmitting it for more than sixty years. At the age of 15 he formally became a disciple of the local folk artist Yin Guocheng, and at 20 he began organising Erzi ge performances. He is thoroughly versed in the techniques and procedure of Erzi ge performance and can make the performance props and costumes; coupled with his cheerful, lively nature and his humorous, witty performance, he has become an important performer and organiser of Erzi ge locally. He often leads the performing troupe to give free Erzi ge performances for the villagers, praying for safety and peace. For years he has devoted himself to collecting and sorting out materials on Erzi ge and has done everything in his power to pass the art on to his disciples. The performers he has trained, including Li Weizhi, Yang Xiaojun, Yin Huiliang, Li Jiangang and Yang Jinrong, have become the backbone of Erzi ge transmission. He is the representative inheritor of Erzi ge, a national-level intangible cultural heritage project in the fifth batch.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Yang Chunwen 05-2300
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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