Nu Dabiya Dance
01 · Historical Records
The dabiya was originally played with three strings and later developed into a four-string instrument; it has twelve tunings and can play Nu folk melodies of different content. Examples include the "First, Second and Third Land-Seeking Dances", which reflect the continual migration of the Nu ancestors; the "Arm-and-Hip Dance" (the "Hand Dance") and the "Birth Dance" of a man giving birth, which reflect the marriage customs of matrilineal society; the "Ancient War", which depicts the defence of the homeland; the "Two-Person Dabiya Dance", which presents the love of the Nu creation-epoch ancestors Zhafusai and Zhafuma; the "Lover-Seeking Dance" and the "Lovers' Elopement Appointment Dance", which reflect love; the "Wild Vegetable Seeking Dance", the "Cutting Foxtail Millet Dance", the "Hunting Dance", the "Digging Dance", the "Lac Tapping Dance" and the "Breaking Corn Dance", which reflect production and life; the "Hen Laying an Egg Dance", the "Riverbank Duck Dance", the "Crow Drinking Water Dance", the "Dog Peeing Dance" and the like, which imitate animals; and the "Odede Dance", whose chief feature is singing, among others.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The Nu dabiya dance is a traditional form of dance expression named after the musical instrument "dabiya"; it is one of the representative dances of the Nu people and is circulated among Nu villages in Fugong County, Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province. Fugong County of Yunnan Province lies in the Nu River canyon. Owing to differences of geographical position and language, the dabiya dances of the east bank and the west bank differ slightly in their fingering, dance steps and musical tunes, and they are transmitted from father to son, within the family, or from master to disciple. The "dabiya" is the traditional plucked string instrument of the Nu people. Shaped like a pipa or a sanxian, it has a clear, soft and bright timbre, a well-marked rhythm, and a rich, expressive repertoire of tunes. The Nu dabiya dance is played and danced at the same time, and its content largely reflects the production and living habits of the Nu people; it also imitates the forms and sounds of animals and the way of life of the Nu ancestors on both banks of the Nu River. It is rich in expression and broad in subject matter. All of these are presented through the combination of dance movements with accompaniment on the dabiya. The Nu dabiya dance is characterised by flexing and extending both knees, turning the body left and right, sending the hips out to left and right, and footwork of stamping, pointing, rubbing and hooking. Its bouncing and jumping place strict demands on the action of both knees, which must flex and extend evenly and with resilience, and they stress the agility of the knee joints.
Dabiya, the four-string lute
The dabiya, a four-string plucked lute resembling the pipa, gave its name to the dance and supplies its melody.
Twelve tunings
Twelve tunings yield the different tunes to which the dancer plays and steps at once.
The land-seeking dances
The first, second and third land-seeking dances record ancestral migrations, alongside the ancient war dance of defending the homeland.
The arm-and-hip dance and the birth dance
The arm-and-hip dance of maternal custom and the birth dance performed by a man preserve memories of early marriage forms.
The Odede dance
The dance in which singing dominates, standing among the gathering, millet-cutting, hunting, digging and animal-imitating pieces.
Knee flexing with struck, pointed and rubbed steps
Flexing knees, turning and swinging the hips define the style, with the knees required to flex evenly and resiliently.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The dabiya dance has as its core of transmission the Nu villages of Fugong County, Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province, and is especially concentrated around Pihe Nu Township. Owing to differences in geographical position and language, the fingering, dance steps and musical tunes on the east bank and the west bank of the river differ slightly. Fugong County lies in the middle reaches of the Nu River canyon, and the Nu villages within its territory are scattered over the high mountain terraces on both banks of the river; subjects such as the land-seeking dance, the cutting of foxtail millet and the hunt in the dance repertoire draw precisely on this.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The Nu have no script of their own. As an important component of Nu folk culture, the Nu dabiya dance reflects the extent to which the Nu ancestors understood nature and made use of it and their ability to do so. It carries rich cultural information about the production, life, ethics and customs of the Nu ancestors, and it is an important vehicle through which the Nu people understand and transmit their history and culture.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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