Yichenghunshenban
01 · Historical Records
The Ming-dynasty writer Yao Lü recorded in his Lu Shu that in southern Shanxi there was a “flower-board dance” in which performers held sandalwood clappers, striking them and dancing at the same time, “like flowers alighting on the body”; it follows that hanshenban was already transmitted in the Ming dynasty.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Hanshenban is also called “huabanzi”; it is named for the way the performer holds three sandalwood clappers tied together and strikes them against various parts of the body. Each sandalwood clapper is 45 centimetres long, 7 centimetres wide and 0.7 centimetres thick; three of them are strung together, small copper coins are sandwiched between the boards, and coloured ribbons are tied to the ends. Yicheng hanshenban is performed in two forms: street-parade performance and square performance. The performing movements mainly consist of the right hand holding a clapper to strike the hand, shoulder, knee, thigh, instep and sole of the foot, combined at the same time with a series of dance postures such as “stamping foot”, “turning jump”, “drawing in the leg”, “flicking the leg”, “lifting the leg”, “shooting the swallow” and “bow-and-arrow step”. The number of performers in Yicheng hanshenban is not fixed. Those striking the clappers are mostly dressed as wusheng martial roles from Chinese opera, entirely in black from head to toe and wearing a black hero’s cap. The other accompanying performers generally wear a formal hat and a long blue gown. Yicheng hanshenban performance follows fixed drum and clapper scores and fixed combinations of movements; developed up to the present, it has formed two representative types of performance. One type is represented by Wanghu Village, where the performance proceeds in continuous turning jumps to the left and right. The main characteristic of its movements is the “turn”, with 2/4 and 3/4 time alternating in a cross pattern. The other type is represented by Guojia Po Village, whose main characteristic is “not turning”: the performers face a single direction, and both the clapper rhythm and the accompaniment are in 2/4 time. According to the recollections of elderly folk artists, up to the early years after the founding of the People’s Republic of China hanshenban was commonly seen at temple fairs, sacrifices and she (community altar) events, such as the Xiangshan Luanchi temple fair in Yicheng, the Danzi Mountain temple fair at Xin’an and the god-receiving she event in Fuzhe Village. Today it is performed mainly in the shehuo folk performances of the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.
The three-piece sandalwood clapper
Named for striking the body with three linked sandalwood slats of 45 by 7 centimetres, each pair enclosing a small coin and a coloured ribbon at the end.
Striking hand, shoulder, knee and sole
The right hand strikes hand, shoulder, knee, thigh, instep and sole while the legs perform a set vocabulary of stamps and kicks.
The turning and non-turning styles
Wanghu village turns continually in alternating duple and triple time, while Guojiapo faces one direction in strict duple time.
Street parade and square performance
The form is done either in procession or on the square, the clapper dancers in black warrior dress and the musicians in hats and long blue gowns.
Temple fairs and village sacrificial contests
Into the 1950s the dance belonged to temple fairs and village sacrificial contests; today it appears in the Lantern Festival festivities.
The flower-clapper dance in the Lushu
The Ming writer Yao Lü records a flower-clapper dance in southern Shanxi whose slats flew about the body like blossom.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Hanshenban is a traditional Han dance distributed mainly in the Yellow River golden triangle region of Shanxi, Shaanxi and Henan, and gradually spreading to central and northern Shanxi, other parts of Shaanxi Province, and the areas of Gansu and Inner Mongolia. In Yicheng, Shanxi, hanshenban is transmitted mainly around Guojia Po Village in Nanliang Town to the south of the city and in some villages of Wangzhuang Township to the north of the city. Yicheng hanshenban expresses the good wishes of workers through the ages for a beautiful future, and is a continuation and an important component of the local Tangyao culture and Jin culture.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Yicheng hanshenban is transmitted mainly through families; as the “intangible cultural heritage enters the school” programme has been carried out in depth, transmission through education has gradually spread and young people have become an important force in inheritance and dissemination. At present the item’s survival is not encouraging, and the vitality and level of its transmission still need to be raised; determined and sustained efforts are required to strengthen its protection. It integrates music and dance, has a high degree of artistry and aesthetic quality and also a certain fitness function. Protecting and transmitting this cultural heritage well will have a positive impact on invigorating local cultural undertakings, enlivening the cultural life of the masses, promoting excellent traditional culture and building a harmonious society.
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
This static English edition is rendered at the edge for search engines, AI crawlers and readers without JavaScript; it mirrors the bilingual dossier. 阅读中文版，或返回 英文名录。