Zuogezhuangganhui
01 · Historical Records
The Zuogezhuang Pole Society is transmitted in the area of Zuogezhuang Town, Wen'an County, Hebei Province. Zuogezhuang lies on the bank of the Daqing River and was formerly a wharf on the water routes, where merchants and travelers gathered and the customs of folk martial arts and acrobatics flourished. Judging from the apparatus used and the content of performances, the Zuogezhuang Pole Society is related to the acrobatic pole societies of the Yuan and Ming periods; its techniques have been passed down from generation to generation locally, in family and village units. Society members farm during the busy agricultural seasons and practice pole skills in the off-season, turning out to perform at temple fairs and New Year festivals, which produced a relatively fixed organization and mode of transmission.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The Zuogezhuang Pole Society is a traditional sport transmitted in the Wen'an area of Hebei Province. Unlike pole societies in other regions, the Zuogezhuang Pole Society mainly uses a living pole (a loose pole), and can perform with a tree trunk at any time and in any place. The main technical moves include dating (single and double), chuanzi, danbi zheyu (hanging fish on one arm), zhua san dao liang (grasping three, snatching two), yangya zhuan (leaning-branch turns), sleeping on the loop, gua jiaomian (hooking the instep, single and double), dao jiaomian (inverted instep), lie jiaomian (twisted instep), gua jiaohougen (hooking the heel, single and double), nian tangren (sticky sugar figure), hand flag-waving, foot flag-waving, lü dagun (donkey roll), golden rooster standing on one leg, shua liuxing (playing the meteor hammer), and dan henggun (single horizontal pole).
Performing on the living pole
The society's hallmark is its use of a living pole, a tree trunk rigged on the spot rather than a fixed upright.
Ting-thrusts and stringing
Core technical moves of the society, the ting-thrust done singly or doubly and the chuanzi a continuous tumbling sequence on the pole.
Single-arm fish-fold and the three-two grip
Pole moves in which the body folds over one supporting arm or shifts by a set rhythm of grips, demanding arm strength and body control.
Sleeping on the pole and toe hooks
Daring yet comic moves in which the performer lies or hangs on the pole, hooking it with feet and heels in many variations.
Meteor play and the golden rooster
Pole tricks including meteor play and the golden-rooster stance, part of a repertoire that also covers flag-waving, donkey-rolls and the cross-bar.
Zhang Jiali and the training shed
Zhang Jiali trained from the age of eight, mastered and invented pole moves, and as head of the Chongxin village society built a training shed and raised more than twenty performers.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The Zuogezhuang Pole Society takes Chongxin Village in Zuogezhuang Town, Wen'an County, as its principal place of transmission; the village once established a pole society and built a pole-practice hall, and its members were mostly local farmers. Unlike pole societies in other regions that use fixed wooden poles, the Zuogezhuang Pole Society mainly uses a living pole and can perform with a tree trunk at any time and in any place, giving it great mobility. To the present day, the society remains active in Wen'an and the surrounding counties and cities; in 1996 it took part in the Beijing Longtan Temple Fair and won an excellent performance award.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Judging from the apparatus used and the content of its performances, the Zuogezhuang Pole Society is related to the acrobatic pole societies of the Yuan and Ming periods. With its consummate skill and strict mode of transmission, it has considerable academic value for research on the evolution of ancient Chinese acrobatic art. The Zuogezhuang Pole Society has survived and been transmitted among the people in its own distinctive way; it contains rich folk-custom information and is also precious material for the study of folk culture. Today most inheritors of the pole society are advanced in age, the younger generation is largely unwilling to learn, and young people able to transmit the pole society in full are as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns. The Zuogezhuang Pole Society urgently needs rescue and protection. Zhang Jiadi (from the official archive record of the associated inheritor): A performer of Zuogezhuang pole techniques. He began learning basic techniques at the age of eight and, through thirty years of hard practice, thoroughly mastered pole skills. He created many pole moves, such as hooking the instep, sleeping on the pole, and foot flag-waving. He once served as president and coach of the pole society of Chongxin Village, Zuogezhuang. Male, Han ethnicity, born in May 1942, died in February 2021, from Wen'an County, Hebei Province. Representative inheritor of the Zuogezhuang Pole Society, a national-level intangible cultural heritage item from the fifth national-level batch. He organized the construction of the pole-practice hall, trained more than twenty apprentices able to perform skillfully on the pole, and organized new and old members to practice during holidays and in their spare time. In 1996 he led the pole society to take part in the Beijing Longtan Temple Fair, winning an excellent performance award.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Zhang Jiadi 05-2555
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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