Fenghuoliuxing
01 · Historical Records
Jinyang Fenghuo Liuxing, commonly known as the “fire meteor” (huo liuxing), originated from the folk shehuo (festival street-performance) traditions of the Jinyuan area of Taiyuan City. Jinyuan is the site of ancient Jinyang; in former times, New Year festivals, temple fairs, and processions to welcome the gods were frequent. Folk artists combined the “meteor” weapons of martial arts with the fire techniques of shehuo, tying iron cages of burning charcoal to both ends of a rope and whirling them around the body to form flower-like patterns, gradually developing a shehuo performance that fuses folk acrobatics with Chinese martial arts.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Jinyang Fenghuo Liuxing, commonly known as the “fire meteor”, is a folk shehuo performance art that combines folk acrobatics with Chinese martial arts in one. Its performances are usually held at night. One performer or several execute such movements as the “back flower” (beihua) and the “steamed-bun flower” (mantouhua), making the iron cages at the two ends of the rope spin in the air from slow to fast; sparks splash in all directions from inside the cages, the fire drawing strength from the wind and the wind feeding the fire's fury, forming a great variety of patterns. During a Fenghuo Liuxing performance the performer can make many kinds of movements — walking, standing, sitting, lying down, and rolling — amid the flames, the person inside the fire and the fire turning with the person. Its performance routines are broadly similar to martial arts routines, with forms such as “twin dragons opening the way”, “fire dragon coiling around the body”, “Sun Wukong brandishing his staff”, and “fire dragon's eighteen rolls”. The performance is accompanied by small gongs and drums, the movements shifting amid the different drumbeat and music in a truly gripping display. Fenghuo Liuxing requires the performer to have a grounding in martial arts, so the performance is more spectacular than ordinary acrobatics — a singular wonder of the folk shehuo culture of ancient Jinyang.
Back-flower and steamed-bun flower
Two basic moves in which the fire cages on the rope spin faster and faster, sparks flying to trace patterns in the air.
Twin dragons, coiling fire dragon and the monkey's staff
Routines named like martial forms, in which the performer walks, sits, lies and rolls while fire follows the body.
The fire dragon's eighteen rolls
One of the form's notable routines, rolling over the ground while whirling the fire cages, demanding a martial foundation.
Small gong-and-drum accompaniment
Performance is accompanied by small gongs and drums, the moves changing with the music, usually at night.
Chang'e to the Moon, Sunrise over the East Sea, Golden Dragon
The inheritor Jia Tiancang mastered the whole technique, dancing two fire meteors at once and creating new moves such as Chang'e Flying to the Moon.
Jia Tiancang and the LED fire cage
Jia Tiancang replaced the burning charcoal with LED globes and devised double-wheel and double-ring props, broadening the form.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
It is mainly transmitted in the Jinyuan District area of Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Excavating, rescuing, and protecting the fire meteor can promote the development of the region's folk shehuo culture. Because Fenghuo Liuxing carries the limitations of high risk and difficulty in learning, this marvelous acrobatic art now faces the awkward predicament of being hard to sustain, and it urgently needs rescue and protection. Jia Tiancang (recorded in the official inheritor archive): Male, of the Han nationality, born in March 1958, a native of Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province. A performer of the traditional Fenghuo Liuxing art. From childhood he enjoyed taking part in all kinds of folk activities. After graduating from middle school he returned to his village to farm, during which time he followed folk artists such as Nie Hongshou and Han Yugui in intensive study and practice of Fenghuo Liuxing. Through years of hard practice he has mastered the entire set of traditional Fenghuo Liuxing performance techniques; he can whirl a fire meteor in each hand at the same time, and has himself created movements such as “Chang'e Flying to the Moon”, “Sunrise over the Eastern Sea”, and “Golden Dragon Climbing the Pillar”. In addition, he has improved the fire meteor apparatus, using LED luminous balls in place of the traditional burning charcoal; on the basis of the traditional equipment he has developed double-wheel and double-ring fire meteor devices, making the performance forms more varied and giving this traditional art brand-new vitality. Over the years he has not only actively taken part in all kinds of performances but also used his spare time to instruct newcomers, training large numbers of successors. Representative inheritor of Fenghuo Liuxing, a national-level intangible cultural heritage item in the fifth national-level batch.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Jia Tiancang 05-2558
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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