Fanjiulou
01 · Historical Records
According to legend its earliest origins lie in the Qin dynasty, in the sacrifice made by Meng Jiangnu at the Great Wall for her husband; it is part of the ritual observances of folk Taoism.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The nine-tiered tower is also called "honglou", and it is mainly transmitted in Dongyang City, Zhejiang Province. The purposes of holding this activity are threefold: first, to pray for peace; second, to deliver the souls of the dead; third, to dispel calamity and ward off evil. The "nine-tiered platform" is usually brought into the site and set up one day in advance. On the ritual ground two thick Chinese-fir poles 13 metres high (nine tiers) are raised; these are called the "nine-dragon pillars". Then 11 or 13 "nine-tiered tables", each 1 metre high, 1.5 metres long and 0.7 metres wide (in nine tiers, eleven tiers and so on), are stacked up tight against the nine-dragon pillars, forming the nine-tiered platform. Inside the site a spirit altar and an "immortal bridge" are set up; water bamboo is used to arch up the "gate of nine layers", and large moso bamboo is planted upright as the "star bamboo", with a "demon-seeing mirror" hung above it. The nine-tiered platform may be built up from as many as 23 stacked dragon tables. At the start of the activity the "mountain man" (a Taoist priest) first performs a series of ritual observances, and only then does the flipping of the nine-tiered tower formally begin. Two "nine-tower masters" somersault from the bottom up to the nine-tiered platform at the top, burn the documents for delivering souls of the dead, and then flip back down from the top. After the "mountain man" has preached, the "nine-tower masters" leap the tower a second time, climb onto the nine-tiered platform, perform "fan opening" and "throwing gifts", and then begin a series of thrilling high-difficulty moves, such as the vertical dragonfly (handstand), rolling straddle, swinging the meteor hammer and sliding five tables (rope sliding), and then flip back down from the top. After that the shamanic officer is summoned to extinguish calamity and take in disaster, and finally the "mountain man" sounds the dragon horn to ward off evil and send off the gods.
The name Honglou
Also called Honglou, the form is best known in Dongyang, sharing a common origin with the Xiaoshan line but with its own celebrants.
Stacking eleven to thirteen tables
The Dongyang tower uses thirteen-metre pillars and eleven to thirteen standard tables stacked in nine or eleven tiers, at most twenty-three tables high.
Two climbs and the burning of the memorial text
After the celebrant's rites two masters climb to the top, burn the memorial text and descend, climbing a second time after the sermon.
Fanning and tossing
Two formal moves performed at the top before the risky feats, through which the masters open the fan and toss offerings.
Lou Yulong and the Hengdian base
Lou Yulong has performed independently since 2004, recorded the rites and chants, exhibited the costume and props in the city museum, and founded a base at Hengdian in 2009.
Peace, salvation and expulsion of evil
The rite serves three ends: praying for peace, saving the dead and driving off evil, framed by rites on the tower and the final horn-blowing.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Fanjiulou, also called "honglou", has Dongyang City, Zhejiang Province as its main place of transmission, and the Dongyang Municipal Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Center serves as its protecting organization. Local performers carry out ritual performances on occasions such as temple fairs, the consecration of statues and light, and funerary deliverance of souls. Transmitters such as Lou Yulong have formed independent troupes since 2004, travelling throughout the surrounding counties and cities, and they have set up a transmission base at the Hengdian Ancient Residences, where the ritual procedures and the sung-and-recited texts are collected into volumes for exhibition. The Xiaoshan branch of Hangzhou, which shares the same origin, is undertaken by performer troupes from the Puyang area.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Fanjiulou.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Fanjiulou is strongly technical and highly appealing to the eye; the routine of its performance has had a certain influence on modern acrobatics, and it has considerable research value for the study of folklore and religion. As the surviving performers grow older, this activity, which has long existed among the people, has no one to carry it on and is gradually declining, so it urgently needs rescue and protection. Lou Yulong (official archival record of the associated inheritor): male, of Han ethnicity, born in October 1961, native of Dongyang City, Zhejiang Province. A performer of the Fanjiulou technique. In 2004 he became his own master and began performing Fanjiulou independently. Because the ritual sequence of his performance is complete, his movements are nimble and his high-difficulty acts come one after another, he is warmly welcomed by the local people, and his performances have reached the surrounding counties and cities. Over the course of his career he has collected and compiled the various ritual procedures and sung-and-recited texts into volumes, and has displayed Fanjiulou costumes and props in the municipal museum. In 2009 he established a Fanjiulou transmission base at the Hengdian Ancient Residences, actively taking apprentices to teach them the art and giving regular performances. Representative inheritor of Fanjiulou, a project in the fifth national-level batch of the intangible cultural heritage projects.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Qian Xiaozhan 05-2559
- Louyulong 05-2560
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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