Diaodiao
01 · Historical Records
The first famous Tiaodiao (suspension-swinging) performer in Shaoxing was Jin Axiang of Cangqiaotou in the city of Shaoxing in the late Qing dynasty. He made his living as a boatman and had a strong physique; through continuous exploration and practice he created complex Tiaodiao movements from the “Eighteen Swings” up to the “Forty-nine Swings”. After several generations of innovation and development by his descendants, these grew into the superb swinging arts of the “Seventy-two Swings” and even the “One Hundred and Eight Swings”. At the end of the Tongzhi reign of the Qing dynasty, Tiaodiao was borrowed by the Mulian opera and the Shaoxing opera “Great Peace Play” (ping'an daxi), becoming their most brilliant program — the “Male Hanging” (nandiao). In the 1950s, inheritors of the Tiaodiao art brought it onto the sports field, performing on many occasions at provincial, municipal, and national sports meets. In 1953 they represented the East China region at the National Traditional-Form Sports Performance and Competition Conference, where they won a gold medal and received commendation from Comrade He Long.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Tiaodiao is a form of spatial suspension movement performed purely through body language. As a method of personal physical training and a folk juggling act, it already has a long history. At first it was merely the juggling act of itinerant performers, with names such as the “three hangings” (sanshang diao) and the “single hanging on the bar” (gangshang dandiao); the movements were relatively simple. As a thrilling program at temple-fair folk activities, Tiaodiao has great appeal and is loved by the broad masses of the people. Lu Xun's essay “Female Hanging” (Nüdiao) contains a concrete description of the splendid performance of the Male Hanging. At that time, Tiaodiao performers were also specially invited by many theater troupes to give added performances to attract audiences, thereby ensuring the box-office receipts of the entire show. Tiaodiao is an original creation of the folk performers of Shaoxing. Its movements are highly difficult and technically demanding, full of the flavor of everyday life, and at the same time extremely thrilling, giving it very great ornamental value and a strong character of the local culture of the Jiangnan water country. To this day, because the main vehicle of Tiaodiao performance — the temple-fair folk activities — has undergone great changes in form and content, Tiaodiao performances have become increasingly rare.
Eighteen, forty-nine and one hundred and eight hangs
The repertoire grew from Jin Axiang's eighteen to forty-nine hangs, and over generations to seventy-two and even one hundred and eight.
Three Hangs and Single Hanging on the Bar
The early, simpler names of the stunt when it was still a street performer's trick and a personal exercise.
Male Hang in Mulian opera and Shao opera
In the Tongzhi era the stunt was absorbed into Mulian and Shao opera as the Male Hang, and troupes engaged its performers to draw audiences.
The Male Hang in Lu Xun's Female Hang
The stunt's thrills made it a favourite at temple fairs, described in detail in Lu Xun's essay The Female Hang.
Jin Axiang of Cangqiao
Shaoxing's first noted hang performer, a boatman of Cangqiao who created the complex eighteen to forty-nine hangs.
Jin Shouchang at the 1953 national sports meeting
Jin Shouchang won gold with his brother at the 1953 national folk-sports meeting and later built a museum for the art he still performs in old age.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
According to the recollections of late elderly performers, about two hundred years ago Tiaodiao already appeared in the areas of Shaoxing, Zhejiang, and Anqing, Anhui.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Tiaodiao has high reference value for the study of folk communal theater and aerial acrobatics in Shaoxing and the Jiangnan region. The third-generation inheritors of Tiaodiao are now over seventy; although there are fourth-generation inheritors, the chain of family-style transmission is rather thin, and there is an urgent need to train new inheritors. Jin Shouchang (recorded in the official inheritor archive): Also named Jin Changlin, with the stage name “Xiao Yanfei” (Little Swallow in Flight); male, of the Han nationality, born in December 1933, a native of Shaoxing City, Zhejiang Province. Now nearly eighty years old, he can still perform high-difficulty feats. He raised funds himself to build a Tiaodiao intangible-cultural-heritage museum, treasuring and preserving various documentary materials on Tiaodiao so that its peerless skills and culture can be handed down forever. Representative inheritor of Tiaodiao, a national-level intangible cultural heritage item in the third national-level batch. In 1953, together with his elder brother Jin Shoukang, he represented the East China region at the National Traditional-Form Sports Performance and Competition Conference, winning a gold medal.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Jin Shouchang 03-1220
- Jin Guangxia
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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