Gaoganchuanji
01 · Historical Records
According to gazetteers, the skill originated in the late Ming and early Qing period and flourished from the late Qing through the Republican era.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
High-pole boat skills are a distinctive aquatic acrobatic performance item in the rites of worship of the Silkworm God. Zhouquan Town, Tongxiang City, Zhejiang Province, sits at the junction of the three prefectures of Hangzhou, Jiaxing, and Huzhou; its streams are as dense as a spider's web, and its lakes and ponds are scattered like stars. For a long time the people have made their living mainly from sericulture, and the worship of the Silkworm God has been the most important folk activity of the locality. Every year, in the three days around the Qingming Festival, the Silkworm Flower Water Fair is held. High-pole boat skills, which mimic silkworms spinning silk and forming cocoons, arose in response to this occasion. The high-pole boat is made by lashing two wooden farm boats side by side and planking the deck; the "high pole" is a stout, tapering bamboo set with a stone mortar as its base, and three thicker bamboos lashed into a triangular support hold the pole steadily upright at the bow. During the performance the performer climbs to the top of the pole and, using body weight and the natural flexibility of the bamboo, bends the upper end about 90 degrees, forming an elevated lever area parallel to the water's surface on which to perform. On the lever the performer chooses the best point of balance and executes bodily techniques such as forward levering, reverse levering, "reversed Zhang Fei," rigid dead-support, hooking the instep, binding the ankle, tying the toe tips, sitting on the large rush cushion, biting the large measure basket, biting the small measure basket, encircling the bamboo, carrying the bamboo on the shoulder, "spider releasing silk," standing taut, lying along the silk, "Zhang Fei selling meat," "frog stretching," and the inverted bound rolling lantern — more than eighteen forms in the full set. Clad entirely in white, the performer moves among the emerald-green bamboo lever; from afar it is like a silkworm climbing onto the mounting frame, curled and head raised, spinning silk and forming a cocoon — vivid and graceful. It presents the spectacle of a boat moving in the river, a pole standing on the boat, and a person somersaulting on the pole — thrilling and stirring, shaking all the surrounding countryside. It displays the distinctive charm of acrobatics of the water country and the silk country. High-pole boat skills are not only technically demanding and distinctive in form; their apparatus is especially scientific and ingenious, using the performer's weight and the pliability of bamboo to project the performer's landing point beyond the hull and into the air above the water — seemingly perilous but in fact safe. Yeming Village in Zhouquan Town has produced excellent high-pole climbers in abundance, and high-pole boat skills have been passed down from generation to generation; today only about ten people can perform the high-pole climbing acrobatics, of whom only one or two can complete the full set of movements. Among them, Tu Rongxiang, now approaching sixty, performs year-round in the Wuzhen scenic area, while the others take part in performances at Qingming.
The silkworm-flower river fair
The three days around Qingming when the silkworm-god river fair is held, the occasion for the pole performance.
Forward and reverse levering, and the hard brace
A group of postures on the bent bamboo lever, each taken at the performer's chosen point of balance.
Sitting the cushion, biting the measure, spider's thread
The most demanding of the eighteen moves, alongside ankle hooks, bamboo winding, the lying thread and the upside-down lantern roll.
Rigging the pole boat
Two farm boats lashed together with a decked surface carry a thick bamboo pole based in a stone mortar and braced by three poles in a triangle.
The pole climbers of Yeming village
The transmitting village of the skill, where about ten can climb but only one or two can complete the whole set.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
It embodies the extraordinary wisdom, courage, and distinctive aesthetic sensibility of the local silkworm farmers.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Tu Rongxiang (per the official archival record of the associated inheritor): Male, Han, born in October 1950, of Tongxiang City, Zhejiang Province. Performer of high-pole boat skills, fourth-generation inheritor of high-pole boat skills. Born into a high-pole family, he loved levering the high pole from childhood; at the age of eight he learned high-pole levering from his father Tu Zixing, quickly mastered all the techniques and the performance sequence, and at ten began performing high-pole boat skills independently on the river, winning the acclaim of audiences on both banks, and developed a distinctive signature repertoire of high-pole boat skills. From 2000 he and his apprentices performed high-pole stunts for visitors in the Wuzhen scenic area, allowing Chinese and foreign tourists to appreciate the peerless skills of the high pole and making high-pole boat skills famous at home and abroad. He is a representative inheritor of high-pole boat skills, a project of the fifth national-level batch of intangible cultural heritage. He has long organized and participated in high-pole boat performances at the Silkworm Flower Fair, with attention to cultivating inheritors.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Tu Rongxiang 05-2566
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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