Lisu Daogan Festival
01 · Historical Records
Legend has it that the Knife Pole Festival originated as follows: Wang Ji, Minister of War under the Ming dynasty, was dispatched by the court to lead troops to the Lisu-inhabited frontier region of Yunnan to organize joint civilian and military defense, put down rebellion and recover occupied land; with the support of the local people, he drove out the invading enemy.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The Lisu Knife Pole Festival, called 'Atangde' in the Lisu language, meaning 'knife-climbing festival,' is a traditional festival of the Lisu people living in Lushui County, Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province, and of the Yi people. It falls on the 15th day of the first lunar month each year. 'Climbing the Mountain of Knives and Crossing the Sea of Fire' is the main customary performance of the Knife Pole Festival. It reenacts the mountain people's experience of crossing mountains and valleys and their spirit of extraordinary endurance in climbing vines and carrying loads, and it is at the same time a traditional folk custom activity. To make the frontier prosperous and its army strong, he led Lisu youths in martial and physical training. Later the emperor, believing slander, had Wang Ji poisoned to death. The Lisu people therefore commemorate this patriotic general by observing the 'Knife Pole Festival.' 'Climbing the Mountain of Knives and Crossing the Sea of Fire' includes such steps as dotting the flowers, dotting the knives, playing with the knives, welcoming the flowers, setting up the altar, sacrificing at the knife pole, raising the pole, sacrificing to the dragon, ascending the knives, folding the knives and crossing the sea of fire, with a strict set of rites throughout. Ascending the knives and crossing the fire are the most thrilling parts of the ceremony. Ascending the knives means binding thirty-six sharp knives onto a chestnut pole four to five zhang high, the knives spaced about a chi apart with all the blades pointing upward. The performer climbs barefoot up the sharp steel knives to the top of the pole, performing in sequence the opening of the heavenly gate, the hanging of red cloth and the scattering of grain. Crossing the sea of fire is performed by the performer who, after descending the pole, steps into red-hot burning charcoal to display extraordinary feats. In the festival today, the content of primitive belief has been replaced by 'tiaoga,' a dance that presents healthy, novel lyrics and rich hand movements, giving it a broader popular base. The Knife Pole Festival is a product of the Lisu people's nature worship, and even more an expression of their patriotism and their national spirit of fearing no hardship.
Flower-marking, blade-drilling and flourishing
Before anyone climbs, the blades are marked, tested, flourished and bound to the pole, so that the climber's confidence rests on trials already made.
Thirty-six blades on a chestnut pole
Thirty-six blades, a foot apart and edge upward, are bound to a chestnut pole four or five fathoms high, tight enough to carry the climber's weight.
Opening the gate and casting rice
Barefoot on the edges, the climber reaches the top to open the heavenly gate, hang red and cast grain down, turning a feat of strength into a blessing.
Walking the fire sea
After descending the blades the performer steps straight into glowing coals; blade and fire in turn carry the highland people's image of fearlessness to its extreme.
Jiaoga replacing the older chants
Older belief chants have largely given way to Jiaoga, with fresh tunes and hand movements, pushing the ancestral content into the background.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The Knife Pole Festival takes place in the villages of Lushui County where Lisu and Yi people live together. When the 15th day of the first lunar month arrives, each village raises its own chestnut knife pole, so the festival unfolds simultaneously in multiple villages. Li Xueqiang can independently preside over the whole sequence of pre-festival rites from dotting the flowers and the knives, playing with and binding the knives, and raising the pole through to the sacrifices, and can also sing in different modes. This all-round style of transmission keeps the festival from being interrupted in a locality simply because one link has lost its practitioner.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Li Xueqiang (recorded in the official file of the associated inheritor): Male, Lisu ethnicity, born in 1959, a native of Lushui, Yunnan. He can independently preside over the Knife Pole Festival, master the entire process of the rites held before the knife-pole ceremony—dotting the flowers, dotting the knives, playing with the knives, binding the knives and raising the knife pole—and the sacrificial activities, and can sing in different modes. He is a representative inheritor of the Lisu Knife Pole Festival, a national-level intangible cultural heritage item from the second national-level batch. In 1998 his 'Crossing the Sea of Fire' performance won second prize at the Sixth Traditional Ethnic Sports Games of Yunnan Province.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Li Xueqiang 02-0774
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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