Bai Raosanling
01 · Historical Records
On the day itself, Bai people from all directions set out from the Town God's Temple, in streams and groups, singing and dancing along the foot of Mount Diancang northward; first they go to the Chongsheng Temple, the Buddhist capital with its three Tang Dynasty pagodas, to burn incense and worship; then they continue northward about 16 kilometers to the Benzhu (local patron god) temple of Chaoyang Village at the foot of the Wutai Peak of Mount Cang, to worship the Benzhu "Fumin Emperor" — this is called the "southern pilgrimage"; going further north to Qingdong Village, they worship the Benzhu temple of Qingdong, the "Divine Capital" — this is called the "northern pilgrimage".
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The Dali Bai Raosanling, called "Guanshanglan" in the Bai language, is circulated among the Bai villages in the area around Mount Cang and Erhai Lake in the Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture of Yunnan Province, and has a history of more than one thousand years. Every year from the 23rd to the 25th day of the fourth lunar month — just before the busy farming season of planting rice, and in mild weather with beautiful mountains and rivers — the Bai people of the hundreds of villages around Mount Cang and Erhai Lake, men and women alike, wear flowers in their hair and dress in festive costumes. Organized by village, in groups of dozens to over a hundred people, they carry sacrificial implements, simple luggage, food, and cooking utensils, and travel to the gathering from all directions. Full of enthusiasm, people hope that through their devout worship the year will bring favorable weather and abundant harvests in autumn; they also pray for the peace and safety of their whole families. The Raosanling procession is divided into three parts: at the front are two elders — one man and one woman (sometimes two men or two women) — holding willow branches and ox tails (called the "flower-and-willow elders"); in the middle, besides one person playing the flute, are several dozen male and female dancers holding "Bawang whips" and "gold coin drums"; at the rear are one person playing a leaf and several dozen women who both sing and dance, holding fans or straw hats, forming a "single-line long-snake formation". Led by the flower-and-willow elders, they gather on the morning of the 23rd day of the fourth lunar month at the Town God's Temple in the old city of Dali, light incense and candles, and prepare for the journey. People believe that the "Divine Capital" enshrines Duan Zongbang, the "King of the Five Hundred Gods" and the greatest Benzhu of the Dali region. Then, in the grounds inside and outside the temple, they perform with the Bawang whips and gold coin drums, dance fan dances, and sing Bai melodies; at dusk they set up cooking fires around the Divine Capital, and that night they sleep in the temples of Qingdong and the surrounding fields and woods. People sing and dance to their hearts' content, all night long, in great excitement, making this place the center of the Raosanling activities. On the 24th day of the fourth lunar month, they worship Duan Chicheng, the python-slaying hero who symbolizes the god of Erhai Lake and is worshipped as a Benzhu. On the 25th day of the fourth lunar month, they go to Majiuyi Village, by Erhai Lake north of Dali City, to worship the local Benzhu, Bao'an Jingdi ("Guardian of Peace"). Over these three days, the people of the Raosanling walk more than forty kilometers, with music of flutes and drums, singing and dancing, and answering one another in song. It has a strong practical effect in strengthening cultural identity and enhancing the cohesion of the Bai people, and has become one of the most emblematic symbols of Bai culture.
Three days from the twenty-third
From the twenty-third to the twenty-fifth of the fourth lunar month, before the rice season, villages by the hundreds make their way to the fair.
The old man with willow and ox-tail
An old man and woman holding willow twigs and an ox tail lead the line, followed by flute, whip and drum dancers and singing women.
The southern turn
The southern leg runs from the city temple to the pagoda monastery and then sixteen kilometres north to the Ben Zhu shrine at Chaoyang.
The northern turn
The northern turn ends at Qingdong, home of the Ben Zhu shrine to Duan Zongbang, the greatest of the local deities.
Barrel whip, money drum and fan dance
Whips, drums, fan dances and Dongsong fill the temple ground, where the pilgrims cook their suppers and sleep through the night.
The serpent-slayer as Ben Zhu
The serpent-slayer Duan Chicheng, god of Erhai, and the guardian at Majiuyi stand for water and for the border respectively.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The route of Raosanling winds around Mount Cang and Erhai Lake: starting from the Town God's Temple in the old city of Dali, it goes first to Chongsheng Temple, then to the Benzhu temple of Chaoyang Village at the foot of the Wutai Peak of Mount Cang, and finally about sixteen kilometers north to the Divine Capital of Qingdong Village; over the three days the participants walk more than forty kilometers — the distance traveled is itself a measure of the ritual. The three places of pilgrimage belong to three systems — Buddhist, human, and divine; the procession links them into a single line within a single day. The order of the southern and northern pilgrimages connects the most important places of belief in the Dali area along a fixed route, and gives the hundreds of surrounding villages a shared itinerary.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Raosanling has a long heritage, a deep popular foundation, large-scale activities, and a vast space of procession, demonstrating the Bai people's capacity for cultural inclusion and absorption and their high spirit of innovation. Zhao Piiding (recorded in the official archive of the associated inheritor): Male, Bai ethnicity, born in 1942, from the Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan. He graduated from the Dali County School of Arts in 1960 and began engaging in Raosanling cultural activities in 1964, taking the stage to sing Bai Daben tunes; he holds the titles of "Yunnan Ethnic Folk Musician" and "Master of Folk Art of Dali Prefecture". He has a masterful command of the various sacrificial rites of the Bai Raosanling, as well as folk performance activities such as men's and women's antiphonal singing, Bawang whip dances, lion dances, dragon dances, and lantern songs and dances; he is especially skilled at singing Daben tunes. He has published the albums Liangzhu Pei and Sanchu Zhuxing, and the Daben tunes Liaodong Ji, Liangzhu Pei, and Hudie Quan (Butterfly Spring). He is a representative inheritor of the Bai Raosanling, a national-level intangible cultural heritage item of the second batch.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Zhao Piding 02-0775
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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