Minjian Shehuo Performance
01 · Historical Records
Folk shehuo is a popular self-entertainment activity performed during the Spring Festival; it originated in the ancient worship of the earth god and the fire god. Chaoyang County lies in western Liaoning Province; its shehuo activities have a long history and a broad popular base. During the Spring Festival, shehuo activities in Chaoyang County spread through town and country, in flexible and varied forms, with vivid and lifelike performance.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
"She" refers to the god of the earth; "huo" is the ancestral founder of fire, the legendary fire god. Historically a country founded on agriculture, China used its land for cultivation and its fire for cooking food and keeping warm; both were the material basis of people's survival and development. In antiquity, primitive thinking led people to believe that fire too had a "spirit," and they came to worship it as a divine object of special significance, thus forming the idea of venerating fire. From the ancient worship of the earth god and the fire god grew the custom of sacrificing to she and huo. As society developed and people's understanding deepened, elements of entertainment were gradually added to these sacrificial rites, which in the end developed into a folk entertainment activity of great scale and rich content. By performance form, shehuo falls into two categories: tableau shehuo and performance shehuo. Tableau shehuo includes the procession forms of cloth shehuo, back-carried shehuo, horse shehuo, cart shehuo, core-frame shehuo, mountain shehuo and mask shehuo, which mainly display character modelling and craftsmanship; performance shehuo includes ground-platform shehuo and stilt shehuo, which mainly stage combat performances in courtyards. Shehuo draws on folk legends and dramatic stories for its themes; one or a group of figures presents one story, and one story constitutes one "turn" of shehuo. The performers paint shehuo facial make-up, wear shehuo costumes and carry shehuo staffs. In a shehuo procession a scout on horseback goes first, followed by the shehuo association banner, the firearm (cannon) squad, the flag squad and the shehuo troupe, with the gong-and-drum band bringing up the rear. Reform and opening up brought new vitality to the art of folk shehuo; under the new conditions the traditional art has been carried forward and has become a folk cultural activity that the masses greatly enjoy.
The Yellow River array and river run
The Yellow River array and river run are two signature local items, shifting in formation with a rural vigour.
The carried pavilion and nine-women boat
The carried pavilion and nine-women boat represent the tableau style, performers borne aloft and a boat prop evoking travel on water.
Short stilts and tall stilts
Short stilts and tall stilts set different tests of balance and nerve, each distinct in its own way.
The eight-night lantern outing
Running for eight nights by lantern light, this is one of the few night-time sessions of the local calendar.
Hongshan culture folded into yangge
Younger local rites share roots with yangge from neighbouring provinces and merged with indigenous Hongshan culture over time.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The shehuo of Chaoyang in earlier times had countless ties with the yangge activities of Shandong, Hebei, Henan and Shanxi, and in the course of long practice in production and daily life it gradually merged with the local Hongshan culture, forming shehuo activities with a unique artistic style. Items such as the "Yellow River array" of Beisijiazi Township, the "carried pavilion" and "nine-women boat" of Taizi Township, the "eight-night performances" and "running the Yellow River" of Xiwujiazi Township, the "short stilts" of Mutouchengzi Town, and the "tall stilts" of Ershijiazi Town and Jiajiadian Farm each have their own character and are greatly enjoyed by the local people.
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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The shehuo of Chaoyang County spreads through town and country during the Spring Festival, in flexible and varied forms, with vivid and lifelike performance. The shehuo here has both a foundation in the same lineage as the yangge of Shandong, Hebei, Henan and Shanxi and, in the course of long practice in production and daily life, a gradual merging with the local Hongshan culture, forming a distinctive style: at one end it connects with the marching patterns and old conventions of the umbrella-head of the Central Plains yangge, and at the other with the sacrificial rites and shamanic associations passed down since ancient times on this land. Beyond the umbrella-head and coloured silks, every township and village has, according to local conditions, trained several special items — the Yellow River array of Beisijiazi Township, the carried pavilion and nine-women boat of Taizi Township, the eight-night performances and running the Yellow River of Xiwujiazi Township, the short stilts of Mutouchengzi Town, and the tall stilts of Ershijiazi Town and Jiajiadian Farm — each with its own character, greatly enjoyed by the local people. After reform and opening up, the art of shehuo was revived, becoming the liveliest event in the countryside every Spring Festival, and keeping the thread of Hongshan culture present at the scene of the festivities.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Du Tonghai 03-1470
- Zhao Xiwen 03-1471
- Yang Fengshan 05-2992
- Zhao Zhigao 05-2993
- Lvchunjing 05-2994
- Sun Shulin 05-2995
- Li Jianzhong 05-2996
- Pei Baolin
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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