Minjian Shehuo Performance
01 · Historical Records
The Nanzhuang framed fireworks (jiahou) are distributed in Nanzhuang Village, Yuci District, Jinzhong City, Shanxi Province; their origin can be traced back to the early Ming dynasty, giving them a history of more than six hundred years.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The Nanzhuang rootless framed fireworks are a folk festival activity; in the Jinzhong region, setting off framed fireworks at every Lantern Festival has become a tradition. According to legend, after Zhu Yuanzhang (Emperor Taizu of the Ming dynasty) ascended the throne, the government functioned smoothly and the people lived in peace, so he issued an edict ordering a celebration across the whole land. At that time, the brothers Lü Fu and Lü Gui, military candidates (wuju) from Jiangsu, were sojourning in Nanzhuang; they fused the embroidery and weaving, painted decoration and garden arts of Suzhou and Hangzhou with Nanzhuang's traditional shehuo (folk festival performances), and created the Nanzhuang framed fireworks that became famous throughout the Sanjin region. The Yuci County Gazetteer records: "At the beginning of spring, when the gods are welcomed and the processions vie with one another, framed fireworks are often set off, and the Nanzhuang framed fireworks are the most famous. Racks of tables are piled high — twelve in an ordinary year, thirteen in a leap month. The tabletops are made into gold-and-blue pavilions, all of paper. Two flags stand upright at the top; at the sides are clustered flowers, hanging banners and small bells, and firecrackers are linked in the middle like tassels. When the firecrackers are lit, the paper surfaces unfold all kinds of patterns, surpassing embroidery. The framed fireworks have no central upright pole; each of the four corners is held fast by ropes. This is found nowhere else." The Nanzhuang framed fireworks, along with every firecracker and lantern on them, have been handed down from generation to generation through their remarkable craftsmanship, and remain flourishing today. The main frame of the entire structure is made entirely of sorghum stalks and paper, all hand-painted, with numerous process steps and exquisite workmanship. It must go in sequence through many process steps, including pattern design, carving, painted decoration, weaving of colored firecrackers, making of colored lanterns, binding the framed-fireworks framework, stringing the colored firecrackers together, making the accompanying decorative pieces, and finally mounting and assembling everything into shape. The framed fireworks are built by stacking a dozen or more layers of palace-hall and pavilion roof frames one upon another, their outline resembling a majestic ancient pagoda. On the tier upon tier of flying eaves, banners stream in the wind; on the body of the pagoda, woven colored firecrackers are strung together in chains; at the base, figures and landscapes, memorial archways and pavilions set one another off. The whole structure is rationally laid out, with clear distinctions between primary and secondary elements; it is colorful, magnificent and spectacular, just like a group of ancient buildings. Because the structure requires no sky-piercing pillar for support, it is called the "rootless framed fireworks". A folk proverb says: "Nanzhuang's framed fireworks, Taigu's lanterns, and Xugou's iron rods are utterly enchanting." The Nanzhuang framed fireworks are made entirely of paper; elements such as weaving and embroidery, painted decoration and garden art are all ingeniously presented on the whole structure. Its production strictly follows traditional techniques; every component is made entirely by hand, and completing one set of framed fireworks requires nearly a thousand work-hours. The woven colored firecrackers hung on the structure alone come in several dozen patterns and designs.
Burning the Nanzhuang fire-frame at Lantern Festival
Made in Nanzhuang village of Jinzhong, the fire-frame is a Lantern Festival tradition of the Jinzhong region.
Twelve storeys, thirteen in a leap month
The county gazetteer records that Nanzhuang frames stood twelve storeys, thirteen in a leap month, their tables built entirely of paper.
The many stages of hand-making
Design, carving, painting, firecracker weaving, lamp making, frame assembly and mounting follow one another, near a thousand work-hours per piece.
Ropes at four corners, no central mast
With no towering central mast, the frame is steadied by ropes at four corners, a structure said to be unique to this place.
A paper pagoda of a dozen storeys
A dozen stacked roofs form a pagola-like tower, with fluttering banners, linked firecracker strings and painted scenes at the base.
Twenty-seven generations of succession
The craft has passed through twenty-seven generations; Zhao Zhigao learned it from his father and other artists and refined it over thirty years.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
It is scientifically and rationally laid out, elegant and refined in form, and dazzlingly bright in color; it is a gem of folk culture in Jinzhong, a vivid witness to the exchange and blending of regional cultures in China, and possesses considerable artistic, aesthetic, recreational and socio-cultural value.
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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The Nanzhuang framed fireworks have a long history, with a lineage of transmission spanning 27 generations. Zhao Zhigao (recorded in the official file of the associated inheritor): Male, Han ethnicity, born in August 1965, from Yuci City, Shanxi Province. From childhood he was keen on folk shehuo performances. After graduating from middle school, he used festival holidays to systematically learn the production techniques of the Nanzhuang rootless framed fireworks from his father Zhao Yi and other veteran artists. Through more than thirty years of uninterrupted practice, he has continually refined and improved the ancient techniques in the course of excavating, protecting and transmitting the Nanzhuang rootless framed fireworks. At the same time, he has devoted himself to discovering and cultivating young talent, teaching them the techniques free of charge, leading them to take part in various festival and exhibition events, and holding displays of framed-fireworks craftsmanship and fireworks performances in Xiaoyi, Jiexiu, Yangquan and other places, making the Nanzhuang rootless framed fireworks the flagship of Jin merchants' shehuo and bringing it to wider public knowledge. He is a representative inheritor of Folk Shehuo (Nanzhuang Rootless Framed Fireworks), a project in the fifth national-level batch of intangible cultural heritage.
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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