Folk Beliefs and Customs

Ⅹ-85Folk CustomsAnshunshixixiu, GuizhouBatch 4 (2014)Extension Item

01 · Historical Records

Xixiu District is located in Anshun City, Guizhou Province; it is not only Anshun's political, economic, scientific-technological, and cultural center, but also the core area of Tunpu (garrison-fortress) culture, which has been transmitted for more than 600 years. The belief in Lord Wang (Wanggong) originated in the Tang dynasty. From then on, carrying Lord Wang became a temple-fair activity prevalent in the Huizhou region during the Ming and Qing dynasties. The Anshun Prefecture Gazetteer, compiled in the Qing dynasty, records: "On the 17th day of the first month, Wangguan Tun welcomes Lord Wang to Langfeng Bridge; on the night of the 18th, fireworks frames are set off." Thereafter, carrying the pavilion (taitiaozi) gradually evolved into a folk activity with distinctly Tunpu regional characteristics. Each year in the first lunar month, the villages that hold the pavilion-carrying activity plant colorful flags everywhere and raise decorated gates, presenting a lively scene like the Tang dynasty custom of "wearing spring banners and victory ornaments".

02 · Core Techniques & Process

Tunpu Taitiaozi (carrying the pavilion), also called "Carrying Lord Wang" or "Welcoming the Bodhisattva", is a folk activity held in the first lunar month each year to celebrate the birthday of Lord Wang; it is widely practiced in the numerous Tunpu villages of Xixiu District, Anshun City, Guizhou Province, such as Gouchang Tun, Jichang Tun, and Bao Tun. Since the first lunar month coincides with the New Year, the various stockaded villages combine the sacrificial activities with the New Year welcoming activities, collectively calling them the "Grand Spring-Welcoming Festival". The villages that hold the pavilion-carrying activity are all typical Tunpu villages. Lord Wang was named Wang Hua, a native of Anhui. At the end of the Sui and beginning of the Tang, when the realm was in great disorder, he "held sway over one region, guarding and controlling the prefectures", sparing the people the suffering of war; he was successively enfeoffed by Emperor Gaozu and Emperor Taizong of Tang as Governor of Shezhou, Duke of Yue, and the "Loyal and Valiant Lord Wang". The people, grateful for his virtue, came to revere him as "Lord Wang Bodhisattva". During the Hongwu era of the Ming dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang ordered the large-scale construction of Lord Wang temples and decreed that official sacrificial activities be held on the 18th day of the first month, Lord Wang's birthday. According to the Wang Genealogy, during the Ming "mobilizing the north to campaign in the south", descendants of Wang Hua entered Guizhou with the army, bringing the belief in Lord Wang to the region, and successively built Lord Wang temples in villages such as Jichang Tun. Gouchang Tun and Jichang Tun jointly welcome Lord Wang. Early in the morning, after the public sacrificial ceremony is held at the Lord Wang temple, the people solemnly invite Lord Wang into the palanquin, then proceed into the village to pray for blessings. In the blessing procession, Dixi (local opera) troupes, yangge troupes, and decorated vehicles crowd before and behind, with many people taking part in the blessings and watching.

Welcoming the lord to the Langfeng bridge

The image is received at the Langfeng bridge on the seventeenth, before being carried into the village on the eighteenth.

The morning sacrifice and loading the palanquin

After the morning sacrifice the image is lifted into its palanquin by eight bearers without changing shoulders en route.

The opera, rice-song and float escort

Opera groups, rice-song dancers and decorated floats surround the palanquin as it moves through the village.

Streaming flags and archways

Coloured flags line the streets and archways are erected at gates and shrines before the eighteenth day.

The cult carried into Guizhou by the northern expedition

Descendants of Wang Hua who marched into Guizhou brought the cult with them and raised temples in such settlements as Jichangtun.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

Carrying the pavilion is prevalent in the numerous Tunpu villages of Xixiu District, Anshun City, Guizhou Province, such as Gouchang Tun, Jichang Tun, and Bao Tun. The dates on which the villages hold their festivals are staggered, together forming the spring landscape of the year; there are old rules under which Lord Wang is welcomed jointly in one year, or hosted and welcomed separately in others. Those willing to contribute flags, gates, and labor are almost all old Tunpu settlements like Gouchang Tun; later-arriving scattered households only watch and do not host, so carrying the pavilion has become a threshold for recognizing one's ancestors and lineage. The Tunpu people combine welcoming the New Year with sacrificing to Lord Wang into one, collectively calling it the Grand Spring-Welcoming Festival; thus the colorful flags are planted unbroken from the first day of the first month to the 18th. Villages such as Jichang Tun built separate Lord Wang temples, each welcoming the god on its own date. The Dixi troupes and yangge troupes of various places march alongside the pavilion, performing all the way out of the village and back again; a single deity-welcoming festival is thus both a sacrifice and the whole village's New Year reunion.

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

Carrying the pavilion transmits the customs brought by the "mobilizing the north to campaign in the south" of those years; it has become an important vehicle for the Tunpu people to express their attachment to their homeland and uphold their cultural traditions, and holds considerable value for history, anthropology, folklore studies, and sociology. By holding this activity, cohesion among the villages is strengthened, reflecting a conscious commitment to a harmonious society; it has practical significance for the protection and development of Tunpu culture.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:

Wu Jishan 05-3019
Xu Shunwei 05-3020
Huang Guanghui 05-3021
Chen Jikun 05-3022
Sinapinchu 05-3023
Liu Shimei 05-3024
Zhang Qingming 05-3025
Zheng Quanguang 05-3026
Ye Da 05-3027
Li Yaohui
Luo Shengzong

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

Folk Beliefs and Customs (Anshunshixixiu, Guizhou) · China ICH Official Project Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗

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