Taige

Ⅹ-87Folk CustomsLongyao, HebeiBatch 2 (2008)Newly Added Item

01 · Historical Records

Taige (raised pavilions) originated from deity-welcoming festival gatherings in the Central Plains region, and later spread to the southeastern coast and the northwestern region; it was highly popular for a time during the Qing dynasty, and in the course of its transmission it combined with local conditions in different places, developing distinct characteristics. Zepan taige in Longyao County is a mass folk art popular in Longyao County, Hebei Province; it originated from deity-carrying activities at the end of the Yuan dynasty and has a history of more than five hundred years. Zepan taige originally had people carrying deity statues on their shoulders, but gradually evolved into carrying living people made up as deities, mostly in the form of two eight-person taige setups.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

Taige — also called 'taijiao' (raised corners), 'taige' (raised songs), 'gaotai' (high raises), 'naoge' (挠阁), 'naoge' (脑阁, head-borne pavilions), and 'gaozhuang' (high displays) — is a folk procession performance form in traditional festival activities. In a taige performance, several children dressed as ancient-costumed opera figures are arranged into elaborate tableaux according to the plot, fixed to iron pillars and brackets on a square pavilion, which bearers carry as they walk. Traditional taige tableaux are mostly drawn from plays such as The Butterfly Lovers, The Marriage of the Heavenly Fairy (Tianxian pei), The Legend of the White Snake, Journey to the West, Zhaojun Goes Beyond the Frontier, The Blue Bridge Meeting, The Yellow Crane Tower, and The Fisherman's Revenge (Daiyu sha jia). The tableaux stand about 3 to 5 meters high, and the pavilions have three to five tiers, generally with one person per tier; some have four on the bottom tier, five or six in the middle tier, and one on the top tier. In a taige procession, four pavilions are generally used, and at most six or even eight may be used, each carried forward by four or eight bearers. Taige fuses painting, opera, colored paper craft, and paper sculpture into one, with elegant forms and spectacular scenes; it is loved by the broad masses and has long remained prevalent among the people. A typical taige bed is 1.5 meters long, 1 meter wide, and 1 meter high. During the performance, one actor stands or sits upright on the taige bed, while another actor appears to stand on the former's hands or shoulders. The whole performance is full of thrilling quality and humorous wit. Selection of Zepan taige performers is extremely strict: usually in the twelfth lunar month the troupe leader selects boys and girls under twelve years of age to appear on the taige, generally one boy and one girl per taige. When a performer is selected, the whole family celebrates and fellow villagers admire them. The plots presented in the taige are mainly opera stories and folk legends, and themes with a contemporary flavor may also be inserted according to circumstances; 'Lü Dongbin Teases the Peony Fairy,' 'Zhao Kuangyin Escorts Jingniang a Thousand Li,' 'Thrice Beating the White Bone Demon,' 'Guan Yu Protects His Sister-in-Law,' 'The White Snake and Xu Xian,' 'Nezha Battles the Third Prince,' and 'Yue Fei and Qin Gui' are all among the more common subjects. Zepan taige is accompanied by percussion instruments such as duizi drums, led by the horse gong; the performers' costumes are chosen from corresponding opera dress according to the needs of the content. By convention, taige performances may be held only in years of the dragon or tiger. At ordinary times the taige props are kept in the care of a designated person, and the crafting techniques are kept secret.

Choosing boy and girl performers in the twelfth month

A strict ritual: the leader picks children under twelve in the twelfth lunar month, usually a boy and a girl per platform.

The two eight-man platforms

What began as men carrying an image became a living god in costume, and now runs as two platforms of eight bearers each.

Dimensions and staging of the platform bed

The bed measures 1.5 by 1 by 1 metre; one actor stands or sits on it while another appears to rest on his hands or shoulders.

The leading horse gong and paired drums

Paired drums hold the beat under a leading horse gong, while costumes change with the story shown.

Performing only in dragon and tiger years

By custom the platforms appear only in dragon and tiger years, and the props are guarded year round with their craft kept secret.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

Zepan taige is strict on both counts — the frames and the selection of personnel: the troupe leader settles the cast in the twelfth lunar month, one boy and one girl per taige; at ordinary times the props are kept by a designated person and the craft is secret, while performances are restricted to dragon and tiger years.

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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

With the acceleration of modernization, taige activities are gradually declining, and a situation has arisen in rural areas in which the craft of making taige has no successors; related rescue and protection work is extremely urgent. Longyao County's Zepan taige combines opera, dance, acrobatics, fine art, and music into one; with its distinctive features and unique forms, it provides a vivid example for the study of folk art and folk customs in the Hebei region. Zhao Yunshan (associated inheritor's official file record): Male, Han ethnicity, born in August 1938, native of Longyao County, Hebei Province. He fully masters the historical origins, production, and performance of Zepan taige. He actively organized Zepan taige's participation in cultural and artistic performances at all levels: in 1986 he took part in the opening ceremony performance of the Xingtai Regional Games, and in 1997 he participated in the Xingtai City Lantern Festival folk-art performance and won first prize for performance. In addition, he participated on many occasions in Longyao County's successive folk-art performances held in the city and in major holiday performances organized by the city, county, and village. Representative inheritor of Taige (xinzi, iron branches, and floating colors) (Zepan taige, Longyao County), a project of the third national-level batch of intangible cultural heritage.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

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

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗

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