Taige
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. This folk art form evolved from deity-carrying rain-seeking activities, and its origins can be traced back to the second year of the Dading reign of the Jin dynasty (1162). By the Jiajing reign of the Ming dynasty, the back-iron-pole activity had finally taken shape, and it has been popular for more than four hundred years.
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. In content, Qingxu Xuqou back iron poles draw on folk legends, opera stories, and real life, with one pole reflecting one play or one story. In performance, one person is suspended from a colored branch and another stands on a bowstring; upper and lower form one body, singing and dancing together, displaying boundless charm. With changes in lifestyle and under the influence of modern forms of entertainment, the artistic characteristics of Qingxu Xuqou back iron poles are gradually fading and disappearing; the craftsmanship and performance art of back iron poles have simultaneously developed a gap in transmission, are on the verge of extinction, and urgently await rescue.
One pole, one play
One iron pole carries one scene, drawn from legend, opera or everyday life.
A child on a branch, a performer on a bowstring
One performer hangs from a painted branch and one stands on a bowstring, singing and dancing as one body.
An older form grown from rain-praying
It grew out of processions carrying a god to pray for rain, traceable to 1162 and formed by the Jiajing era of the Ming.
Airborne dance and wordless drama
It absorbs local craft, art, music, oral literature, drama and acrobatics, producing a style both thrilling and graceful.
A double break in making and performance
Changing lifestyles and competing entertainments are fading its style, with a break in both making and performing.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Qingxu Xuqou back iron poles is a folk activity with extremely strong local character, transmitted in Xuqou Town, Qingxu County, Shanxi Province.
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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. Qingxu Xuqou back iron poles has absorbed important elements of local folk handicraft, folk fine art, folk music, folk oral literature, folk drama, and folk acrobatics, presenting a thrilling, fantastic, lively, and graceful style; it is praised as 'dance in the air,' 'wordless drama,' 'living sculpture,' and 'flowing acrobatics,' and has high value for the study of folk art.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Zhao Yunshan 03-1478
- Zhang Genzhi 03-1479
- Liu Wenchang 03-1480
- Zhong Yuwen 03-1481
- Fu Hengyu 03-1482
- Deng Junchao 03-1483
- Liu Duanfu 03-1484
- Li Ming 03-1485
- Peng Niangyao 03-1486
- Chen Fanxing 04-1976
- Tan Haobin 04-1977
- Gongsun Xin 04-1978
- Li Fuxian 04-1979
- Gao Yumin 05-3029
- Hao Laixi 05-3030
- Yao Ruming 05-3031
- Li Yangbo 05-3032
- Liu Qiyue 05-3033
- Liang Erdun 05-3034
- Hu Liangang
- Chen Wenshan
- Sun Kangfu
- Zhou Xingguang
- Huang Xuejun
- Zhang Guoqin
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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