Taige
01 · Historical Records
Taige (raised pavilions) originated in god-welcoming festival processions in the Central Plains, later spreading gradually to the southeast coast and the northwest, where it flourished for a time in the Qing dynasty; in the course of transmission it combined with local conditions and formed distinct characteristics. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, zhouge and taige spread from Shanxi and Henan into Shou County, Linquan and other places in Anhui, reaching their peak in the late Qing and early Republican period.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Taige, also known as taijiao (carried roles), taige (raised songs), gaotai (raised platforms), naoge, naoge (head pavilions) and gaozhuang (high costumes), is a folk parade performance form in traditional festival activities. In a taige performance, several children dress as characters from traditional opera and, following the plot, form striking tableaux fixed to the iron pillars and supports of a square pavilion, which bearers then carry forward. Traditional taige tableaux mostly draw on plays such as The Butterfly Lovers, Tianxian Pei (The Fairy Couple), Legend of the White Snake, Journey to the West, Zhaojun Goes to the Frontier, The Blue Bridge Rendezvous, The Yellow Crane Tower and The Fisherman's Revenge. The tableaux stand about 3 to 5 meters high; the pavilions range from three to five tiers, generally with one person on each tier, though some have four people on the bottom tier, five or six in the middle tiers and one on the top tier. In a taige parade, generally four pavilions are used, and at most six or even eight; each pavilion is carried forward by four or eight bearers. Taige fuses painting, opera, colored paper framing and paper sculpture into a single art form; its tableaux are elegant and its scenes spectacular, much loved by the broad masses, and it has flourished among the people for a long time without decline. Taige is a comprehensive form of folk literary and artistic activity; because the performance is carried by people, it is called “taige” (raised pavilion). It integrates modeling, colored paper framing, acrobatics and opera into one, full of poetic charm and picturesque feeling. Zhouge is a special form of taige, popular in Shou County and Linquan County in Anhui Province; it is named for the way performers use elbow strength and skill in the taige performance. On the xinzi (iron stands) of both zhouge and taige, different numbers of child performers give performances; the construction is ingenious and well concealed, the makeup and costumes are strongly narrative, and the performances are accompanied by gongs and drums and by sheng, xiao, di and guan wind instruments. However, the bases supporting the child performers differ: zhouge is balanced by one person overhead, the “small taige” is carried by two people, and the “large taige” is carried by many people, displaying the qualities of height, difficulty, thrill and beauty. Zhouge mostly performs traditional folk stories such as “The Lake Goddess Shakes the Four Continents”, “The Immortals Gather at Yangshi”, “Lying on Ice to Seek Carp”, “Abandoning Office to Seek His Mother” and “Gripping the Tiger to Save His Father”. Zhouge and taige lay equal stress on technique and difficulty; retained repertoire works include Liu Quan Presents the Melon, Sun Wukong Steals the Peach and The Fairy Scatters Flowers. At New Year festivals, traditional sacrifices and large communal celebrations in the places where they are popular, zhouge and taige are the most beloved performance forms.
The single-elbow lift
Named for the elbow power a bearer uses to hold the frame, it flourishes in Shouxian and Linquan of Anhui.
Small and great platforms
One man on the elbow, two carrying the small platform, many carrying the great one.
Traditional stories on the frame
It chiefly enacts old folk tales such as the goddess quelling four continents and the boy seeking his mother.
Retained pieces
Retained pieces, demanding both skill and difficulty, include Liu Quan Taking the Melon and the Fairy scattering Flowers.
Staging at festivals and rites
At New Year, traditional rites and large communal celebrations, it is the form that appears most often and draws the largest crowds.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
In the Shou County and Linquan area, zhouge and taige form a pair of places whose support methods are nonetheless clearly distinguished: what one person balances overhead is zhouge, what two people carry is small taige, and what many people carry is large taige, and the respective emphases on height, difficulty, thrill and beauty differ accordingly. The two places share similar occasions — seasonal festivals, sacrifices and large communal celebrations — and performers often borrow people and frames from one another, with repertoire and accompaniment each holding its own ground; thus, although both belong to the same taige lineage of the Huai River basin, each has a name of its own. The representative inheritor Liu Wenchang of Linquan went on stage with his uncle at the age of four and became skilled at colored-paper work, frame binding and footwork; he is a thread connecting the two places' approaches.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Taige · Taige · Taige · Taige · Taige · Taige · Taige · Taige · Taige · Taige · Taige · Taige · Taige · Taige · Taige · Taige · Taige · Taige · Taige · Taige · Taige · Taige · Taige · Taige · Taige · Taige · Taige · Taige · Taige · Taige · Taige.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
With the acceleration of modernization, taige activities have gradually declined; in the countryside the craft of making taige faces a shortage of successors, and related rescue and preservation work is extremely urgent. Zhouge and taige carry the accumulated heritage of the ancient Huai River culture; they reflect the life customs, aesthetic interests, values and sense of beauty of the residents along the Huai River basin, and have research value in folklore studies, sociology and related fields.
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)
This static English edition is rendered at the edge for search engines, AI crawlers and readers without JavaScript; it mirrors the bilingual dossier. 阅读中文版，或返回 英文名录。