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.
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. The Zhuanglang County Gaotai is a folk modeling art style whose subject matter is generally an episode from a folk story or traditional opera. It has a long history and is mainly transmitted in the townships of Shuiluo, Zhudian and Nanhu in Zhuanglang County, Gansu Province. The Zhuanglang County Gaotai has ingenious conceptions and distinctive modeling. Iron pillars are installed on a wooden platform, called the “iron xinzi” (core); as the story requires, the iron core is bent to form the main framework of the gaotai; figures, animals and props are then bound to the iron core, which is disguised with colored ribbons and silk cloth, while artificial mountains and waters, flowers, plants, trees, birds and beasts are used to set off the figures and the story. Once the gaotai is completed, it is carried by people or moved on a vehicle, with the performance directed by the gaotai's designer and maker, displaying the artistic qualities of strangeness, thrill, handsomeness and ingenuity. The Zhuanglang County Gaotai has both the refined craftsmanship, handsome modeling and bright colors of folk handiwork, and the strange, thrilling and ingenious character of acrobatic performance; it is famous far and wide in Long (Gansu) and widely welcomed by the masses. It is an important component of the Zhuanglang shehuo (festival folk performances) and also represents the highest artistic achievement of the Zhuanglang shehuo, adding color to the festive life of the people of Zhuanglang.
The iron core bent to suit the plot
An iron core is set on the wooden platform and bent to the plot to form the main frame.
Disguising the core and adding scenery
Figures, animals and props are tied to the core, which is hidden with streamers and cloth amid faux landscape.
Carried or carted along the route
Once built it travels on shoulders or carts, performed under its maker's guidance, showing strangeness, risk, grace and cleverness.
Taking a tale or an opera scene as subject
Each platform shows one episode, usually taken from a folk tale or a traditional opera.
The platform in the Longxi social fire
Its fine handwork and vivid colour joined to acrobatic daring make it much admired across the Longxi region.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The Zhuanglang County Gaotai is mainly transmitted in the townships of Shuiluo, Zhudian and Nanhu in Zhuanglang County, Gansu Province; each village builds its tableaux according to its own strengths, and whichever village fields a gaotai shows its face once more in the shehuo. In the sequence of the Zhuanglang shehuo, the gaotai occupies the weightiest position: when a village organizes the festival, it first fixes the dimensions of the gaotai and then works backward to arrange the figures and scenery on the platform — so the strangeness, thrill and ingenuity seen on the tableau are the product of a whole winter's craft.
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.
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。