Taige

Ⅹ-87Folk CustomsPingnan, FujianBatch 2 (2008)Newly Added Item

01 · Historical Records

Taige originated in god-welcoming temple-fair processions in the Central Plains region and later spread gradually to the southeastern coast and the northwest. It enjoyed a period of popularity in the Qing dynasty; as it spread, it combined with local conditions in each place, giving rise to different characteristics.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

Taige (lifted pavilions) is also known by such names as taijiao, taige, gaotai, naoge, naoge, and gaozhuang, and is a form of folk procession performance in traditional festival activities. In taige performances, several children dress as figures in traditional opera costume and, following the plot, form splendid tableaux, which are fixed to iron pillars and supports on a square pavilion platform and carried along by bearers. Traditional taige tableaux are mostly drawn from such repertoire works as The Butterfly Lovers (Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai), The Marriage of the Fairy (Tianxian Pei), Legend of the White Snake (Baishe Zhuan), Journey to the West (Xiyouji), Zhaojun Goes Beyond the Frontier (Zhaojun Chusai), Meeting at the Blue Bridge (Lanqiao Hui), Yellow Crane Tower (Huanghelou), and The Fisherman's Revenge (Dayu Shajia). The tableaux stand roughly three to five meters high; the pavilions have three to five tiers, generally one performer per tier, though some have four performers on the bottom tier, five or six in the middle, and one on top. In a taige procession, four pavilions are generally used, and at most six or even eight; each pavilion is carried forward by four or eight bearers. Taige fuses painting, opera, colored paper-work, and paper sculpture into a single art; its tableaux are graceful and its scenes spectacular. It has long been loved by the broad masses and has flourished in folk tradition without decline. Tiezhi is also known as 'taiping' and 'caiping'; it is a form of folk performance in festival processions in the Mindong (eastern Fujian) area, similar to taige and piaose. Pingnan Shuangxi Tiezhi is mainly transmitted in Shuangxi Town, Pingnan County, Fujian Province. In performance, several children play figures from traditional drama, sitting or standing, fixed to iron frames on a wooden platform; according to the plot they form various splendid tableaux, which are carried along by bearers. Each Shuangxi Tiezhi tableau stands three to five meters high, with three or five tiers, and is carried forward by eight to sixteen young adults; in addition, a band, drummers, lighting crew, and conductors together make up the procession. The Shuangxi Lantern Festival fair centers on the tiezhi performance, together with dragon dances, lion dances, festive lanterns, and drum-pavilion music; the procession is on a grand scale, with attendants crowding before and behind and spectators thronging like tidewater. In the past, folk tiezhi performances in Shuangxi were generally held at festivals, celebrations, deities' birthdays, and temple fairs; today most places have fixed the performance dates on the thirteenth to the fifteenth of the first lunar month.

Also called tai ping and cai ping

Also called raised platform or coloured platform, it is a southeastern Fujian parade form akin to raised pavilion and floating colour.

Eight to sixteen bearers

Each frame is three to five metres tall, in three or five tiers, borne by eight to sixteen young men with band, drummers, lights and a conductor.

The fixed dates from the thirteenth to the fifteenth

Once tied to festivals, rites and temple fairs, performances are now fixed to the thirteenth to the fifteenth of the first month.

The Lantern Festival built around the frames

Dragon and lion dances, lanterns and drum-tower music join the frames in a vast procession.

Figures seated or standing on wooden stages

Children posing as opera figures sit or stand on wooden stages and iron frames, forming scenes that bearers carry along.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

Pingnan Shuangxi Tiezhi is erected in Shuangxi Town, Pingnan County, Fujian Province; the Lantern Festival fair centers on it, with dragon dances, lion dances, festive lanterns, and drum-pavilion music before and after, spectators thronging like tidewater and attendants crowding before and behind. In the past, folk tiezhi performances in Shuangxi were generally held at festivals, celebrations, deities' birthdays, and temple fairs; today most places have fixed the performance dates on the thirteenth to the fifteenth of the first lunar month, with each village scheduling its turn accordingly. The Shuangxi Community Residents' Committee in the town shares in the responsibility for this safeguarding.

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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

With the acceleration of modernization, taige activities are gradually declining, and in the countryside the craft of making taige now lacks successors; the related rescue and preservation work is imperative. Pingnan Shuangxi Tiezhi is a concentrated expression of the folk culture of Pingnan County and even of eastern Fujian, and has unique research value in history, folklore, and sociology.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

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

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

Taige (Pingnan, Fujian) · China ICH Official Project Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗

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