Taige

Ⅹ-87Folk CustomsTaishan, GuangdongBatch 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. Taishan Fushi Piaose is a form of folk modeling art with traditional characteristics; it began in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties and is transmitted in the area of Fushi Village, Taishan City, Guangdong Province, with a history of more than three hundred years to this day. In 1996, Fushi Village was named by the Guangdong Provincial Department of Culture a 'Home of Ethnic and Folk Art of Guangdong Province — Home of Piaose', and in 1999 it was named by the Ministry of Culture a 'Home of Chinese Folk Art — Home of Piaose'.

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. Each piaose tableau consists of two children aged eight to ten, commonly called 'sezai', dressed as figures from historical stories and mythological legends, and is carried in procession by villagers on a 'color cabinet' (segui). A sezai standing atop the color cabinet, rising into the air, is called the 'upper color' (shangse), also known as 'piao'; a sezai seated on the color cabinet is called the 'lower color' (xiase), also known as 'ping'. 'Piao' and 'ping' set each other off, supported by a 'color branch' (segeng) — a slender steel branch finely forged — together forming a perfect piaose whole. The fascination of piaose lies in the 'piao': the sezai stands with the left foot on a peach branch, the right foot swinging, the body suspended in air with no apparent support, which is astonishing. The tableau subjects of Taishan Fushi Piaose include 'Zhao Zilong Blocking the River and Intercepting the Battle', 'Chang'e Flying to the Moon', 'The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl', 'Lü Bu and Diao Chan', 'Xue Pinggui's Farewell at the Kiln', 'Mu Guiying Takes Command', 'Yang Jinhua Contends for the Commander's Seal', 'Mulan Joins the Army', 'Splitting the Mountain to Save His Mother', and 'White Snake and Green Snake'. Every year on the third day of the third lunar month, the birthday of the Northern Emperor (Beidi), the villagers of Fushi Village, Taishan, form a procession: some carry a statue of the Northern Emperor at the front, followed by head boards, color standards, round umbrellas, piaose tableaux, dragon dances, lion dances, stilt walking, the Eight Immortals, and the eight-instrument gong-and-drum band, touring all ten wards (fang) of the village.

Tour of the ten wards on the third of the third month

On the third of the third lunar month the village parades the North Emperor image through its ten wards behind banners, dragons and lions.

Upper and lower colour

One rising from the cabinet is the upper colour, also called floating; one seated on it the lower, also called screened.

A single steel pole

A finely forged slender steel pole holds floating and screened figures together into one complete whole.

Poised on a peach branch

The wonder is in the floating figure: one foot on a peach branch, the other swinging, the body apparently unsupported.

Twice named a village of floating colour

In 1996 the village was named a provincial home of folk art for floating colour, and in 1999 a national one.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

Taishan Fushi Piaose is mounted in the area of Fushi Village, Taishan City, Guangdong Province; one color cabinet carried by two people makes a complete piaose tableau. Every year on the third day of the third lunar month, the birthday of the Northern Emperor, the villagers carry a statue of the Northern Emperor at the front, followed by head boards, color standards, round umbrellas, piaose tableaux, dragon dances, lion dances, stilt walking, the Eight Immortals, and the eight-instrument gong-and-drum band, touring all ten wards of the village. In 1996, Fushi Village was named by the Guangdong Provincial Department of Culture a Home of Ethnic and Folk Art of Guangdong Province — Home of Piaose, and in 1999 by the Ministry of Culture a Home of Chinese Folk Art — Home of Piaose.

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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. The piaose figures are supported by a concealed color branch (segeng); the performers are eight to ten years old — one standing on top of the cabinet rising into the air is called the upper color or 'piao', while one seated on the cabinet is called the lower color or 'ping'. The most moving thing about piaose is the 'piao': the sezai stands with the left foot on a peach branch, the right foot swinging, the body suspended in air with no apparent support, which is astonishing.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

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

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

Taige (Taishan, Guangdong) · China ICH Official Project Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗

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