Taige
01 · Historical Records
Meibo Village is an ancient cultural village of a thousand years, surrounded by mountains on three sides and facing water on one, with beautiful scenery, abundant produce, a rich humanistic atmosphere, numerous distinctive folk customs, and a large stock of Ming and Qing dynasty remains. Meibo Coloured Lifts is ancient and splendid, characterized by "fantastic tableaux, diverse content, inclusive art and profound culture"; it integrates drama, modelling, fine art and music, and provides living material for the study of north-south cultural exchange, the evolution of folk custom and regional festive culture.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Meibo Coloured Lifts, also called "Meibo Zhuangnian" (dressed carriages), is a traditional folk activity transmitted in the ancient village of Meibo, Wenbo Town, Qingyuan District, Ji'an City, Jiangxi Province. The "second Lantern Festival" on the first day of the second lunar month is the locality's grand festival for sending off the "Great God". Legend has it that the "Great God" is a wronged soul installed by Celestial Master Zhang in former times; each year at this time Celestial Master Zhang sends the wronged souls back to Luoyang, and so on these days grand sacrificial activities are held, of which the coloured-lift performance is one. Meibo Coloured Lifts is a folk lantern-and-colour variety play, divided into two forms: the platform carriage (tainian) and the black-wheel carriage (wuchenian). The platform carriage is shaped like a grain barrel, square and upright, with a cross-shaped iron frame set on top; a crossbeam is lashed to the frame, on which three young children stand, each fixed at three support points; they are then dressed in opera costumes, with the supports hidden inside the costumes. Fixed carrying poles are attached to the base; when the base is lifted, the three are suspended in mid-air, and twelve strong men carry it on their shoulders as it moves along. The black-wheel carriage is shaped like a wheel, perfectly round, with four children embedded in it in dramatic poses; as the wheel turns the figures move, tumbling up and down. Before the coloured lifts are dressed, the "Great God" must first be invited out of the "Yongmu Hall", the ancestral temple of the Liang clan; a number of young children, after bathing, dress in full costume and kneel in worship, and only then is the lift dressing carried out. During the procession, coloured flags and "umbrellas of the myriad people" lead the way, accompanied by folk wind-and-percussion music. Through continuous innovation, the coloured lifts have developed in the direction of the fantastic, the daring and the beautiful. From the dressing of the lifts to the procession, there is a strict set of rites and procedures, marked by solemnity and sanctity.
Fetching the Great Spirit from Yongmu Hall
Before the platform is dressed, the Great Spirit is fetched from the ancestral hall and bathed children kneel in costume.
Three-point bracing of the square platform
A cross-shaped iron frame on a bucket-shaped base carries three children at three fixed points, the posts hidden by their costumes.
The shoulder-borne procession of twelve strong men
Twelve strong men shoulder the base so the platform rides half a man's height above the ground.
The black cart, wheel turning with the children
A round cart carrying four costumed children rotates and rolls them about on a concealed inner frame.
The second-day Lantern Festival procession
On the Lantern Festival the village sends the Great Spirit away, with banners, parasols and wind bands leading the platform.
From dressing to procession
Fetching, bathing, mounting, trial-lifting and procession form a fixed sequence that may not be reordered.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
At every second Lantern Festival, the local people worship their ancestors and offer sacrifices to the gods, dress the coloured lifts and hold a street-parade celebration. It is the most distinctive cultural symbol of the ancient village of Meibo; it has raised the cultural confidence and sense of identity of the local people, and possesses considerable historical, social and cultural value.
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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Through its distinctive costumes and tableaux, it has children perform episodes from traditional opera, presenting the whole of a play before every viewer. The intangible cultural heritage protection department of Qingyuan District has adopted a series of measures to strengthen the transmission and protection of this heritage project; the Meibo Coloured Lifts performance troupe organized by the Meibo Village Council is the main transmitting body, and the able-bodied men of the village take part in the activities on a wide scale.
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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