Weicunpaoguche
01 · Historical Records
The running drum-cart of Weicun Village is a folk custom activity of considerable influence, combining prayer for blessings with physical exercise, held to commemorate the famous Tang dynasty general Yuchi Gong. It originated in Weicun Village, Fencheng Town, Shanxi Province, and is widely popular in the western part of Xiangfen County, Shanxi Province.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The "running drum-cart" activity mainly comprises three parts: the offering to the drum, the treading of the shaft, and the drum race. Offering to the drum: the thirteenth day of the first lunar month and the thirteenth day of the third lunar month are the days for offering to the drum. It is presided over by village elders, praying for favorable weather and the safety of the people. Treading of the shaft: after the drum-cart has been offered to, more than twenty villagers pull it through the streets, while a highly esteemed person wearing a ribbon stands on the cart — a supreme honor. In competition, teams may invite one another, with two drum-carts racing each other; it is an important activity through which villagers build their bodies and strengthen friendships. Those from other villages who come to pull drum-carts must also choose a cart according to the direction in which their own village lies; they may not do so arbitrarily. The village has special "drum-cart fields", of three to four mu for each cart; whoever cultivates the field pays the cost of pulling the drum-cart the following year. The "drum-cart association", which has existed since antiquity, takes charge of the related affairs. The competing team members strain to pull the cart while relatives and friends shout cheers. The women fry oil-cakes and boil hot soup to bring to the racing ground; the atmosphere is most lively. During the race, along with the galloping drum-cart, two musicians stand on the cart beating the drum and striking the gong; the drum-and-gong music they make, bright and resonant, is a living fossil of the drum music that advanced troops in ancient times. The reason the running drum-cart can be held in Weicun Village year after year lies in a whole set of rules that clearly reckon up costs, grounds, and social obligations. The whole village is divided by dwelling direction into six courtyards — the northwest courtyard, the west courtyard, the east courtyard, the temple lane, the south courtyard, and the back courtyard — each with its own drum-cart, and there are special drum-cart fields of three to four mu per cart; whoever cultivates the field pays the cost of pulling the drum-cart the following year; drum affairs are managed by the drum-cart association that has existed since antiquity. Who is qualified to tread the shaft, and which courtyard's cart may be pulled by visitors from which other village, are all fixed by this set of rules.
The drum sacrifice
On the thirteenth of the first and third months an elder presides over the drum sacrifice for rain, peace and the people's welfare, now in the village temple since the shrine was lost.
Standing on the shaft
After the sacrifice more than twenty villagers pull the drum cart in procession, and the most respected among them rides on the shaft wearing a sash, the highest honour available.
The drum race
Challenges are issued and answered, two carts race while relatives shout encouragement and women bring fried cakes and hot soup to the course.
Drumming on the moving cart
Two musicians stand on the racing cart beating drum and gong, a sound held to be a living survival of ancient marching drum music.
Six courtyards, one cart each
The village is divided into six courtyards by direction of residence, each with its own cart, and the cart-fields make the finance a matter of record.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Drum race: the whole village is divided by dwelling direction into six courtyards — the northwest courtyard, the west courtyard, the east courtyard, the temple lane, the south courtyard, and the back courtyard — and each courtyard has its own drum-cart.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
In the past the offering to the drum was made before the shrine of Yuchi Gong; now that the shrine has been destroyed, it is carried out in the village's great temple instead. In recent years women have also joined the ranks of the running drum-cart; their splendid performances on the racing ground have been a refreshing sight. The Yuchi Gong "running drum-cart" of Weicun Village, a simple, positive, and long-standing folk custom activity, has distinctive local cultural character and important value for the study of folklore.
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。