Xuanfusiliyile Dance
01 · Historical Records
Xuanfusi ceremonial music and dance emerged together with the tusi system and continued alongside it, bringing the music and dance of the Dai people, which originated among the people, into the codified rituals of the court and combining instruction with entertainment. Its music draws on the rich folk poetry, legends, stories and music of the Dai people. It uses distinctive folk instruments as lead or ensemble, accompanied by simple but skillful folk dances such as the "latiao dance", and has a strong ethnic and local character. Historical records show that in the fourth year of Yongle of the Ming dynasty (1406 AD), when the Menglian changguan si was established, the tusi appointed the Meng'a music and dance troupe, which was skilled in performing folk music and dance, as the tusi ceremonial music and dance troupe, and set up an official to manage it specially, so that music and dance formerly enjoyed for their own sake by the people turned towards cultured instruction. In the forty-eighth year of Kangxi of the Qing dynasty (1709 AD), the tusi ceremonial music and dance troupe was renamed the "Xuanfusi ceremonial music and dance troupe", and a relatively complete system of music and dance was gradually established.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Xuanfusi ceremonial music and dance is a traditional form of music and dance transmitted in Menglian Dai, Lahu and Wa Autonomous County of Pu'er City, Yunnan Province, its principal place of preservation being Meng'a Village, Mengma Town, Menglian County. Menglian lies on the historically famous "ancient salt road", an important gateway from China to Myanmar, Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries. "Suo Nanvohan" is the fixed opening programme of Xuanfusi ceremonial music and dance, depicting a love story from folk legend and instructing the people through truth, goodness and beauty. Xuanfusi ceremonial music and dance takes music as its main body, with song performance and dance performance complementing each other to form a performance form in which the three blend into one, appealing to both refined and popular taste. The Xuanfusi ceremonial music and dance troupe is divided into musicians and dancers. The composition of the musicians is relatively fixed, generally eight people, mostly male. The number of dancers is not fixed according to the needs of the performance, and they too are mostly male. The instruments played include "Ghasa", "Bilinduan", "Fomai", "Sheng", "Duoluo" and others. Representative pieces include "Suo Nanvohan", "Suo Shi", "Suo Pashawai", "Suo Bangbing", "Suo Pianluxi", "Suo Mihanpiwei", "Suo Xielie Mao" and "Zhai Galong", and are often accompanied by solo dance, group dance and singing. The music and dance troupe is normally active among the people, entertaining itself, and performs at the Menglian Xuanfusi Office during major festivals. At the same time, the various performing groups are active during traditional festivals such as the Water Splashing Festival, the Door-Opening Festival and the Spring Festival, attracting many young people to take part in learning and transmission. As society develops, more and more women are joining music and dance performance as musicians and dancers, so that the group bearing the item forward grows larger.
So Namvohan
The fixed opening programme of Xuanfusi ceremonial music and dance, depicting a love story from folk legend and instructing the people through truth, goodness and beauty.
Representative pieces
Representative pieces of Xuanfusi ceremonial music and dance.
Further representative pieces
Representative pieces of Xuanfusi ceremonial music and dance, often accompanied by solo dance, group dance and singing.
Candle-stick dance
Xuanfusi ceremonial music and dance is accompanied by simple but skillful folk dances such as the "latiao dance", and has a strong ethnic and local character.
Eight-player band and instruments
The Xuanfusi ceremonial music and dance troupe is divided into musicians and dancers; the composition of the musicians is relatively fixed, generally eight people and mostly male. The instruments played include "Ghasa", "Bilinduan", "Fomai", "Sheng", "Duoluo" and others.
Festival performances
The various performing groups are active during traditional festivals such as the Door-Opening Festival, the Water Splashing Festival and the Spring Festival. As society develops, more and more women are joining music and dance performance as musicians and dancers, so that the group bearing the item forward grows larger.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Xuanfusi ceremonial music and dance carries the collective wisdom of the Dai, a transborder ethnic group, and in history was an important means by which the tusi maintained frontier stability and ethnic unity. Today, developed and transmitted by the people, it has become an important cultural vehicle for achieving mutual understanding between hearts, symbiosis, and harmonious neighbouring states in China's Belt and Road Initiative; it both enriches the spiritual life of the people and raises moral standards and cultural and artistic cultivation, and helps in building a harmonious society.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
During the period of tusi administration the item was transmitted by hereditary succession from father to son and by master-and-apprentice succession; today it is mostly transmitted from master to apprentice. At present Xuanfusi ceremonial music and dance uses the Menglian Xuanfusi Office, a major national cultural relic protection unit, as its base, and gives more than 50 performances a year to audiences of some 20,000.
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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