Yangge Dance

Ⅲ-2Traditional DanceJiaozhou, ShandongBatch 1 (2006)Newly Added Item

01 · Historical Records

Yangge has a long history. Among the folk dance troupes described by Zhou Mi of the Southern Song in his Wulin Jiushi (Old Events of the Wulin) there is already a record of cuntian le ("village field music"); the Xinnian Zayong Chao (Selected New Year Verses) by Wu Xilin of the Qing dynasty states explicitly the lineage between the yangge that survives today and the Song-dynasty cuntian le. Jiaozhou yangge originated in the Xianfeng reign period of the Qing dynasty; judging from the description in the "Yangge Ci" (Yangsong Lyrics) written by Song Guanwei of the Qing dynasty, the dance movements, role names, costumes and props of Jiaozhou yangge at that time were basically the same as today. In 1996, Xiaotun Village was awarded the title "Hometown of Chinese Folk Art" by the Ministry of Culture.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

Yangge is a collective term for a highly popular and representative genre of Chinese folk dance (chiefly in the north); different regions have their own names, styles and forms. In folk usage the term divides into two: the version performed on stilts is called "gaqiao yangge" (stilt yangge), and the version performed without stilts is called "di yangge" (ground yangge). The term "yangge" as used in modern times usually refers to "di yangge". In most places today yangge takes the form of a yangge troupe; a troupe numbers at least a dozen or so people and at times as many as a hundred. There are group dances as well as two-person and three-person dances and many other performance formats; according to the needs of the role the performers hold the appropriate props — handkerchief, umbrella, sticks, drum, coin-whip and the like — and dance freely to the accompaniment of gongs, drums, suona and other wind and percussion instruments. The dancing methods, movements and styles of yangge differ from place to place: some are imposing and heroic, others gentle and charming — a dazzling variety that never fails to delight. Yangge is one of the most representative folk dance genres in northern China. It is at once performative and self-amusing, entertaining the performers as much as the audience, and is deeply loved by ordinary people. Every region has produced some representative folk yangge artists, and many folk artists have played an important part in building the dance undertaking of the People's Republic of China. Jiaozhou yangge has roles such as "gaoyaoke" (plaster peddler), "cuihua", "shannü" (fan girl), "xiao", "bangchui" (clappers) and "guzi" (drum); its basic movements are mainly "cuihua niu san bu" (Cuihua twists three steps), "pie shan" (sweeping the fan), "xiao niu" (small twist), "banghua" (stick work) and "chou gu ba tai" (eight states of the clown drum). The performance procedure has three parts: "kaichang bai" (opening speech), "paochang" (running the field) and "xiaoxi" (little play). The field formations of the running-the-field section include "shizi mei" (cross-shaped plum), "simendou" (four-gate battle), "liangshan men" (two-leaf gate), "zheng fan wawenxin" (digging the heart forwards and in reverse), "dapaidui" (grand array) and "shengzitou" (rope's head), and there are little plays such as "Song Gunü" (Seeing Off the Daughter), "Sanxian" (Three Worthies), "Xiaoguxian" (The Wise Sister-in-law) and "Shuang Tuimo" (Two People at the Mill). In Jiaozhou yangge, the female dance movements stress a heavy lift of the foot, a light stamp, and a floating waist, and the walking is like a willow swaying in the wind, full of resilience and curvilinear beauty; "niu duan yao" (breaking the waist) and "san dao wan" (three bends) are its representative movements. The movements of the "bangchui" are light, crisp and free; the "guzi" has "chou gu ba tai", eight states with a singular flavour. Its music consists of three main parts: percussion music, suona tunes and folk minor tunes. The little-play section of Jiaozhou yangge originally had 72 repertoire works, and 135 survive today. There are now more than one hundred yangge troupes in the whole of Jiaozhou city.

Cuihua's three-step twist and other basic moves

The basic movement vocabulary of Jiaozhou Yangge; the women's idiom floats with weight on the lift, its signature moves being the broken waist and the three curves.

Opening, field-running and playlet

The three-part performance sequence of Jiaozhou Yangge, its field patterns including the cross plum, four-gate bucket and two-leaf door.

Seeing Off the Daughter and other playlets

Playlets of Jiaozhou Yangge; the repertoire once numbered seventy-two items and now counts one hundred and thirty-five, performed by over a hundred teams across the city.

Percussion, suona tunes and folk ditties

The three constituents of Jiaozhou Yangge music, closely matched to the dance and giving the genre its distinctive local colour.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

Jiaozhou yangge is one of the three great yangge of Shandong. It is also called "di yangge", "shua yangge", "qiao yangge", "niu duan yao" (breaking the waist) and "san dao wan" (three bends), and it is popular in the area around Dongxiaotun Village in Jiaozhou, Shandong Province.

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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

Today, with the rapid development of the rural economy and the consequent change in the cultural environment, folk artists who still master traditional yangge skills and authentic dance style have become as rare as morning stars; protection and transmission are urgent. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, relevant personnel carried out excavation and collation of Jiaozhou yangge seven times in succession, and it has now been compiled and listed as one of the teaching materials for Han nationality dance. Jiaozhou yangge sprang from the local soil, is active among the folk, and has flowed and changed of its own accord as it developed. It is a plaza folk art in which the masses take part of their own accord, express themselves freely and amuse themselves, and it displays the distinctive healthy and beautiful physique and the temperamental charm of women in the Jiaodong countryside, with high aesthetic value and artistic research value. Wu Yingmin (official file record of the associated inheritor): male, Han nationality, born in 1955, native of Jiaozhou, Shandong. During the nearly thirty years of his career he organized traditional yangge troupes, and in 1997 Wu Yingmin was invited to teach students of the Department of Folk Dance at the Beijing Dance Academy, making an important contribution to the transmission and popularization of Jiaozhou yangge. Representative inheritor of Yangge (Jiaozhou yangge), the second batch of national-level intangible cultural heritage projects.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

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

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗

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