Yangge Dance

Ⅲ-2Traditional DanceHaiyang, 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. From this one can see that Haiyang yangge in fact originated in the Ming dynasty. In 1996, Haiyang City was named a "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 on the ground 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. Haiyang dayangge is a form of folk art combining song, dance and play. It is found throughout the more than ten townships of Haiyang and radiates to the surrounding areas. According to the "Zhao Family Genealogy" of Zhaojiazhuang in Haiyang: "Zhao Tong, the second-generation ancestor, hereditary commander and garrison commander (of the Dashong Guard), was honourarily appointed General of Martial Valour. In the first year of Hongxi, on the joyful occasion of five generations living under one roof, the throne bestowed a sum of money for "Seven Leaves of Propagating Auspiciousness", a plaque was hung on an auspicious morning, and all the commanders, together with the local gentry, came in person to offer congratulations. The musicians, hearing the music of Shao, led the yangge they had created and trained, dancing and singing it in the courtyard, and the joy was complete. The performance content of Haiyang dayangge is rich and the organization of the troupe is strict; it consists mainly of three parts. When setting out, those carrying out the duties of ceremony come first in the column, then the band, and after that the dance troupe. The dance troupe has several dozen characters of every kind, including the leader, the "yao daifu"; the ensemble performers, the flower drum, the "xiao" and the "bawang bian" (overlord's whip); the two-person performers, the peddler with Cuihua, "gulou" with Granny Wang, the ugly woman with the silly boy, the old man with the old woman, the young master with his wife, and so on; and at the rear come the characters of yangge plays or performers in miscellaneous operatic roles. The formations commonly used by the yangge troupe include "Two Dragons Spitting Whiskers", "Bagua Battle", "Dragon Swishing Its Tail", "Coiled Dragon", "Two Twined Dragons", "Three Fish Contending for the Head" and "A Myriad Stars Surrounding the Moon". The outstanding feature of Haiyang yangge dance movements is the combination of running and twisting: the dancers twist as they run, the women twisting the waist and flourishing the fan, advancing with shaking shoulders, lively and natural; the men with quivering steps and shaking heads, swinging the arms and shifting the shoulders, frank and humorous. Haiyang dayangge has now been compiled and listed as one of the teaching materials for Han nationality dance.

The three-part procession

In procession the ceremonial section leads, followed by the band and then the dance troupe of several dozen role players, ending with Yangge opera characters and theatrical extras.

Yao Daifu (the Medicine Doctor)

The conductor role at the head of the Haiyang troupe; the inheritor Ju Hongjun absorbed stances from Mantis boxing, giving it a forceful, steady and commanding style.

Twin Dragons and other formations

The customary formations of Haiyang Yangge, including Twin Dragons Spitting Whiskers, Eight-Trigram Bucket, Dragon Sweeping Tail and Stars Around the Moon.

Paired role combinations

The paired acts of Haiyang Yangge, alongside the pedlar and Cuihua and the tinker and Widow Wang, including the comic old woman and fool, and the collective flower-drum and whip dancers.

Da Zhe Yang; Da Shan Yao; Yan Da Chang

Movements created by the inheritor Wang Fa to shape Widow Wang as a bold and alluring young woman, earning him the nickname Broken Waist.

Twisting, lifting, stretching, turning

The movement characteristics Wang Fa developed into a school of his own; many of his figures were refined by professional choreographers and entered conservatory folk-dance textbooks.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

Haiyang dayangge is one of the three great yangge of Shandong. It is the dance section of the folk shehuo and is popular in the area around Haiyang City on the southern side of the Shandong peninsula, on the shore of the Yellow Sea.

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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. Haiyang dayangge embodies the collective wisdom and creative spirit of the people of Haiyang. In practice, Haiyang yangge vividly displays the spiritual outlook and character traits of the ordinary people of Haiyang's countryside; it is an important component of the regional culture of this area, has aesthetic and historical value, and has played an important part in enriching the cultural life of the masses and building a harmonious society. Wang Fa (official file record of the associated inheritor): he has natural comprehension and is willing to endure hardship; added to years of performing, study, insight and innovation, this formed the movement characteristics of "ning, ti, chen, fan" (twisting, lifting, stretching, turning), until at last he established a school of his own. With the dance vocabulary he created himself — "da zheyang" (great shade against the sun), "da shanyao" (great flash of the waist), "yan da chang" (swallow striking the field) and so on — he shaped "Granny Wang" into the image of a flirtatious, fiery and romantically charming young married woman, standing uniquely in the local area, and the people gave him the artistic nickname "niu duan yao" (breaking the waist). Many of his movement expressions were refined and processed by professional dancers and compiled into the folk dance teaching materials of the art academies. In 1997, Wang Fa 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 Haiyang dayangge. Male, Han nationality, born in 1919, died in 2007, native of Haiyang, Shandong. Representative inheritor of Yangge (Haiyang dayangge), the second batch of national-level intangible cultural heritage projects. Ju Hongjun (official file record of the associated inheritor): in practice he kept groping and learning by himself, drawing on the strengths of many schools, and further took the postures of the martial art "manglang men" (praying mantis school) and fused them into the dance movements of the "le daifu", forming a performance style that is vigorous, steady and of unusual bearing. His son Ju Jindong, his brother Ju Hongbin, his nephew Ju Weibo and his granddaughter Ju Liping all received his personal transmission. In 1960 he was invited by the Haiyang Cultural Centre to run a training class on the "le daifu" of Haiyang dayangge. Male, Han nationality, born in 1926, died in 2008, native of Haiyang, Shandong. Representative inheritor of Yangge (Haiyang dayangge), the second batch of national-level intangible cultural heritage projects. In 2004, at the "Yuanlin Cup" ocean dayangge role competition, he demonstrated and promoted the "le daifu" dance movements to the public, and was awarded the title of "famous yangge artist" by the "Ocean Dayangge Folk Art Festival Organizing Committee".

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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