Yangge Dance
01 · Historical Records
It originated in the labour life of transplanting rice seedlings and tilling the fields, and at the same time is related to the eulogistic songs and exorcistic songs sung in ancient times when the god of agriculture was sacrificed to in prayer for a good harvest, for blessings, and for the warding off of calamity. Yangge has abundant movements and diverse forms; it is vivid and lively, uninhibited and ardent, and is what ordinary people love to see and hear. Since the Qing dynasty it has circulated widely throughout the country, becoming a form of folk dance that has taken deep root in people's hearts. It originated in the court art of the Tang dynasty, and was later carried to Lizhuang Village in Fenyang, the fief of the descendants of Prince Fenyang Guo Ziyi, where it gradually developed. In Fenyang martial-field ground yangge the performers are strikingly made up, and the dance forms evolved from martial arts movements and set routines, giving them a rich and highly varied repertoire of sequences. The bang performers have basic set routines such as "calling the bang", "bow-and-horse stance", "tiger stance" and "fierce tiger pouncing on a sheep"; the small-gong performers have "heavenly maiden scattering flowers", "stepping while lifting the gong" and "lifting the braid chain"; and the waist-drum performers have "phoenix spreading one wing" and "a stick of incense rising toward heaven".
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Yangge, also called "twisting yangge", is a representative form of folk dance among China's Han nationality. In its long course of development, yangge continually absorbed the forms and techniques of folk arts such as folk songs, folk martial arts, acrobatics and opera, and gradually developed from simple singing into a collective song-and-dance performance. Its principal sequences include "opening grand array", "two dragons emerging from the water", "the snake shedding its skin", "garlic braid", "single hooking the heart", "crosswise flower", "thirty-six linked hooks" and "two dragons drawn in tandem". The instrumental performance is full of graceful charm, effortless wit and open, expansive movement, and carries a strong flavour of everyday life and local soil. The origin of Fenyang ground yangge can be traced back to the court art of the Tang dynasty; it was brought into the area of Lizhuang Village in Fenyang, the fief of the descendants of Prince Fenyang Guo Ziyi, and took root there. Its martial field brings martial set routines into dance, while its civil field is sung in folk song tunes; the two complement each other on the same stage, and in the shehuo troupes of the central Shanxi plain they form a style of their own. Even today they remain a fixed programme in the New Year and festival entertainments honouring the gods in the Fenyang and Xiaoyi area.
Civil and martial Di Yangge
The two branches of Fenyang Di Yangge, the civil one chiefly sung and the martial one chiefly danced, current in Fenyang and Xiaoyi in Shanxi.
Basic stances of the flower-staff hand
The basic stances of the flower-staff hand in martial Fenyang Yangge, their movements evolved directly from martial-arts postures.
Movements of the gong and waist-drum hands
The small-gong hand's scattering flowers, stepping gong-lift and braid-chain flick, and the waist-drum hand's phoenix single wing and incense to heaven, all graceful and full of wit.
Main routines of Fenyang Yangge
The main routines of Fenyang Yangge, including the Opening Array, Twin Dragons Emerging and Snake Shedding Skin, among others.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Fenyang ground yangge is a folk art transmitted in Fenyang City and Xiaoyi City, Shanxi Province; it is divided into the civil field and the martial field, with civil-field ground yangge mainly sung and martial-field ground yangge mainly danced.
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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Fenyang ground yangge has a long history and a rich local character, and it has important reference value for research on the farming culture of the Yellow River basin and on the customs of honouring and worshipping the gods in the Fenyang area. Today Fenyang ground yangge is short of inheritors, its skills are becoming ever simpler, its performing troupes are shrinking, and the ageing of its performers is serious; urgent rescue is needed.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Zhou Hehua 02-0332
- Yu Zhenjiang 02-0333
- Yang Kesheng 02-0334
- Wu Yingmin 02-0335
- Wang Fa 02-0336
- Juhongjun 02-0337
- Li Zengheng 02-0338
- He Junyi 03-0899
- Yao Daxin 03-0900
- Zhao Fengling 04-1541
- Qin Mengyu 04-1542
- Ding Shisuo 05-2182
- Sheng Yubin 05-2183
- Yu Xin 05-2184
- Wei Jianming 05-2185
- Liu Jianping
- Xiujianguo
- Lizhangxi
- Ba Hengjin
- Zhao Chenghai
- Wang Yuanqing
- Song Jianliang
- Yuan Guilin
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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