Yangge Dance
01 · Historical Records
According to the "Luan County Cultural Gazetteer · Investigation of the Four Great Hebei Bangzi Troupes", Jin Kaifu, who was born in the Xianfeng reign of the Qing dynasty, possessed the eight great skills of twisting yangge and was venerated in the southwestern part of Luanzhou as the king of yangge.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The Ming-dynasty "Luan Prefecture Gazetteer" records: "In ancient times, when the year brought abundance and the people rejoiced, there was a rite of thanksgiving in return... children and strong men came in dense throngs, led by banners and streamers, marshalled in ceremonial order, loud with gongs and drums, accompanied by pipes and sheng, arriving from tens of li away, dozens of processions linked one after another..." Di yangge of Luanzhou is the principal performance form of that rite of thanksgiving. The martial lei, the niu (girl), the civil young lord and the civil-and-martial clown have always been the strong points of Luanzhou di yangge. The niu keeps to small steps and a lively waist swaying like a willow in the wind, with a graceful figure and a shy face. The civil lei must whirl the round fan and the lively tobacco pipe, the arms rising and falling with both shoulders crossed, the brows and eyes conveying spirit, and flower-steps darting. The martial lei must be bold and daring, with exaggerated movements. The civil-and-martial clown must have a lively hip and light steps, humorous and inviting laughter. Teasing the niu must be gallant but never vulgar. Young lords are divided into civil and martial; Luanzhou di yangge is distinguished by the civil young lord, and fan technique is one of its great features. The accompanying instruments of Luanzhou di yangge are mainly the suona, the drum, the bo (cymbals) and the gong. Besides the traditional accompanying pieces, there are also ga-diao passages in the style of shadow-puppetry tunes. The headdresses and costumes of Luanzhou di yangge are mostly handmade and handed down through the family. Luanzhou di yangge has six characteristics: first, the form of narrating-and-singing yangge — today only Luanzhou di yangge preserves the small-skit narrating-and-singing yangge; second, distinction in the performance of the civil young lord; third, the independently created double horns "kou'er" and "nuo'er"; fourth, the unique performance method of "pulling the bones and stretching the sinews"; fifth, the "ga-diao" and the "old three-point" in the accompaniment; sixth, the "cart-drawn play" and the back-pole among the props. The role types, formations and accompaniment of Luanzhou di yangge have no weak points; every role type is complete in both literary and martial respects, the division of labour is finely detailed, the techniques are polished, the style is marked and the features stand out, and to this day it preserves a number of marvellous skills that have already disappeared in some other regions. At present the Luanzhou di yangge troupes, long dormant, have grown to 350 and are active in towns and villages throughout the area; although the number of troupes and performers is not what it was, the frequency of their activities has risen sharply, and they now operate independently above all as a form of physical exercise and popular amusement. Whether in the singing, reciting, acting and fighting of the movements, or in the low murmuring and high soaring of the accompaniment, or in the riot of colour of the costumes, or in the variety of the props, Luanzhou di yangge meets the basic aesthetic and recreational demands of the local people. It is an organic combination of grass-roots and court culture, carrying the feelings of the people and the historical culture, and it has a high historical, cultural and artistic value.
The four role types
The four role types of Luanzhou Yangge, each with its own canon of small steps, turning fan and tobacco pipe, bold exaggeration or light-hipped comedy.
The Kou'er and Nuo'er pair
Two roles unique to Luanzhou Yangge, among the markers distinguishing it from the Changli and Laoting traditions and preserving feats lost elsewhere.
The stretch-bone pull-sinew method
One of the most characteristic body techniques of Luanzhou Yangge, used with the Kou'er and Nuo'er roles to give its idiom a line of its own within eastern Hebei Yangge.
Ga Diao and Lao San Dian
The distinctive accompaniment features of Luanzhou Yangge, including the gao diao tune of shadow-play vocal style, marking it off aurally from neighbouring traditions.
Cart-borne opera and back-carried pole
Two characteristic prop rigs of Luanzhou Yangge used with the sung playlets, which only Luanzhou has preserved among the eastern Hebei traditions.
Jin Kaifu's eight great feats
The county cultural gazetteer records that Jin Kaifu of the Xianfeng era possessed eight great Yangge feats and was revered as a Yangge king, training noted artists including Cheng Zhaocai.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Luanzhou di yangge is one of the three great schools of eastern Hebei di yangge (Changli, Luanzhou and Laoting), a folk dance form created by the people of Luanzhou, Hebei, in long social practice that entertains others and oneself alike. Luanzhou di yangge is divided into four great role types, niu, lei, chou and gongzi, each with its own characteristics. Makeup uses chiefly grease colours, with marked local character. The sung yangge content of Luanzhou di yangge falls roughly into three types: fixed lyrics, improvised lyrics, and the calling of names and competing in the yard.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Yangge Dance · Yangge Dance · Yangge Dance · Yangge Dance · Yangge Dance · Yangge Dance · Yangge Dance · Yangge Dance · Yangge Dance · Yangge Dance · Yangge Dance · Yangge Dance · Yangge Dance · Yangge Dance · Yangge Dance · Yangge Dance.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
He took on disciples widely and trained a large batch of famous yangge performers such as Jin Kaifang, Cheng Zhaocai, Zhang Deli, Ren Lianhui and Yue Mingzhu. Today most of the rising stars of yangge in the southwestern part of Luanzhou come from the Jin line of transmission.
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)
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。