Lion Dance

Ⅲ-5Traditional DanceXinfeng, JiangxiBatch 3 (2011)Extension Item

01 · Historical Records

Matshi (the reed-mat lion) and Lishi (the plough lion) are two lion dances of different styles transmitted in Gubei Town, Xinfeng County. Matshi is transmitted at the Gubei market town and is a form of lion dance exclusive to the local Xie clan; Lishi is transmitted in Liming Village and is a form of lion dance created during the Guangxu reign of the Qing dynasty by a peasant of the Li surname, who had seen that the Xie clan of the Gubei market town already had the matshi. The surname 'Xie' is a homophone of 'matshi', and the surname 'Li' is a homophone of 'Lishi', so in the locality the two lion dances became the symbols of these two families. Both are brought out with lanterns during the Spring Festival, they are the core content of the New Year custom dances of the two great surnames of Gubei, and they are also ancient folkloric samples for studying clan relationships and village structure in southern Jiangxi.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

Matshi and Lishi are two lion dances of different styles transmitted in Gubei Town, Xinfeng County. The frame of the matshi lion body is more than two metres long. It is built up from bamboo strips, covered with a straw mat, and along its outer outline it is tied with coarse straw rope, with incense sticks inserted all over the body. When dancing, three people stand inside the frame and perform under the lead of the lion leader, who wears a cap of incense smoke called 'huihui'. The image of the plough lion is a lion's head on a bull's body, one large and one small; its frame is made of wooden strips, covered with a straw mat, and tied along its outer outline with coarse straw rope, with incense sticks inserted everywhere the rope runs, and with round taro tubers used as the eyes. Seen as a whole it looks like a bull. In performance the incense sticks are lit, and the plough lion moves forward in close cooperation with the bull leader and the plough-holder, led by people holding placards bearing the characters for spring, ox, ploughing and field; behind them three 'incense-fire dragons' follow closely and dance. For a moment the ox ploughs the field and the dragon rolls and turns, presenting a picture of the spring ox ploughing the fields. The movements of the matshi performance are simple and rugged, accompanied by percussion instruments, with a rhythm that is bright and forceful. The plough lion performance centres on simulating the scene of ploughing the field and is strongly imbued with local flavour; besides percussion accompaniment, a suona plays tune patterns similar to those of the Gannan tea-picking opera.

The mat lion

The mat lion's frame is over two metres long, bound of bamboo, covered with straw matting and roped about, studded with incense sticks; three men stand inside it behind a turbaned leader.

The plough lion

The plough lion has a lion's head on an ox body, in two sizes, framed of wood and covered with matting, roped and studded with incense, its eyes made of round taros so that it resembles an ox.

The incense-capped leader

The fixed leading role in both dances, a figure in an incense cap who goes before and directs the lion carriers.

Ploughing banners and incense dragons

The plough lion works with ox-leader and ploughman behind four bearers of the banners Spring, Ox, Plough and Field, with three incense dragons following, making a picture of spring ploughing.

Percussion and tea-picking tunes

The mat lion's actions are simple and bold to brisk percussion, while the plough lion, imitating field work, adds suona tunes akin to southern Jiangxi tea-picking opera.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

Matshi is transmitted at the Gubei market town and is a form of lion dance exclusive to the local Xie clan; Lishi is transmitted in Liming Village and was created during the Guangxu reign of the Qing dynasty by a peasant of the Li surname, who had seen that the Xie clan of the Gubei market town already had the matshi. The surname 'Xie' is a homophone of 'matshi' and the surname 'Li' is a homophone of 'Lishi', so in the locality these two lion dances became the symbols of these two families.

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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

Matshi and Lishi, the customary dances of the two great surnames of Gubei during the Spring Festival, are an ancient folk cultural phenomenon of important research value. Xie Daxiang (recorded in the official archive of associated inheritors): at 13 he began to learn matshi making and performance from Xie Dechao, an old artist of the Xie clan who performed the matshi. In his youth he mainly danced the lion's head and was a mainstay of the matshi performance. He can make a complete set of matshi performance props and is competent in several roles of the matshi dance; his performance is accomplished and profound, and his dance movements are forceful, simple and open. Because incense is inserted into the matshi, the performer has to withstand heavy smoke during the performance, which requires considerable endurance. Through his efforts, the matshi performance became widely renowned for a time on the land of southern Jiangxi. He has carried out matshi transmission activities many times, has trained dozens of disciples, and has taught both matshi prop making and performance. Male, Han Chinese, born in July 1936, died in May 2019, a native of Xinfeng County, Jiangxi Province. Representative inheritor of the fourth national-level intangible cultural heritage project Lion Dance (Gubei Matshi and Lishi).

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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