Lion Dance

Ⅲ-5Traditional DanceTianyang, GuangxiBatch 3 (2011)Extension Item

01 · Historical Records

Tianyang Zhuang lion dance is transmitted in Tianyang County, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Tianyang lies in the You River valley of western Guangxi and is a county where the Zhuang people live in clusters; lion dancing has long been interwoven with the local Zhuang festivals, temple fairs and song fair customs. According to the archives of the Tianyang County Cultural Centre, the Tianyang Zhuang lion dance consists of two lines, the ground lion dance and the high-altitude lion dance: the ground lion dance belongs to the civil school and mostly performs the everyday doings of the lion on the ground, while the high-altitude lion dance belongs to the martial school, centring on high platforms and scaffolds and weaving martial arts and acrobatics into the lion dance movements. The two lines each have their own lineage and representative programmes, and most of the lion dancers also practise Zhuang martial arts.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

The Zhuang lion dance transmitted in Tianyang County has two performance forms, the ground lion dance and the high-altitude lion dance. The ground lion dance belongs to the civil school of lion dancing and mainly performs on the ground movements such as the lion scratching itself, licking its fur, rolling, boring into a hole and shaking its coat, displaying the lively and cute expression of the lion and its playful, frolicking character. The civil school lion dance is generally used for festive celebrations, New Year visits, gatherings, weddings, entertainment and other joyous activities. Representative programmes of the Tianyang Zhuang ground lion dance include A Flock of Lions Welcomes Guests, Colourful Lions Pay New Year Greetings, Phoenix Terrace Lion Techniques and Cubs Play with the Ball. The high-altitude lion dance belongs to the martial school of lion dancing and centres on high-platform lion dancing. Its main characteristic is weaving martial arts and acrobatics into the lion dance movements, performing lion dance movements that are high, difficult, startling, risky and beautiful. Representative programmes of the Tianyang Zhuang high-altitude lion dance include Lion Technique on a Knife Tip, Lion Climbing the Golden Mountain, Lion Crossing the Heavenly Bridge, Flying Lion on a High Pole and the Majestic Golden Lion.

Ground lion dance (the civil school)

The civil branch performed on the ground, showing the lion scratching, licking, rolling, burrowing and shaking its fur — a playful, festive lion for holidays and weddings.

Aerial lion dance (the martial school)

The martial branch, chiefly high-platform lion dance, fusing martial arts and acrobatics into feats that stress height, difficulty, danger and grace.

The ground-school repertory

Signature items of the ground school, all auspicious pieces featuring groups of lions, New Year greetings, platform skills and a playful cub.

The aerial-school repertory

Signature items of the aerial school, built around perilous props such as blade tips, golden mountains, sky bridges and tall poles.

The basic ground vocabulary

The core ground vocabulary imitating a lion's daily behaviour, the chief means by which the civil school creates its lion character.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

The Tianyang Zhuang lion dance takes the Zhuang villages along the You River in Tianyang County as its main area of transmission; lion troupes are generally organised by village and clan, and each village differs in lion-head making, drum-beat patterns and signature programmes. Representative programmes of the ground civil-school lion dance include A Flock of Lions Welcomes Guests, Colourful Lions Pay New Year Greetings, Phoenix Terrace Lion Techniques and Cubs Play with the Ball; representative programmes of the high-altitude martial-school lion dance include Lion Technique on a Knife Tip, Lion Climbing the Golden Mountain, Lion Crossing the Heavenly Bridge, Flying Lion on a High Pole and the Majestic Golden Lion, representing respectively the civil and martial technical lines of the Tianyang Zhuang lion dance. The civil school is used mostly for festive celebrations, New Year visits, gatherings, weddings and other joyous activities, while the martial school is used mostly for major festivals and competitions.

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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

Tianyang Zhuang lion dance fuses Zhuang martial arts and acrobatics with the lion dance format. The ground lion's movements of scratching itself, licking its fur, rolling, boring into a hole and shaking its coat preserve the local people's finely observant understanding of the lion's temperament and show its lively and cute expression; the high-altitude lion, by contrast, excels in perilous settings such as high platforms, knife tips and high bridges, pursuing an effect that is high, difficult, startling, risky and beautiful. The civil and martial lines coexist within the same county, providing an instance for observing how lion dancing in the Zhuang region evolved from ritual custom towards competitive performance, and offering vivid material for studying the transmission of Zhuang seasonal festivals and folk martial arts in the You River basin.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

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

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

Lion Dance (Tianyang, Guangxi) · China ICH Official Project Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗

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