Nuo Dance
01 · Historical Records
Nuo activities in Pingxiang began in the Shang and Zhou periods and were still flourishing in the Ming and Qing dynasties. Under this cultural influence, the Pingxiang Play of the Nuo Gods has been carried down to the present through master-and-disciple and community transmission. It originates in nuo sacrificial rites and has a distinctive style; the nuo masks it employs combine ornamental beauty, colour beauty, symbolism and secular character, and so have considerable artistic and historical value.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The Pingxiang Play of the Nuo Gods is a traditional nuo dance circulating in Pingxiang City, Jiangxi Province; it is a masked dance. Nuo, that is, "the sacrifice that drives away ghosts and pestilence", was originally a primitive religious rite, and Gan-region nuo has exerted enormous influence within Chinese nuo culture. Pingxiang lies in the west of the Gan River region, bordering Liling and Liuyang in eastern Hunan; in the Spring and Autumn period it belonged to the State of Wu and in the Warring States period to the State of Chu, and has been known since antiquity as the "throat between Wu and Chu". The Pingxiang Play of the Nuo Gods is an important part of nuo activity. It takes the three generals Tang, Ge and Zhou as its principal deities, uses "driving off pestilence and banishing ghosts" as its means, and, with combinations of hand and foot movements, portrays the characters represented by the masks it wears, achieving the aim of praying for blessings and receiving good fortune. Every nuo mask is carved by a chushi, or master carver, according to the inherited facial patterns, that is, the divine registers, and through the holding of the relevant rites the mask is given a sense of life. The dance movements of the Pingxiang Play of the Nuo Gods are distinctive in style, each with its own character. Its footwork and formations strictly follow the procedure of nuo activity. Its footwork developed on the basis of "shaman dance" and "Yu's steps", taking east, west, south, north and centre as its directions, and characterised by close-to-the-body movement alternating with small turning steps. Its formations take the Ziwu Returning Dragon, the Taiji Returning Dragon and the Bagua Returning Dragon as pivots, giving rise to such formations as the "single-row long snake", the "dragon gate", the "eight trigrams" and the "sparrow". Spiralling, the dancer turns about the body; the prop held close, the steps are light. Bending the torso to change position, the mask is shown; swaying the upper body, the feet must stay firm. Both hands dance before the chest and before the knees, the feet step half a pace and both knees stay level; on the strong beat rise with force, on the weak beat stamp down, passing through at angles, obliquely and sidewise. This is a true portrayal of the skills of the Pingxiang Play of the Nuo Gods. Each item comprises eight movements: jumping, leaning back, stamping, tumbling, turning, spinning, shaking and swaying. Its drum patterns are extremely varied; a single nuo dance performance calls for more than twenty tune patterns to be beaten out. The nuo weapons used in the Play of the Nuo Gods include swords, axes, sabres, hammers, maces and the like, and it fuses the performance movements of drama, dance and martial arts into one; it is rough and dashing, witty and humorous, with rigorously ordered movement, grandiose momentum, expansive amplitude and a strong sense of plastic form. As society has developed, the Pingxiang Play of the Nuo Gods has achieved a transition from shamanism to art, from entertaining the gods to entertaining the people, and from theology to aesthetics, becoming a mass cultural activity that the people of Pingxiang relish in daily life. The Pingxiang Play of the Nuo Gods is an important component of nuo culture and of ancient traditional dance.
The three generals Tang, Ge and Zhou
The dance's chief deities are the three generals Tang, Ge and Zhou; through stamping dance and impersonation of the masks it expels plague and secures blessing.
The ritual master and the ancestral god list
Each mask is carved by a ritual master according to the ancestral god list, then given life through a dedicated rite.
The coiled-dragon centres and their formations
Built on the meridian, taiji and eight-trigram coiled-dragon centres, the dance generates the long snake, dragon gate, eight trigrams and sparrow formations by strict ritual order.
Rooted in shamanic dance and the steps of Yu
Its footwork grows out of shamanic dance and the steps of Yu, oriented to the five directions and marked by close-body motion alternating with small pivots.
Over twenty percussion patterns in one performance
The drumming is endlessly varied, striking more than twenty named patterns in a single performance, each section built from eight movement types.
The Nuo weapons: sword, axe, knife, hammer and mace
Sword, axe, knife, hammer and mace are wielded in a blend of opera, dance and martial movement — rough and bold, witty, tightly ordered yet expansive in line.
The spinning-flower verse
A traditional verse describing the technique: turning its own flower spin, props kept close with light steps, the mask flashed on a bent turn, weight planted on the strong beat.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The Pingxiang Play of the Nuo Gods circulates in the villages of Xiangdong, Shangli and Luxi and elsewhere under Pingxiang City, and nuo temples and nuo troupes are organised mainly by village and by clan. Pingxiang lies in the west of the Gan River region, bordering Liling and Liuyang in Hunan; it belonged to Wu in the Spring and Autumn period and to Chu in the Warring States period, and has been known since antiquity as the "throat between Wu and Chu". Historical records state that "the people of Chu loved shamanism", and Pingxiang, lying in ancient Chu territory, was noted for shamanic nuo practice, with the saying current among the people that "there is a general every five li and a nuo god every ten li", which provided rich cultural soil for the transmission of the Play of the Nuo Gods. At present the locality has twenty-three items of preserved repertoire.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Nuo Dance · Nuo Dance · Nuo Dance · Nuo Dance · Nuo Dance · Nuo Dance · Nuo Dance · Nuo Dance · Nuo Dance · Nuo Dance · Nuo Dance.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Historical records state that "the people of Chu loved shamanism", and Pingxiang, in ancient Chu territory, was noted for shamanic nuo practice in historical times; the saying "there is a general every five li and a nuo god every ten li" has circulated there, providing rich cultural soil for the transmission of the Pingxiang Play of the Nuo Gods. The Pingxiang Play of the Nuo Gods has many items, and at present there are 23 items of preserved repertoire. It teaches through entertainment, urging people to love the country and their families and to respect the old and cherish the young, embodying the fine Chinese traditions of knowing one's debts and repaying them and of valuing virtue and filial piety; it therefore has fairly high social and cultural value.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Luo Huiwu 02-0353
- Hu Zhenkun 02-0354
- Chengzhangqing 03-0911
- Peng Yingfang 03-0912
- Yu Yangfu 03-0913
- Fan Tinglu 03-0914
- Han Fulin 04-1557
- Wang Xuanzhi 04-1558
- Gong Maofa 04-1559
- Cheng Jinsheng 04-1560
- Wang Shunqing 05-2210
- Zhou Guoping 05-2211
- Yulinji 05-2212
- Banyongming
- Xiao Yiping
- Peng Qiusheng
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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