Yingge
01 · Historical Records
Yingge has been transmitted in Puning for more than three hundred years. Its origins are most often explained as a variant of the local people's martial customs, or as a dramatization of the story in Water Margin of the Liangshan Marsh heroes attacking Daming Prefecture. Puning lies in the western part of the Chaoshan Plain in the basin of the Lianjiang River. In its villages, Yingge troupes are organized by clan and by martial arts hall; they parade out during festivals, and the procession is divided into two sections, the 'front shed' and the 'rear shed': the front shed presents gong-and-drum music and the Yingge dance, while the rear shed presents small plays distinctive in their own way and each troupe's signature pieces.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Yingge, also called 'eagle song', 'parrot song', 'chanted yingge' or 'yangge', is a folk square dance that fuses dancing, southern boxing (nanquan) routines and operatic acting. Its performance is heroic and stirring and its atmosphere intense; it is transmitted in Guangdong, Fujian and other places, is performed by men, and carries a sense of praising heroes. The basic movement of the Yingge dance is the swinging of sticks. In the dance each performer holds two round short wooden sticks (10 centimetres in diameter and 20 centimetres long), plants the feet in a mounted rider's squatting stance, lifts a leg and leaps sideways, and strikes the sticks against each other up, down, left and right in time with the gongs and drums, the head and body swaying naturally in response. Yingge has three tempi, slow, medium and fast; a single repertoire sometimes contains as many as twenty sets of routines, among them 'washing the street', 'New Year greeting', 'laying out the year', 'back club', 'crossing the hip' and 'embracing the club and hooking the leg'. The Yingge dance carries a distinctly masculine and heroic character. When the dance reaches its climax, shouts and the sound of conch horns ring out in every direction; the momentum is overwhelming and deeply stirring. Yingge is a folk dance form widely transmitted among the people of Puning, with a history of more than three hundred years. It is regarded as a symbol of promoting righteousness, suppressing evil, and bringing good fortune and peace; it is deeply loved and esteemed by the masses and has a broad popular and social foundation. Puning Yingge is a magnificent, masculine group dance of Han men, expressing above all the heroic resolve and the heroic bearing of the Liangshan Marsh heroes attacking Daming Prefecture. The performing troupe numbers as few as 24 or 36 people and as many as 72, at most reaching 108. The performers paint distinctive facial makeup and are styled after the Liangshan Marsh heroes, wearing warrior's dress and a close-fitting short jacket, holding specially made double short sticks which they strike as they dance, accompanied by the rhythm of gongs, drums and conch horns. The formations of the procession change richly during the performance, with patterns such as 'two dragons emerging from the sea', 'fierce tiger coming down the mountain', 'wheat-ear flower' and 'field-snail coil'. The routines are equally varied, with movements of differing shapes and forms such as 'laying out the field', 'washing the street', 'whirling the club' and 'club flower', forming a rhythm all its own; the scene is grand and the momentum imposing. The performance style of Puning Yingge is fierce, sonorous, rugged and unrestrained, expressing the precious character and spiritual outlook of the Chinese nation: decisiveness, tenacity, solidarity in battle, and the courage to press forward regardless of obstacles.
The front and rear sheds
The performance falls into two parts: the front shed of percussion and dancing, the rear shed of playlets and specialties, with an even number of dancers from twelve to one hundred and eight.
The round hardwood sticks
Each dancer holds two round sticks ten centimetres thick and twenty long, striking them up, down and across to the drum rhythm from a horse stance, head and torso swaying with the beat.
Slow, medium and fast tempo
Three tempi govern the form, with as many as twenty routines bearing names such as washing the street, New Year greeting, planting the year, carrying the sticks, passing the crotch and hooking the foot.
The formation patterns
The troupe's changing floor patterns, paired with movement sets such as planting the field, washing the street, spinning the sticks and stick flowers, producing a grand and forceful scene.
Chen Laifa and his two signature works
Born in 1957, Chen Laifa wields the sticks with agile, forceful speed; his representative pieces include The Majestic Yingge and Nanshan Yingge.
Ansai waist drums in the north, Puning yingge in the south
Experts value the dance's spiritual, social and artistic worth, giving it the famous pairing with Ansai waist drums; Puning was named a home of folk art in Guangdong.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
According to tradition it already has a history of more than three hundred years; its origins are most often explained as a variant of the local people's martial customs or as a dramatization of stories from Water Margin. Yingge is generally performed during festivals. The number of dancers is usually even, as few as twelve and as many as 108; each holds a pair of coloured wooden sticks and, to the beat of gong and drum and to shouted calls, swings the two sticks, crossing and turning them to strike, dancing as they walk. The performance is divided into two sections, the 'front shed' and the 'rear shed'; the front shed presents gong-and-drum music and the Yingge dance, while the rear shed presents small plays distinctive in their own way and signature pieces.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Yingge · Yingge.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The outstanding spiritual value, social value and artistic value of Puning Yingge have drawn the attention of relevant experts, and it has earned the reputation that 'in the north there is the Ansai waist drum, in the south there is Puning Yingge'. Puning has also been named a 'Hometown of Folk Arts of Guangdong Province'. At present, because rural economic development is uneven and inheritors are ageing, Puning Yingge troupes are short of successors, are gradually shrinking and have become endangered, so urgent rescue and protection are needed. Chen Laifa (associated inheritor, as recorded in the official file): Male, Han ethnicity, born in 1957, native of Puning, Guangdong. The stick-swinging he performs is agile and martial, quick and vigorous. Representative works include 'The Heroic Wind of Yingge' and 'Nanshan Yingge'. Representative inheritor of Yingge (Puning Yingge), a national-level intangible cultural heritage project in the second national batch.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Chen Laifa 02-0355
- Yang Wei 02-0356
- Lin Bingguang 05-2213
- Linzhongcheng
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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