Yingge
01 · Historical Records
As a local folk activity of worshipping deities, it was introduced to Jiazi Town in Lufeng from Fujian in the early Ming dynasty. In the late Ming dynasty, some martial arts practitioners revised and improved the Yingge dance originally brought in from Fujian under the guidance and coaching of local martial arts masters, and thus formed the Jiazi Yingge dance with its distinctive style.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The Jiazi Yingge is a traditional dance transmitted in Jiazi Town, Lufeng City, Shanwei. The Yingge dance is performed at lantern fairs of the Lantern Festival, at dragon-boat gatherings of the Dragon Boat Festival, at moon-viewing gatherings of the Mid-Autumn Festival and on similar occasions. The Jiazi Yingge is a procession dance. In performance it is divided into four great columns: the righteous banner, the yingge dancing, the performance of short plays, and the carrying of the great banner. The yingge dancers hold a pair of hammers in each hand and advance as they dance. The dance movements include shaving the hammer, crouching the hammer, mingling the hammers and passing through the dragon; at the same time two flower-drum women climb onto the shoulders of the flower-drum man, swing small sticks in both hands, and move around with the yingge troupe performing as they go. Behind the yingge come short plays, performed while walking, such as Bodhidharma Saving Guanyin, Father and Daughter Meeting, Twin Bamboo Hammers and Twin Rowers, together with comic and amusing numbers such as Stealing the Piglet, the Foolish Son-in-Law Enters the Hall and the Son-in-Law Carries His Mother-in-Law.
The four ranks of the Jiazi procession
A processional dance in four ranks — banners, dancers, playlets and tall flags — with two flower-drum women riding on the men's shoulders, twirling small sticks as the file advances.
The four core movements
The main movements of the Jiazi dancer, marked by slicing, lowering and inserting strokes of the paired sticks and by interweaving formation changes.
The flower-drum man and woman
A paired act in which the drum women ride on the drum men's shoulders, twirling sticks as they move around the dancing file.
The small plays of the rear file
Playlets performed on the move behind the dance, mostly on legend and everyday life, forming a continuous performance sequence.
The comic turns
Comic items with exaggerated costume and buffoonery, performed on the march as a counterpoint to the fierce dancing ahead.
From Fujian in the early Ming to the martial masters' reworking
Brought from Fujian in the early Ming as a local devotional activity, the dance was reworked by local martial masters in the late Ming into its distinctive Jiazi style.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The Jiazi Yingge is transmitted in Jiazi Town of Lufeng City, Guangdong Province. It was introduced there from Fujian in the early Ming dynasty as a local folk activity of worshipping deities, and in the late Ming dynasty some martial arts practitioners, guided and coached by local martial arts masters, revised and improved it into the Jiazi Yingge dance with its distinctive style. It is still performed today at lantern fairs of the Lantern Festival, at dragon-boat gatherings of the Dragon Boat Festival, at moon-viewing gatherings of the Mid-Autumn Festival and on similar occasions. Jiazi Town lies in the southeastern part of Lufeng City on the banks of the Jiazi Harbour, facing the South China Sea; from the early Ming dynasty migrants and military households from Fujian had already settled there, providing the population and customary basis for the yingge dance to take root. In performance the procession is divided into four great columns, the righteous banner, the yingge dancing, the performance of short plays and the carrying of the great banner; the yingge dancers hold a pair of hammers and advance as they dance, and behind the procession follow short plays and comic numbers performed while walking.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Yingge · Yingge.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Lin Bingguang (recorded in the official archives of associated inheritors): Male, Han ethnicity, born in March 1968, native of Lufeng City, Guangdong Province. At the age of 12 he began to learn the yingge dance from old performers such as Yu Rong, became familiar with the routines and the performance formulae of the yingge dance, and mastered its movements and style. Representative inheritor of Yingge (Jiazi Yingge) in the fifth national-level batch of intangible cultural heritage. From the age of nineteen to the present he has combined earning a living with taking part in yingge performances. Besides joining local folk activities, he has arranged and organised yingge troupes to perform inside and outside the province, has won gold awards and honorary titles many times, and enjoys some influence at home and abroad. He began to take apprentices in 2001 and has taught more than fifty disciples to date, enabling the Jiazi Yingge to be continually improved and developed.
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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