Luochuanbiegu
01 · Historical Records
Luochuan was contested by Qin, Jin and Wei in the Warring States period, and legend holds that the biegǔ evolved from military formations, being transmitted down to the present by combining with the local folk sacrificial rites for rain. In 1996 Luochuan County was named by the Ministry of Culture a "Hometown of Chinese Folk Art". Luochuan lies at the southern edge of the plateau of northern Shaanxi, on the banks of the Luo River, a place repeatedly contested by Qin, Jin and Wei; the costume and the ground diagrams of the biegǔ largely evolved from ancient military formations. In former times the biegǔ was used mainly for sacrificial rites for rain and for New Year shehuo; when the troupe went out it was led by banners and gongs and drums, forming up according to the ground diagrams in temple courtyards and on threshing grounds to rehearse battle, while the drummers completed the interweaving of formations amid their leaps and bounds, and the onlookers stood in a ring as if watching a battle array.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The known line of biegǔ performers in Huangzhang Township already extends back six generations. All performers of the Luochuan biegǔ are men. When performing they wrap a battle scarf around their heads, plant a battle flag in their backs, tie a battle skirt at the waist and bind cloth strips around their legs; they either carry the drum on the shoulder or hold a gong or cymbals (large cymbals). Striking the drum, gong and cymbals, they rise to dance; their basic movements include the single leap, the double leap, the cross-step and the twist-swing, and their main ground diagrams are "White Horse Parting the Mane", "The Scorpion Twisting Its Tail", "The Lone Rider Charging the Array", "Encirclement on All Four Sides" and the character-shaped "pin" combination. In dancing, leaping and jumping, the performers strike various poses; amid the blaring of gongs and drums they charge to the left and strike to the right, fighting and struggling as if on a real battlefield, their movements bold and coarse, fierce and uninhibited, and full of force. The drum used for the biegǔ is flat and round and is slung at the front of the chest; the drummer presses the drum with one hand and holds a beater in the other, and may respond together with those holding gongs and large cymbals on the same ground. Performance is characterized by leaping and jumping; the basic movements include the single leap, the double leap, the cross-step and the twist-swing. When gongs and drums blare together the whole troupe charges to the left and strikes to the right, fighting and struggling, its movements bold and fierce.
White horse parting its mane and other formations
Named battle formations of the drum dance, among them Parting the White Horse's Mane and The Scorpion Twists its Tail.
Single hop, double hop, pacing and twisting
The basic steps, all executed in hops and leaps with heavy landings, giving the dance its rough vigour.
War kerchief, banner, skirt and leggings
All dancers are men dressed as ancient soldiers, with war kerchief, back banner, skirt and leg wrappings.
Six generations in Huangzhang township
Huangzhang township's drum lineage is documented for six generations; the inheritor Zhang Wanjiu trained over fifty drummers.
One of Luochuan's three drums
Together with chest drum and waist drum it forms Yan'an's three drums; the local dialect word for hopping gives the form its name.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The Luochuan biegǔ is transmitted mainly among the villages of Huangzhang, Yongxiang and Jiuxian in Luochuan County, Shaanxi Province; it is one of the famous "three drums" of Yan'an (chest drum, waist drum and biegǔ). In the Shaanxi dialect "leaping and jumping" is called "bie", and as this dance is characterized by leaping and jumping, it is therefore called "biegǔ". The Luochuan biegǔ is transmitted among the villages of the Huangzhang, Yongxiang and Jiuxian area of Luochuan County, Shaanxi Province, as one of the "three drums" of Yan'an (chest drum, waist drum and biegǔ). The transmission of the biegǔ in Huangzhang Township has already run through six generations; the Luochuan County Cultural Centre is the principal protecting unit, and the drum teams of the county's townships often gather for joint performances during the Spring Festival shehuo.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Zhang Wanjiu (official archival record of the associated representative inheritor): Male, Han nationality, born in 1951, native of Yan'an, Shaanxi. Zhang Wanjiu began to learn the art of the biegǔ from his elders at the age of nine. He is both a performer and an organizer of the biegǔ, and is also locally recognized as the most representative biegǔ artist. His movements are vigorous and strong, heroic and free; the various dance poses he strikes while dancing, leaping and jumping express the dance style of the Luochuan biegǔ — archaic and bold, stiff and martial. Representative inheritor of the Luochuan biegǔ, a national-level intangible cultural heritage project in the second national-level batch. He has trained more than fifty biegǔ artists, making an important contribution to the transmission of the Luochuan biegǔ.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Zhang Wanjiu 02-0361
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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