Gundeng
01 · Historical Records
Haiyan rolling lantern is a competitive dance performed by the people of Zhejiang during festivals and lantern fairs. It originated in Haiyan County, Zhejiang Province, has been transmitted locally for a long time, and has a history of more than eight hundred years. It is recorded in local Haiyan documents from both the Southern Song dynasty and the early Qing dynasty. Peng Sunyi, a Qing-dynasty man of letters from Haiyan, recorded the state of rolling-lantern performance in the preface to his poem "Lundeng" (Rolling Lantern): "Children tie bamboo into wheels, one ring revolving into the next, spinning and tumbling, yet the lantern never tips over and never goes out." Rolling lantern has been handed down through generations among the people of Haiyan and was performed every year at the Lantern Festival; the custom continued until 1949. In 1956, the rolling-lantern team of Qinshan Town took part in the countywide cultural and artistic gala, bringing the rolling-lantern performance onto the stage for the first time. In the 1980s, Haiyan rolling lantern was excavated and organized into the "Zhongguo Minzu Minjian Wudao Jicheng, Zhejiang Juan" (Collection of Chinese Folk and Ethnic Dances, Zhejiang Volume), and was subsequently brought onto the stage many more times.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
According to folk legend, Haiyan lies on the north bank of Hangzhou Bay and borders the open sea; in ancient times it also had the trading port of Ganpu, so it was frequently attacked by sea calamities and pirates. In the contests, some villages produced red-hearted lanterns and others produced black-hearted lanterns; a village that seized the black-hearted lantern was publicly acknowledged as having superb martial skill and real strength, so that even pirates took warning at the news and steered away, daring not to attack. A strong man sets it in motion; in the marketplace it is tossed and turned without cease — this is called rolling lantern." From this one can see how extremely popular rolling lantern was in Haiyan at that time. In Haiyan rolling-lantern performance, the difficulty of each set of movements differs: some stress technique, others stress force and power. In general they are chosen according to each person's strengths and vary from performer to performer. When dancing, besides spinning the lantern continuously up, down, left and right, the dancers also circle the lantern performing tumbling movements such as "tiger leap" and "whirl", supplemented by classical dance movements such as "wavering hands", "waist brushing" and "stepping and turning". The accompaniment is led chiefly by rapid, sharply beaten gongs and drums, with improvised "galloping-horse gong" and "seven-syllable gong" patterns added to heighten the tense atmosphere. Haiyan rolling lantern is a form of folk competitive dance performance in which working people amuse themselves; it is used mainly for Spring Festival New Year greetings, celebration gatherings and temple fairs, and is a typical representative of local folk culture. In movement style it combines the graceful delicacy typical of the southern region with the plainness and openheartedness of working people, and carries their beautiful wishes for life. The routines of Haiyan rolling lantern are classified by difficulty, some stressing technique and others strength, and dancers usually take on the parts suited to their own specialties. The accompaniment is led by rapid gongs and drums, interspersed with improvised "galloping-horse gong" and "seven-syllable gong" to enliven the atmosphere; locally martial vigour was prized as a defence against foreign aggression, so the competitive routines of rolling lantern draw largely on local boxing and staff arts and on classical dance figures.
Peng Sunyi's preface to the poem Wheel Lantern
The Qing scholar Peng Sunyi recorded children binding bamboo into wheels that spun and tumbled without the candle going out.
Red-heart versus black-heart lantern contest
Villages entered either red-heart or black-heart lanterns; whoever captured a black-heart lantern was acknowledged as the strongest.
Tiger leap, spin, waist swing and turning step
Besides spinning the lantern in all directions the dancer performs tiger leaps, spins and classical waist and turning movements.
The swift drum and the walking-horse and seven-word gongs
The accompaniment centres on swift drumming, with walking-horse and seven-word gong patterns improvised to heighten tension.
The Qinshan troupe takes the stage
In 1956 the Qinshan troupe first brought the lantern onto a stage, and in the 1980s it entered the Zhejiang volume of the national dance compendium.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
To guard against foreign aggression, a culture venerating martial skill took shape in the Haiyan area, and competitive rolling-lantern contests became popular among the people as a way of displaying the strength of one's own village. Haiyan rolling lantern is transmitted around Ganpu, Qinshan, Tongyuan and Yucheng on the north bank of Hangzhou Bay, with each village forming a team on a village basis. When the lanterns go out, the villages display their strength through competitive contests. Each lantern is bound from bamboo splints into a wheel shape with a candle hung inside; revolving ring into ring and spinning and tumbling, the lantern never tips over and never goes out. It is thus both a display of lantern-making craftsmanship and a test of the dancer's stamina and skill.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Yuhanggundeng · Gundeng.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
In recent years, as the times have changed, Haiyan rolling lantern has fallen into an inheritance crisis and urgently needs rescue and protection.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Wang Miaolin 04-1563
- Xu Siyan 05-2222
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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