Tujia Sayeerhe
01 · Historical Records
Sangzhi lies at the northern foot of the Wuling Mountains and at the source of the Lishui River, where the Tujia live interspersed with the Bai and Miao. The transmission of "dancing the funeral" there is closely related to the shamanic tradition of Chu and Xiang. In the county's Tujia villages the ritual specialists also perform Buddhist opera, Nuo opera and shamanic rites, and in funerals dancing the funeral and the rites are often carried on in alternation.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
"Sayeh" in Sangzhi County, Hunan Province, is also called "dancing the funeral"; it is a traditional dance of which the Tujia people of Sangzhi and the other peoples there are fond, and in Hunan it is transmitted mainly in Tujia residential areas such as Xiaojia Town, Shangdongjie Township and Lianghekou Township of Sangzhi County in Zhangjiajie City. Sangzhi County lies at the far northwest corner of Hunan, at the northern foot of the Wuling Mountains and at the southern end of the western Hubei mountains, and is the source of the Lishui River, one of the four main river systems of Hunan. Sangzhi "Sayeh", tempered by time, has formed a rhythm of following the beat in the same direction on the same side, trembling knees with a sinking body, and turning the torso in a circling arc; it has a simple and solemn dance style, a dance rhythm in which composure and abandon coexist, and a rich and colourful movement vocabulary. The purpose of Sangzhi "dancing the funeral" is to deliver the soul of the deceased, release sins, cherish the memory of the dead, inspire the living, face death optimistically, and let the soul be sublimated in detachment. The basic steps include "bugang" (including more than twenty forms such as sizhou gang, sanitai gang, bagua gang and qixing gang), "walking the four directions", "soft stamping step" and "three and a half steps back". The hand patterns include 72 hand formulas such as "great heavenly gate", "heavenly flag", "swallowing gate" and "white crane", and 36 hand prints such as "almsgiving", "lotus" and "paper-cutting". Movement combinations include "picking the immortal peach", "expelling evil", "subduing the demon", "the repentance rite" and "child attendant worshipping Guanyin". Stage formations include "two dragons embracing the pillar", "the dragon swaying its tail" and "double linked rings". The music of Sangzhi "dancing the funeral" has no melody; it is accompanied by percussion instruments such as the large drum, gong, cymbals, small cymbals, bell and hooked gong. There are more than one hundred performers in Sangzhi County as a whole, with fixed troupes. Sangzhi "dancing the funeral" contains rich historical and cultural information and has important historical, cultural and academic value; its marked artistic features provide abundant material for the creation and performance of contemporary Tujia dance, and it is an artistic model contributed by the Tujia people of Sangzhi to humanity of "using long dance as a substitute for weeping". The optimistic and open-hearted state of mind, the positive spiritual qualities and the moral pursuit of "loyalty, filial piety, benevolence and righteousness, propriety, decorum, integrity and shame" that it expresses still play a positive role in the real society today.
Step diagrams: four directions, three terraces, eight trigrams, seven stars
The basic 'diagram steps' of the Sangzhi dance include over twenty patterns such as the four directions and the eight trigrams.
Seventy-two hand gestures and thirty-six seals
Its gesture system is extensive, with seventy-two hand positions and thirty-six seals carrying strong religious overtones.
Two dragons hugging a pillar, dragon wagging its tail, double chain
Named stage patterns of the Sangzhi dance, alongside action sequences such as plucking the peach and exorcising evil.
Percussion without melody
Its music has no melody, relying on big drum, gongs, cymbals, bells and hooked gongs, with same-side steps and trembling knees.
Plucking the peach, exorcism, subduing demons, confession
Named action sequences whose purpose is to release the dead from sin, console the living and uphold traditional moral precepts.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Sangzhi "Sayeh" is transmitted mainly in the Tujia settlements of Xiaojia Town, Shangdongjie Township, Lianghekou Township and other places of Sangzhi County in Zhangjiajie City, Hunan Province. Over one hundred performers are active in the county and relatively fixed troupes have formed; the troupes are linked to one another through ritual-specialist apprenticeships, and each keeps its own distinct set of gang steps and hand formulas.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Tujia Sayeerhe · Tujia Sayeerhe · Tujia Sayeerhe.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Zhou Chunqin (as recorded in the official file of associated inheritors): Male, Tujia, born in March 1944, native of Sangzhi County, Hunan Province. In 1984 he was passed the office of chief ritual specialist by his transmitting master Liu Shunze. He has since worked professionally on folk activities such as the funeral dance, Buddhist opera, Nuo opera and shamanic rites, and possesses a range of performance skills. His devout and standardized religious dance movements and the stirring, passionate accompaniment of percussion instruments may be said to gather the essence of the funeral dance; they carry profound primitive and simple Tujia cultural content, in which one can glimpse the mysterious and eerie shamanic style of Chu and Xiang. His performances have reached every corner of Hunan and Hubei, and he has trained more than thirty disciples, with far-reaching influence. Representative inheritor of the Tujia Sayeh in the fifth national-level batch of intangible cultural heritage projects.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Tanziyou 02-0365
- Zhang Yanke 02-0366
- Mao Fangming 05-2225
- Huang Zaixiu 05-2226
- Zhou Chunqin 05-2227
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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