Guozhuang Dance
01 · Historical Records
In Tibetan, zhuo dance refers in general to circle dance-songs centred on flinging the sleeves and stepping to song. The history of Yushu zhuo dance can be traced back to the tribal period, and a good many archaic words survive in its sung lyrics and dance steps. Yushu lies in the heart of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and zhuo dance has been handed down through generations in monastery dharma assemblies and tribal celebrations.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Guozhuang is divided into several kinds, among them the "large guozhuang" used for large-scale religious sacrificial activities, the "medium guozhuang" used for folk traditional festivals, and the "small guozhuang" used for gatherings of relatives and friends; their scale and function each differ. Others also divide it into "masses guozhuang" and "lama guozhuang", and into urban guozhuang and farming-and-pastoral-area guozhuang. When dancing, men and women each form a half circle, join hands and make a ring; one person leads, and men and women alternate in question-and-answer antiphonal singing, repeated back and forth, with no instrumental accompaniment. The whole dance consists of two sections, slow first and fast later; the basic movements include "slow tremor with leg crossed", "approaching steps with turning", and "leg-crossing with stepping and squatting". Dancers change their postures chiefly by lifting, flinging and swinging the arms; the formation moves clockwise, the circle varies in size, and now and then it changes into a "dragon swaying its tail" pattern. The historical origins of zhuo dance can be traced back to primitive society, and Yushu zhuo dance still preserves a great many traces of remote antiquity; with the formation of the six great clans of the Tibetan people, Yushu zhuo dance gradually developed into a form of tribal, clan and regional culture. Yushu zhuo dance comes in many varieties; its content is centred on songs praising the home village and the natural scenery, while also broadly reflecting every aspect of social life. A complete performance is divided into three parts: the opening dance offering to the gods and Buddhas, the main body expressing a wide range of content, and the closing passage offering auspicious blessings. By function, Yushu zhuo dance falls into two categories: the ordinary zhuo dance, which is largely secular, and the religious "fa" zhuo (called "qu" zhuo in Tibetan), which is strongly imbued with religious colour. The overall structure consists of a slow part and a fast part, and it is performed in a form that combines singing with dancing. The movements of Yushu zhuo dance revolve chiefly around the flinging of the sleeves, and performances often involve dozens or even hundreds of people taking part together. The dancers' sleeves are very long, all trailing on the ground; in the men's dance the sleeves are flung with a wide amplitude, the movements beautiful and free-spirited, the arms rotating freely, with varied movement pathways. The leg movements also have a large amplitude, and require large-amplitude leaps and shifts such as leg-lifting, leg-flicking and turning in order to match the sleeve-flinging of the arms; the movement pathways are mainly arcs, coordinated throughout the body. The dance as a whole has a marked rhythm and a magnificent momentum, fully displaying the masculine and handsome beauty of the men's dancing. The women's dancing has soft, flowing movements; the sleeve-flinging and the footwork are basically close to those of the men, but with a smaller amplitude, showing the women's soft, graceful and gentle, dignified character. The cohesion and the power of inspiration that it possesses can play a positive role in the building of modern spiritual civilization.
Ordinary Dro and Dharma Dro
Yushu Dro divides into a largely secular kind and a strongly religious 'dharma' kind, each in two sections from slow to fast.
Prelude, main part and coda
A full performance has a devotional prelude, an extended main part and a blessing coda.
Sleeves trailing on the ground
The dance turns on sleeve work: dancers' sleeves trail on the ground and the men swing them widely with sweeping jumps.
A dance of dozens or hundreds
Dozens or even hundreds dance together in a stirring rhythm, the women's movements gentler and narrower.
Angjacuo's family transmission
The inheritor Angjacuo, born in 1944, has passed the Dro dance to his son and relatives.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Guozhuang dance, also called "guozhuo", "gezhuang" or "zhuo", means circle dance-song in Tibetan. It is one of the three great folk dances of the Tibetan people, distributed in the Tibetan-inhabited areas of Qamdo and Nagqu in Tibet, Aba and Ganzi in Sichuan, Diqing in Yunnan, and Qinghai and Gansu. Yushu zhuo dance is transmitted in the area of Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in the southwestern part of Qinghai Province, in the heart of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Guozhuang Dance · Guozhuang Dance · Guozhuang Dance · Guozhuang Dance · Guozhuang Dance · Guozhuang Dance · Guozhuang Dance · Guozhuang Dance · Guozhuang Dance · Guozhuang Dance.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Zhuo dance has a broad popular and social foundation; its rich forms of expression, distinctive character, exquisite skills and strong personality are widely praised by the masses, and within Tibetan song-and-dance art it has broad representativeness and marked typicality, revealing a high artistic value. At the same time zhuo dance contains ancient and profound cultural connotations, and is of important value in research in anthropology, ethnology and folklore studies. Angjia Cuo (official archive record of the associated inheritor): Male, Tibetan, born in 1944, from Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai. He attaches great importance to the transmission of Yushu zhuo dance, and has already taught zhuo dance skills to his son and to his other relatives. Representative inheritor of the second-batch national-level intangible cultural heritage project Guozhuang dance (Yushu zhuo dance).
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Dazhenqupi 02-0369
- Xuguilian 02-0370
- Songjizhaxi 02-0371
- Luosongjiangcun 02-0372
- Angjiacuo 02-0373
- Ade 03-0919
- Bai Manimai 03-0920
- Caiwa 03-0921
- Buzhaxi 03-0922
- Abu 05-2229
- Zerennima 05-2230
- Cideng
- Zhaxicairen
- Qianfuquan
- Tugazeren
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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