Guozhuang Dance

01 · Historical Records

Men and women form teams and make a circle, facing inward, and dance gracefully. According to the Tibetan book *The Royal Lineage of Ladakh*, guozhuang had already developed in the Tibetan areas as early as the period of the Deqiao Gong, long before the rise of the Tubo Kingdom. After more than a thousand years of development and change, it has evolved into several major schools. Ganzi guozhuang took shape in the area of Ganzi Prefecture. After 1978, guozhuang activity in Ganzi grew even livelier and had already become an indispensable mass recreational activity at festivals. In the Republic of China period the lyrics mostly praised the gods and Buddhas and the tusi and local chiefs. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, some traditional lyrics were retained while new ones were created praising the socialist system, singing of the Communist Party and extolling the hard-working and courageous nature of the people.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

Guozhuang dance is a type of folk dance popular in Tibetan-inhabited areas. It changes continually as the social history of the Tibetan people develops. There are songs and dances reflecting labour such as threshing highland barley, twisting wool, feeding livestock and brewing wine, and there are songs and dances portraying Tibetan customs and performed at weddings, house completions and when welcoming guests and entertaining visitors. Guozhuang dance is divided into old-style guozhuang and new-style guozhuang. Old-style guozhuang is sacrificial in character: only its set lyrics may be sung and no alteration whatsoever is permitted, and the dance is generally slow, steady, archaic and solemn. New-style guozhuang mostly reflects farming and herding production and commercial and trading activity; both its lyrics and its dance movements are relatively free and flexible. An ordinary guozhuang dance is not limited in the number of performers; it may be danced by one person or by many. Its dance steps fall into two main categories, 'guozhuo' and 'kuzhuo'; the former is walking dance, the latter turning dance. Guozhuang means 'circle dance'; it is an ancient traditional song-and-dance form. Ganzi guozhuang is one of its branches. In the Republic of China period Ganzi organized a guozhuang troupe every year (men and women alike) to perform at monasteries for the tusi and the local chiefs. This gradually formed the 'dance corvee system', which was abolished only after the founding of the People's Republic of China. The performing format of Ganzi guozhuang is: men and women form a circle, or each side forms a small circle of its own. Each side has a singing and dancing 'zhuoben' (lead dancer). Before the dance begins, each side first sings a free-metre 'yinzih' (introduction), after which the dancing proceeds clockwise. When the men's side sings and dances, the women's side dances without singing; when the women's side sings and dances, the men's side dances without singing. While dancing, men and women either link arms or dance without linking arms; the tempo slows to quick, and the performance ends at the climax with a fast tempo. By traditional custom the lyrics and tunes of Ganzi guozhuang follow a fixed sequence that may not be altered at will: first, gathering in joy; second, prayer; third, praise; fourth, jest; fifth, marriage; sixth, glorification of the Buddha. As a rule a guozhuang is not concluded until ten tunes have been sung and danced. In stylistic terms Ganzi guozhuang is archaic and expansive, and especially in its fast-tempo passages the melody is warm and spirited. The tunes and dance postures of Ganzi guozhuang were basically the same before and after the founding of the People's Republic of China. The lyrics have changed to some extent as the times have developed. The lyrical form of such folk songs usually belongs to antiphonal songs or long epics. The most common is the three-part form, each part running from 2 to 8 lines, and each line most often having 8 syllables. The most prevalent time signature is 2/4, and in addition some parts use the relatively more complex meters of 3/4, 6/8 and so on. The common modes are the yu mode and the shang mode.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

According to the region in which it is popular, guozhuang dance can further be divided into categories such as Ganzi guozhuang and Manai guozhuang. The movements of male dancers are rugged and vigorous, those of female dancers graceful and lively, giving the dance a distinctly local character. Yajiang County lies on the Sichuan-Tibet corridor in the middle reaches of the Yalong River; it was formerly a trading and caravan station on the Tea Horse Road. Guozhuang dance is passed on both in the farming villages along the Yalong and in the pastoral areas around Xiala and Xiyuoluo.

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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

As an important component of China's second largest Tibetan-inhabited region, the Kham Tibetan area that includes Tibet's Chamdo, Qinghai's Yushu and Yunnan's Diqing, Ganzi Prefecture is an important region for the inheritance and practice of the Kham culture, which has profound reserves.

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

1. Guozhuang Dance (Yajiang, Sichuan) · China ICH Official Project Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗