Guozhuang Dance
01 · Historical Records
Gannan Guozhuang is closely tied to the Dharma assemblies of Tibetan Buddhist monasteries: the monks and lay people around Labrang Monastery in Xiahe dance Guozhuang at the first-month prayer assemblies and during festivals such as the Fragrant Wave Festival, while in the pastoral areas tribes gather in a circle by village on the summer pastures, the sung words mostly praying for the safety of people and livestock and for abundant grass and water. The melodies and dialects differ from county to county, and the same Guozhuang is sung quite differently in Xiahe and in Zhouqu.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
In Tibetan, "guo" means a circle and "zhuang" means dance; Guozhuang is thus a circle song-and-dance, one of the three great Tibetan folk dances, also called "Guozhuo", "Gezhuang", "Zhuo" and other names. The Gannan Guozhuang dance is the Guozhuang dance transmitted mainly in Xiahe County, Luqu County, Maqu County, Zhuoni County, Zhouqu County, Diebu County, Lintan County and Hezuo City of Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu Province. The Guozhuang dance is closely related to Tibetan production and daily life; its content includes showing scenes of labour, praising heroes and expressing folk customs. Early Gannan Guozhuang dance had a sacrificial character and was an unaccompanied collective dance, and its steps fall into two great categories, Guozhuo and Kuwu. Guozhuo is travelling dance and Kuwu is turning dance. The whole dance consists of two sections, slow first and then fast, and can be sung while danced, mostly in antiphonal duet. At every festival and celebration the people dance Guozhuang, sometimes with a few or a dozen participants, sometimes tens of thousands; the men and women, young and old, of every ethnic group may take part. Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture has a varied climate and complex geography, with pastoral areas, agricultural areas, semi-agricultural and semi-pastoral areas and forest areas, which makes the Gannan Guozhuang dance show different characteristics in different cities and counties. The Guozhuang dances represented by the agricultural and forest areas — the many-place dance, the Luoluo dance, the array dance and others — integrate poetry, song and dance into one, with light and bright costumes and nimble, soft and graceful dancing. The Geer and Zhuo represented by the pastoral and semi-agricultural and semi-pastoral areas, and Qiangmu represented by religious dance, are marked by loose hips, bent backs and rounded shoulders; the waist moves with the rhythm, rising and falling and trembling in a regular way, giving a sense of serenity and harmony. The combination of relaxed knees with movements of the waist and hips forms a distinctive rhythmic character. When dancing, the movements are expansive, the stamping is vigorous, and the carriage is uninhibited. At every festival or celebration Gannan has the custom of holding Guozhuang for a thousand or ten thousand people; men and women, young and old, in their finest dress and adorned with precious ornaments, stamp the ground in time with the music and whirl their sleeves in a dance circle of thousands, forming a healthy and lively civic culture. In the dance movements the carriage changes mainly through lifting, swinging and swaying; the formations proceed clockwise, and the circles vary in size from large to small. People in the high, cold regions dance in long robes and tall boots, with steady carriage, vigorous stamping and a masculine, expansive air; the dress of people in the low-altitude regions is light and bright, and their carriage is relaxed and gentle, serene and comfortable. Through the generations the Gannan Guozhuang dance has been spontaneously organized and joined in by the local people, relying on the annual festivals and celebrations, organized and arranged by respected local elders, and transmitted collectively through oral teaching and personal demonstration. The Gannan Guozhuang dance vividly reflects the production, daily life, food culture, social customs and commercial trade of the Gannan Tibetan people, and is an important vehicle of Gannan Tibetan culture.
Gozho and Kubu
The two families of steps, Gozho the walking and Kubu the turning dance, in two sections from slow to fast and sung antiphonally.
Duodi, Luoluo and battle formation dances
Farming and forest districts have the Duodi, Luoluo and battle-formation dances, uniting poetry, song and dance in light and graceful style.
Gur, Dro and Cham
In pastoral and semi-pastoral areas the Gur, Dro and religious Cham dances use loose hips, bowed back and rippling waist.
The five keys: tremble, open, same-side, left, circle
Beyond the five classic Tibetan keys the Gannan dances show local colour, forceful on the high coldlands and gentle at lower altitudes.
Circle dances of thousands
At festivals Gannan stages circle dances of a thousand or ten thousand, all in their best dress, stamping and whirling in one great ring.
The first-month prayer festival and Shanglang festival
The dance hangs on the festival calendar, organised by respected elders and passed on orally, especially at the first-month prayer festival and Shanglang.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The Gannan Guozhuang dances, each with its own character, not only carry the five great elements of traditional Tibetan dance — trembling, opening, following, left and circling — but also have marked local Gannan characteristics.
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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
A clearly documented line of transmission has already reached the fifth generation. At present, the relevant departments, by carrying out project surveys, archival work, training, performance exhibitions and media publicity, and by relying on inheritors, transmission bases and performing troupes, are vigorously advancing the inheritance and dissemination of this project. It not only has distinctive artistic expressiveness but also the educational function of cultivating the mind, purifying the spirit and guiding the people towards unity and progress; it embodies the concept of harmonious development between human beings and nature, and has high social, cultural and aesthetic value.
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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