Reba Dance
01 · Historical Records
The transmission of Reba in Diqing is closely tied to the movement of performers along the Tea Horse Road: in former times itinerant Reba troupes entered the Weixi and Deqin areas along the ancient Yunnan-Tibet road, performing at village weddings, house-warming celebrations and harvest festivals; the performers were usually versed in storytelling and singing, acrobatics and xianzi. Because Tacheng town stands at a key point on the old road, it gradually became the most concentrated centre of Reba transmission in Diqing, and local people call a lead dancer of outstanding skill a "chongbei" (leader); the Sinong Reba of Yunling in Deqin and the Naxi Le'ba of Jinjiang town each formed a branch of their own, with transmission carried on mainly through families and from master to apprentice.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Reba dance is a traditional dance form performed by itinerant professional troupes who lived by their art; centred on the ringed hand drum and combining storytelling and singing, song and dance, acrobatics, qigong and comic skits into one composite art, it is mainly transmitted in Tacheng town of Weixi County, Yunling Township of Deqin County, Wujing Township and Shangjiang Township of Shangri-La County, and Jinjiang town of the Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Yunnan Province. "Reba" means long hair that sticks together, that is, a long clinging braid of hair. Hair is woven into netted tassel garments: the black-and-white yak-hair netted tassels woven by Reba performers and tied around their waists. Besides the Sinong Reba, which mainly entertains the people, Diqing Reba dance also includes the sacrificial Reba types — the Zimu Xiong Lisu Reba of Wujing Township, the Shenchuan Reba of Tacheng, the Liba of the Lisu people of Shangjiang, and the Le'ba of the Naxi people of Jinjiang town — which serve to amuse the deities and to pray for favourable weather and good harvests in the locality. Reba dance as transmitted in the Tibetan-inhabited counties and prefectures of Diqing falls into two major categories, sacrificial Reba and skill-based Reba. Skill-based Reba was originally taken up to make a living, so its repertoire is freshly composed and rich and varied; it is technically demanding, and its style is rugged and uninhibited, passionate and exuberant.
Ritual Reba and virtuoso Reba
Diqing's Reba divides into ritual and virtuoso kinds, the latter once a means of livelihood, technically demanding and uninhibited in style.
Sinong Reba
The chiefly entertaining branch, set beside ritual forms such as the Zimuxiong Lisu Reba and the Naxi Leba of Jinjiang.
The net-fringe costume
The name Reba means long, matted braids; performers wear a net fringe braided from black-and-white yak hair at the waist.
The chongbei and the eighteen stanzas
The inheritor Yun Zhang learned the eighteen sung stanzas from provincial inheritors and became his village's chongbei, or leader.
Family, master-disciple and communal transmission
The dance passes through family, master-disciple and communal lines; the ritual kind taught by monks keeps a solemn Buddhist dignity.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The Diqing folk call Reba dance "tiao Reba", "tiao Le'ba" or "linggu wu" (drum dance); different schools have formed according to the region and the specialities of the inheritors. Sacrificial Reba is transmitted by monks; as a Reba art form born of the Bon-Buddhist synthesis, it is naturally imbued with Buddhist incense and preserves the elegance, solemnity and gravity of Buddhist culture. Its content and forms arose to suit the production and living customs, religious customs, geography and settlement patterns of the local ethnic groups, and so carry a strong local flavour and regional character. It has been nourished by the song-and-dance art, religious culture, storytelling and comic skits of the Tibetan people, and reflects in its own distinctive forms the connotations of several cultures blending together, as well as the spiritual traits of the local people — reverence for nature and acceptance of their fate.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Reba Dance · Reba Dance.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Reba in Diqing is transmitted through master-apprentice teaching, family transmission and community transmission. Diqing Reba dance has a long history, a wide spread, rich connotations and deep cultural foundations; it enjoys a broad mass base and high artistic, aesthetic and visual value. Yunzhang (record from the official inheritor file): He was born in Tacheng, the "hometown of Reba song and dance", and was exposed to Reba song and dance from childhood; from 1980 he studied the eighteen vocal sections and step patterns of Reba dance with the provincial-level inheritors Chudeng, Busong and Yejiani. Because of his high, resonant singing and his skilled technique, he became the village's "chongbei" (leader) of Reba dance, performing Reba song and dance at folk festivals and weddings. He took part in the recording of the CCTV series programme "Tian Ci Kangba". Male, Tibetan, born July 1944, died August 2018, native of Weixi Lisu Autonomous County, Yunnan Province. Representative inheritor of Reba dance among the fifth batch of national-level intangible cultural heritage projects.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Danzengquta 02-0374
- Silangquzhen 02-0375
- Ganiao 02-0376
- Yunzhang 05-2231
- Sanbao
- Mayulin
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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