Miao Lusheng Dance
01 · Historical Records
Jinji dance originated within the territory of Paitiao Town, Danzhai County, Guizhou Province, and is transmitted among the Miao "Ganao" branch people who wear the short hemp-bird-style ultra-short skirt costume in the Miao villages of Paitiao, Yegai, Jiapei, Dangzao, Maniao, Yangxian, Yanggao and Yedou, as well as Yahui and Songlong within Yahui Township.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Lusheng dance, also called "stepping on the lusheng" or "stepping-song hall", is so named because it uses the lusheng to accompany the dancing and because the dancers both play and dance at the same time. Judging from the excavated bronze lusheng music-and-dance figurines of the Western Han dynasty, lusheng dance has a history of at least more than two thousand years. Lusheng dance is mostly performed at festive moments such as the New Year, gatherings and celebrations, and mainly takes three forms: self-amusement, competition and ritual. Legend has it that the ancestors of this branch of the Miao people lived on the eastern great plain, later moved to live beside a sandy beach called "zhanao duishe", and then, because of a flood, travelled up along the river to Danzhai County. After settling in Danzhai County, the Miao ancestors opened fields and hunted to get food as they made their way through the days. Because the golden pheasant helped them obtain millet seed and helped them survive the famine, the golden pheasant became the lucky star of their fate. So they dressed themselves in imitation of the golden pheasant and, imitating the pheasant's courtship step, began to dance the lusheng dance. Jinji dance is the principal dance form in the Miao people's ancestor-sacrifice festival held once every twelve years. Jinji dance is also frequently performed at folk weddings, at welcoming-guest rituals, and in the "yue" (moon-jumping) gatherings of young men and women. Jinji dance is accompanied by the lusheng; when performing, every woman knots her hair high, inserts golden-pheasant silver ornaments into her head, wears an embroidered ultra-short pleated skirt, puts on a full set of silver neck rings and bracelets, and wears embroidered pointed-toe shoes, dressing herself like a beautiful golden pheasant. The men blow the lusheng as leaders in front, and the women follow and begin to dance, forming a single line and circling counterclockwise. With the fast and slow beats of the lusheng melodies, the golden-pheasant silver ornaments on the women's heads seem ready to fly, the silver horn crowns nod this way and that, the floral ribbons at their legs flutter and flash, and the white feather silver ornaments at the hem of the pleated skirts billow like silver waves; in their light-footed wandering dance the dancers step lightly, much like golden pheasants playing and foraging. The dance movements run to three, four or seven steps, with four steps as the main pattern, interspersed with six-step turns; the natural swaying of the waist and knees forms the basic characteristic of the dance. With every step, both knees of the dancer tremble naturally forward; the movements of the lower limbs are many and those of the upper limbs few, with the two hands opened naturally and relaxed at the sides, swaying at ease. When many people take part, the lusheng players form a circle in the middle, playing and dancing, and the women form a circle on the outside, dancing at leisure. The folk jinji dance has a rich repertory of lusheng melodies, with more than a hundred pieces, which sound light and flowing, melodious and beautiful. Jinji dance expresses the gentle and tranquil character of the Miao people, embodies a harmonious and friendly spiritual state between human beings and nature, and highlights the ancient and brilliant pursuit of aesthetic beauty among the Miao people; it is a luxuriant wild flower among folk dances.
Silver pheasant ornaments and short pleated skirts
Women put up their hair with silver pheasant ornaments, embroidered short pleated skirts and full silver collars, while the men lead with the lusheng as they circle anticlockwise.
Four-step base with six-step turns
Steps run to three, four or seven counts, mainly four with six-count turns, the waist and knees swaying and both knees springing forward on each step.
The pheasant and the millet seed
Legend holds that a golden pheasant brought the ancestors millet seed through famine, so they dressed in its image and mimed its courtship steps.
Twelve-year ancestor rites and moon dances
It is the principal dance of the twelve-yearly ancestor rites and is also performed at weddings, welcome ceremonies and the youths' moon dances.
A hundred tunes and four lusheng sizes
Over a hundred tunes survive, and the inheritor Yu Guizhou builds six- to thirty-two-pipe lusheng and plays four sizes for a mixed low-to-high register.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
It is transmitted in the Miao, Dong, Bouyei, Shui, Gelao, Zhuang, Yao and other ethnic groups' inhabited areas in Guizhou, Guangxi, Hunan, Yunnan and elsewhere; it is the folk dance most beloved by the southern ethnic minorities and the most widely distributed among them.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Miao Lusheng Dance · Miao Lusheng Dance · Miao Lusheng Dance · Miao Lusheng Dance · Miao Lusheng Dance · Miao Lusheng Dance · Miao Lusheng Dance.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Li Jinying (official archive record of the associated inheritor): Female, Miao, born in 1965, from Danzhai, Guizhou. Li Jinying began in 1975 to learn from her mother the making of jinji costumes and the dancing of the jinji dance, and she would go to the lusheng ground to dance the jinji dance at every festival. When she dances, her lower limbs move a great deal and her upper limbs little, her left and right hands hanging vertically and relaxed beside the short skirt and swinging naturally with the dance, and her dance posture is elegant and delicate. Representative inheritor of the second-batch national-level intangible cultural heritage project Miao lusheng dance (jinji dance). Yu Guizhou (official archive record of the associated inheritor): Male, Miao, born in 1965, from Danzhai, Guizhou. He can make lushengs of six to thirty-two pipes, and when dancing he can use as his principal instruments four lushengs of differing specifications — extra-large, large, medium and small — rendering melodies that are rhythmically lively and flowing and of a mellow, far-reaching timbre, mixing low, middle, high, extra-high and other registers. Representative inheritor of the second-batch national-level intangible cultural heritage project Miao lusheng dance (jinji dance).
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Li Jinying 02-0379
- Yu Guizhou 02-0380
- Wang Jingcai 02-0381
- Lanheng 05-2234
- Li Guangde
- Zhu Ying
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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