Miao Lusheng Dance
01 · Historical Records
The Puan Miao lusheng dance is bound to the funeral and sacrificial rites of the "Mengsa" Miao; it is the sacred dance with which this branch escorts the spirit of the deceased and entertains the gods. It is transmitted among the long-settled villages of the "Mengsa" Miao in Longyin Town and Baisha Township along the south bank of the Beipanjiang River in the northern part of Pu'an County. The dance is performed mainly by men and is generally taught by the Miao moshi (the ritual master who ferries the soul of the dead across); anyone wishing to become an apprentice of a moshi must hold an initiation ceremony, while other learners can master it simply by watching attentively, consulting elders and practising hard. Throughout the funeral rite, a dozen or several dozen people dance while some blow the lusheng and others swing wooden sticks, to the beat of the skin drum and the music of the lusheng.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The Miao lusheng dance (called "Re'aide Geng" in Miao) is a traditional dance accompanied by the lusheng, played and danced by the performers themselves. The Miao lusheng dance mainly transmitted among the long-settled villages of the "Mengsa" Miao (a branch of the Miao in the Sichuan-Yunnan-Guizhou dialect area) in Longyin Town and Baisha Township, Pu'an County, Guizhou Province, is a traditional sacrificial dance bound to funeral and sacrificial rites. Its area of transmission lies in the north of Pu'an County, in the region on the south bank of the Beipanjiang River. According to the County Gazetteer of Pu'an County in Guizhou Province, the "Mengsa" Miao migrated to Pu'an at the end of the Ming dynasty. Ni Lue of the Ming recorded in the Wild History of Nanzhao that "every year at the Mengyue festival the men blow the lusheng and the women shake bells and sing in chorus, dancing shoulder to shoulder, tireless all day long". There is no record of when the Miao lusheng dance began, but judging from its legends, its performance forms and its accompanying music, it has a history of at least five hundred years. The Miao lusheng dance of Pu'an County is the sacred dance in which the "Mengsa" Miao escort the spirit of the dead and entertain the gods during their funeral rites; a dozen or several dozen people dance while some blow the lusheng and others swing wooden sticks, to the beat of the skin drum and the music of the lusheng. The movements are rough and powerful, mysterious and uncanny; the steps can be summarised as walking, shifting, striding, turning, standing, kicking, crossing, hooking and tumbling. The movements fall into four parts: Jiaogu (Gengzi drum), meaning blowing the lusheng to "invite the spirit" and "welcome the guest"; Suogeng (Changzipiao), meaning hunting; Gaozhuang Degeng (Hongge Geng), meaning dancing the lusheng dance, itself composed of three parts, the three-beat drum, the four-beat drum and the six-beat drum; and Leganche, meaning sounding the lusheng and brandishing wooden sticks to escort the deceased on the way. Traditional movements include "Qiao Hejiu", "Qiuyin Gunsha" and "Gunshanzhu". The lusheng dance of the "Mengsa" Miao in Pu'an has clear gender and stylistic features: it is performed mainly by men, its dance form is rough and powerful, unrestrained and ardent, and it demands a high degree of technical skill; at the same time it expresses both the significance carried by its cultural function and the artistic expression of its music-and-dance form. This heritage item is generally taught by Miao moshi (the ritual masters who ferries the soul of the dead across). Only those who wish to become apprentices of a moshi hold an initiation ceremony; other learners who wish to learn it can master it simply by watching attentively, consulting elders and practising hard.
The four movement sections
Four sections follow in order: summoning the spirit, hunting, the drum-led lusheng dance in three, four and six strokes, and escorting the dead with pipes and staves.
Drinking, worm-rolling and the rolling pearl
Traditional movements include Clever Drinking, Earthworm Rolling in Sand and Rolling Pearl, robust and highly technical.
Transmission by the ritual master
Taught by the Miao mortuary masters, it requires a formal apprenticeship only for those seeking to become masters themselves.
The moon-dance record in Nanzhao Yeshi
Ni Lüe's Ming miscellany records men piping and women ringing bells as they danced shoulder to shoulder all day at the spring moon dance.
Mortuary dance south of the Beipan river
A sacred mortuary dance of the Mengsa Miao, it exists within funeral ritual in the counties north of the Beipan river's south bank.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The "Mengsa" Miao number more than one hundred thousand in northwestern Guizhou; they live mainly in the mountains of the Beipanjiang basin. Because the women wear a wooden comb shaped like a crescent moon and insert it askew into the hair bun, they are known as the "crooked-comb Miao".
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
The lusheng dance of the "Mengsa" Miao in Pu'an concentrates the ethnic memories of the "Mengsa" Miao, namely their migration, encircling hunts, fighting for survival, cutting a path through the brambles to open up roads, and reclaiming land for farming. It reflects their outlook on life, on the world and on aesthetics with artistry, and is an important carrier of the historical and cultural traditions of the "Mengsa" Miao; it has reference value for research in dance studies, folklore studies, ethnology and history.
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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