Jinuoda Drum Dance
01 · Historical Records
The origin of the Big Drum Dance is bound up with the Jino legend of the creator goddess Amü Yaobai. It is said that in ancient times a great flood overwhelmed the land, and Amü Yaobai made a large drum so that the brother and sister Mahei and Maniu could hide inside it and survive; once they emerged from the drum they multiplied and became the ancestors of the Jino people. The Jino therefore dance the Big Drum Dance in gratitude to Amü Yaobai, who gave birth to their people a second time. The big drum is consequently held by the Jino as a ritual vessel, a weighty implement and a sacred object. In ordinary times it may only be hung on the sacred pillar in the house of the zhuoba (village elder), and making a big drum follows a very strict procedure.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The Big Drum Dance is called "Situo guo" in Jino language, in which "Situo" means "big drum" and "guo" means "to dance". It is passed down among the Jino villages of Jino Mountain Jino Ethnic Township, Jinghong City, Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province. The Jino dance the Big Drum Dance to give thanks to Amü Yaobai, the creator goddess who, according to legend, saved the Jino people with the big drum. The dance is most solemn during the Temoek Festival, which falls on the third day after the beginning of spring. Dancing the Big Drum Dance involves a complete set of rituals. Before the dance, the village elders first kill a suckling pig and a chicken and set them before the drum; seven elders then bow their heads in worship, and one of them recites the sacrificial text, praying that the big drum will bring good fortune and peace to the people. When the sacrifice is finished, one person takes a drumstick in each hand and dances while beating the drum; alongside him are a number of beaters, cymbal players, and dancers and singers. The sung text used in the Big Drum Dance is called "Wuyouke", and its lyrics deal mostly with Jino history, morality and custom. The dance movements include "Worshipping the Spirits", "Joyful Leap" and "New Year Tune" and similar items. The big drum is a ritual vessel, a weighty implement and a sacred object of the Jino; it can only be hung on the sacred pillar in the house of the zhuoba (village elder), and its manufacture follows a very strict procedure.
The Temaoke festival
The greatest Jino festival, held three days after the start of spring, and the grandest occasion for the great-drum dance.
Seven elders sacrifice to the drum
Before the dance the elders offer a suckling pig and a chicken, seven of them bow before the drum and one recites the prayer; only then does the drummer begin.
Wuyouke, the sung text
The name of the lyrics sung during the dance, mostly Jino history, morals and custom; the inheritor He Guiying has collected more than fifty such songs.
The drum on the zhuoba's pillar
A ritual object and treasure, the drum hangs only on the pillar of the village elder's house and must be made by a strict procedure.
Saluting the gods, joyful leaps and New Year tunes
Movement names of the great-drum dance: saluting the gods opens the rite, while joyful leaps and New Year tunes fill the festive climax.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The Big Drum Dance is passed down among the Jino villages of Jino Mountain Jino Ethnic Township, Jinghong City, Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province. In each village the drum is kept and worshipped in the house of the zhuoba (village elder), and it is rehung whenever the elder changes. During the Temoek Festival the villages all follow the same ritual order, sacrificing livestock, worshipping the drum, and dancing to the beating of the drum; the sequence of sung texts and dance sections varies slightly from village to village.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The Jino Big Drum Dance carries rich historical and cultural content and has a degree of artistry and spectator appeal. At present only three elderly people over seventy can still master the whole sequence of the Big Drum Dance rituals and all of its dance movements, so the practice is already in an extremely endangered state and is in urgent need of protection. He Guiying (official archival record of the associated inheritor): Female, of Jino ethnicity, born in March 1967, a native of Jinghong City, Yunnan Province. She began learning to sing from her mother at the age of ten, and at sixteen studied ancient songs and folk dance with Shache, a highly respected artist of Jino Mountain. Her singing merges inseparably with the Big Drum Dance, expressing a strong Jino style and winning the affection of the local people. Beyond performing, she has collected and organized more than fifty Jino ancient songs, including "Wuyouke". From 1998 onward she took on more than thirty disciples in succession, including Che Ying, Jie Bulu, Xiao Ze and others. She has repeatedly taken part in performance tours in Beijing, Kunming and other places, and has persisted in teaching at Big Drum Dance training classes run by the municipal cultural centre and the township cultural stations, training more than three thousand students. Representative inheritor of the Jino Big Drum Dance, a national-level intangible cultural heritage project in the fifth national-level batch. Whenever Jino festivals are held, especially the Temoek Festival, she leads her disciples in staging programmes.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- He Guiying 05-2241
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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