Drum Dance
01 · Historical Records
It originated in the sixth year of the Xining reign (1073) under Emperor Shenzong of the Northern Song, and by the Qing dynasty the yayagu had divided into three kinds: civil, martial and clown. Judging from documentary records, the line of its transmission is clear: in the goulan washe entertainment quarters it was performed in the form of zaju (miscellaneous drama); once it moved into the streets and villages it changed into the 'Lamplight yayagu', the 'Village yayagu' and the 'River bend yayagu'.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Chinese drum dance is distinguished by rich drum patterns, ardent emotion and deep cultural reserves; it spreads across the whole country and its influence reaches the entire world. The Book of Changes (Yijing), in its chapter 'Appended Statements', has the phrase 'the drums are danced to, so as to bring the spirits to their fullest' (gu zhi wu zhi yi jin shen); it vividly reflects the long history of Chinese drum dance while also summing up, in a nutshell, its principal function. From the primitive 'striking stones and clapping stones, the hundred beasts all dance' (ji shi fu shi, bai shou shui wu) to later times when its influence spread everywhere south and north of the Yangtze, Chinese drum dance has remained one continuous, unbroken tradition. The yayagu is also called 'yagu' or 'ya gu', and is one of the most representative folk dances of Shanxi Province. The Pingding martial yayagu is transmitted mainly in Pingding County, Shanxi Province. It depicts war life by symbolic means, and its representative works include 'Zhu Tong Goes up Mount Liang', 'Zhao Kuangyin Campaigns in Hedong' and 'Li Zicheng Enters the Capital'. The dance uses six kinds of percussion instruments, 21 pieces in all — flat drums, tone gongs, small cymbals, nao and yunluo gongs — with one of the twenty-one performers holding each; they dance the shuahui passages while playing complete sets of classical luogu tune patterns, arranging many battle formations according to set routines and constantly evolving them. In the process, the performers wear the costume of ancient martial shehuo, with a single-back banner inserted at the back and eight-treasure rope flowers looped across the chest; the female roles paint a plum-blossom design on the centre of the forehead and on each cheek, and their headdresses and facial makeup closely resemble those of dramatic characters. During performance the actor holding the position of 'marshal' at the centre beats the drum to mark time and directs, and the dance style is heroic, uninhibited and of grandly stirring power. The Pingding martial yayagu preserves a complete set of classical luogu tune patterns, formation diagrams and shuahui routines; each performer carries a single-back banner on the back, the female roles paint a 'plum-blossom face', and its performance features are very close to the 'zhuanggu' (costumed solitary figure) of Song-dynasty zaju. It has considerable historical and cultural value and is a living specimen for the study of ancient military drum music, battle formations, Song zaju performance forms and folk sacrificial customs. The yayagu, also called yagu or ya gu, split into civil, martial and clown varieties during the Qing dynasty. The martial yayagu performs exclusively war subjects, reproducing by symbolic means the deployments, advances and retreats, and victories and defeats of the opposing sides, with the drumbeats always synchronised with the formation. The frequently performed 'Zhu Tong Goes up Mount Liang', 'Zhao Kuangyin Campaigns in Hedong' and 'Li Zicheng Enters the Capital' each correspond to different arrays and different luogu tune patterns; the performers take positions divided by the play, and the way the back banners are planted and the blocking change as the story advances. Any one of the twenty-one performers making a mistake would throw the whole formation out.
Twenty-one percussion pieces
Twenty-one players each hold one of twenty-one instruments of six kinds, playing classical percussion suites while marching through evolving formations.
Plum-blossom faces and single banners
Performers wear martial ceremonial dress with a single banner on the back and knotted flowers at the chest, the women's brows and cheeks painted with plum blossoms.
The drumming commander at the centre
The player at the centre in the commander's place beats the drum to direct, and his rhythm governs the whole array.
Three war pieces
The three signature pieces through which the dance depicts warfare, each paired with its own percussion suites and formations.
Old varieties of the yagu
Arisen in 1073, the ya drum moved from the theatre quarter to town and village as three named varieties before splitting into civil, martial and clown types in the Qing.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Chinese drum dance takes many forms, is widely distributed, varies greatly in dance posture, and differs enormously in kind. Among the more typical forms are waist-drum dance, the crouching drum dance (biaogu), flower-drum (flower-lantern) dance, wooden-drum dance, long-drum dance, flat-drum dance, bronze-drum dance, dragon-drum dance, fan-drum dance, yellow-clay drum dance, elephant-foot drum dance, monkey drum dance, flower-whip drum dance, bamboo-drum dance, bell-drum dance, sheep-skin drum dance and many others.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Drum Dance · Drum Dance · Drum Dance · Drum Dance · Drum Dance · Drum Dance · Drum Dance · Drum Dance · Drum Dance · Drum Dance · Drum Dance · Drum Dance · Drum Dance · Drum Dance · Drum Dance · Drum Dance · Drum Dance · Drum Dance.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
In recent years, as modernisation has accelerated, the Pingding martial yayagu has gradually declined. At present the old performers of the local martial yayagu have died one after another, few are carrying the art on, its prospects are worrying, and it urgently needs protection and rescue.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Mairemuhan Adili 02-0402
- Li Chengyuan 03-0925
- Yang Menyuan 03-0926
- Daisanhai 03-0927
- Gao Ruchang 04-1570
- Wang Qiren 04-1571
- Qi Xuede 05-2243
- Zhang Hongnian 05-2244
- Chen Defu 05-2245
- Zhang Lanqing 05-2246
- Zhang Jifu 05-2247
- Su Anfu
- Wang Chengde
- Liu Xueguang
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
This static English edition is rendered at the edge for search engines, AI crawlers and readers without JavaScript; it mirrors the bilingual dossier. 阅读中文版，或返回 英文名录。