Drum Dance
01 · Historical Records
The Liulin flower drum is one kind of 'guzi yangge'; its earliest performance form was 'ground yangge', which gradually developed into 'street-procession yangge'. The Liulin flower drum is thought to have originated in the early Qing dynasty. The story it enacts derives from 'Water Margin': the people combined the tale, in which Song Jiang, Wu Yong and others disguised themselves as flower drum performers to storm the execution ground and rescue Lu Junyi, with the guzi yangge already current locally; this became a fixed performance form that has continued down to the present and developed into the distinctive folk dance known as the 'Liulin flower drum'. In the early years after the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Liulin flower drum won first prize at the East China folk art performance and went to the front line of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea to give morale-boosting performances.
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 Liulin flower drum originally had two parts: the first depicts the Liangshan outlaws singing and dancing as they travel, disguised as they enter the city; the second depicts the battle in which they storm the execution ground to rescue Lu Junyi. The Liulin flower drum is a fusion of dance and martial arts, combining the civil and the martial, bold and uninhibited, hot-blooded and explosive. The sung verses of the Liulin flower drum use mainly local colloquialisms and slang, and the processional section and the hand-to-hand fighting section are linked by drumbeats: as the troupe moves in formation along the street the steps are uniform, and once it reaches the ground the martial fighting of the execution-ground rescue episode unfolds, with drum, cymbals and gong interlocking closely with the performers' movements, producing a character that combines the civil and the martial and is hot-blooded and explosive.
Two parts: the disguise and the rescue
Originally in two parts, the Liangshan heroes marching in disguise and their storming of the execution ground to save Lu Junyi; only the first survives.
The Water Margin rescue
The dance arose in the early Qing by fusing the Water Margin tale of Song Jiang's men disguised as drummers with the local drum yangge.
From ground to street yangge
A branch of drum yangge, it began as ground yangge and developed into street yangge, joining procession with set-piece combat.
Prize-winning tours
In the early years of the People's Republic the dance won first prize at the East China folk arts festival and toured the Korean front.
A highlight of the Linqing fair
Long a highlight of the Linqing temple fair, it is performed across dozens of townships of Linqing and Liaocheng and into Guantao in Hebei.
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. From an artistic point of view the Liulin flower drum is sharply characterised and unique in style, standing apart among the many varieties of 'guzi yangge'; it also has a strong local flavour and is folk art native to the soil, and its sung verses are full of the local people's colloquialisms and slang, which makes it important for the study of the development of local folk culture. The Liulin flower drum enjoys a high reputation in Guan County locally, and historically it has always been a highlight of the Linqing temple fair.
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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
At present it survives only in Liulin Town, Guan County, Shandong Province, and its performance range extends to dozens of surrounding townships in Linqing and Liaocheng and to places such as Guantao in Hebei. Of the two original parts, only the first has survived. In recent years the ranks of Liulin flower drum performers have grown steadily older, transmission faces a crisis and the prospects are worrying; it urgently needs rescue and protection.
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)
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