Drum Dance

Ⅲ-42Traditional DanceWuwei, GansuBatch 2 (2008)Newly Added Item

01 · Historical Records

Historically, from the early Han dynasty to the Tang and Five Dynasties, Siba Town was the dwelling place of many northern ethnic groups; after the Ming dynasty people of Han ethnicity from Shanxi, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and elsewhere moved in as well, so this place has always been a multi-ethnic settlement. In September 1996 the Liangzhou Gongguzi (attack-drum dance) took part in the folk drum dance competition of the sixth National Qunxing Art Festival held by the Ministry of Culture, and won a silver award.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

Chinese drum dance is distinguished by its rich drum notation, its ardent emotion and its deep cultural foundations; it is spread throughout the country and its influence reaches the whole world. The 'Historical Appendix' of the Book of Changes contains the phrase 'the drum, danced so as to bring the spirit to its fullest', which vividly reflects the long history of Chinese drum dance and at the same time sums up its principal function. From the primitive 'striking the stones and beating the stones, all the beasts take to dancing' to the later spreading of its influence across the great rivers to the south of the Yangtze, Chinese drum dance has always continued in a single line of transmission, unbroken and unceasing. Liangzhou Gongguzi is a folk drum music and dance transmitted in Yangjiazhai Village, Siba Town, Liangzhou District, Wuwei City, Gansu Province. One could say that the Gongguzi is a unique western drum dance art born from the blending and fusion of the music and dance of the Western Regions with those of the Central Plains. Liangzhou Gongguzi is a survival of the ancient music and dance of going out to campaign; all of its movements embody the characteristic of 'attack'. All performers are male, from several dozen to several hundred; two form a pair and eight form a group; they wear black futou caps with two pheasant feathers stuck upright in them, fan-shaped white paper flowers at the rim of the cap, black 'thirteen-lieutenant robes' (kuayi) on the body, fast boots on the feet and red drums at the waist, holding drumsticks in both hands. The basic beating method of the Gongguzi can be summarised in the four-line formula: 'Both hands draw arcs before the chest, striking the drum in alternation and turning it over. Step forward and stamp the ground with the strength of the legs, chest out and head up, the body never bent'; in performance there appear formations such as 'two feet facing each other', 'displaying the three armies', 'four gates fighting the enemy', 'climbing high to gaze far', 'enclosing the lotus' and 'hanging the array', fully expressing the masculine vigour of ancient warriors, valiant and dashing, pressing forward without hesitation, giving an impression of might and heroism and yet of mystery; locally it is known as the desert 'black whirlwind'. With the development of the market economy and the influence of outside culture, the Liangzhou Gongguzi now rarely arouses the interest of local young people; some of the young and middle-aged backbone performers have gone out to trade and take work elsewhere and are scattered in various places, while the old artists are growing too old to perform — all of which has directly affected the transmission and development of the Gongguzi.

The Thirteen Guardians jacket

All performers are men in black caps with two pheasant feathers and a fan of white paper flowers, black guard jackets, light boots and a red drum at the waist.

The four-line formula

Its method is summed up in four lines: arcs drawn at the chest, alternating drum strokes, weight driven into the step, chest out and back straight.

Battle formations

The dance deploys formations such as two hosts facing off, the three armies displayed, four gates contested, looking afar from the height and the linked lotus.

The black whirlwind of the desert

From Yangjiazhai in Sibao township, it fuses western-region and central-plain music and is known locally as the desert black whirlwind.

Yang Menyuan's drum troupe

Born in 1959, Yang Menyuan began learning at eight and founded the Sibao drum troupe in 1996, leading it through more than thirty performances.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

Chinese drum dance takes many forms, is widely distributed, shows the most varied dance postures, and abounds in the greatest variety of kinds; among the more typical forms are waist drum dance, biegǔ dance, flower drum (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, sheepskin drum dance and many others.

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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

The Liangzhou Gongguzi combines entertainment, artistry, local character, spontaneity and ethnicity, and has high aesthetic value and cultural-identity significance. Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Gongguzi has been well excavated and collated with the support and guidance of the cultural department of Liangzhou District. The relevant departments should draw up a plan as quickly as possible to rescue and protect this precious folk dance art. Yang Menyuan (official archive record of the associated inheritor): male, Han ethnicity, born in January 1959, native of Wuwei City, Gansu Province. He began to learn the performance techniques of the Liangzhou Gongguzi at the age of eight and began to perform officially at sixteen. In 1996 he founded the Gongguzi Performance Art Troupe of Siba Town, Liangzhou District, Wuwei City, and served as its director; he organised and took part in more than thirty stage and square performances at national, provincial, municipal and district level, winning many awards. He has also taken part in the filming of five documentaries and television dramas. His performance technique is highly polished, and he introduces innovations on the basis of the original performance form. Representative inheritor of the third national-level batch of the intangible cultural heritage project Drum Dance (Liangzhou Gongguzi). In recent years, besides taking part in various intangible cultural heritage showcase performances, he has made the training of young drummers his priority and has trained a large number of young drummers.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗

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