Drum Dance

Ⅲ-42Traditional DanceJilin, JilinBatch 3 (2011)Extension Item

01 · Historical Records

In the Liao dynasty the single drum was called the Zhenpengpeng drum and was an indispensable sacred implement in the shamanic spirit-jumping rite. The Chang and Zhang clans of the Wula Chen Han military banner incorporated it into the ancestral rites of their own families, the Chang clan calling it the single drum and the Zhang clan calling it the Taiping drum. Since the Ming dynasty, when a courier station was established at Wula, and the Qing dynasty, when the office of the Ula chief for livestock was set up, the population there has gradually grown; Han military banner people have settled here generation after generation, and the ritual procedures of family sacrifice and the techniques of drumming have been handed down through oral transmission within the clans and through their genealogical records.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

The Wula Chen Han Military Banner Single-Drum Dance is a dance performed by the Chang and Zhang clans of the Wula Chen Han military banner in their family sacrificial activities. The Chang family calls it the "single drum" and the Zhang family calls it the "Taiping drum". The Wula Chen Han Military Banner Single-Drum Dance is a dance form in which the single drum is struck by hand and waist bells are swung. The single drum, called the "Zhenpengpeng drum" in the Liao dynasty, was an indispensable sacred implement in the shamanic spirit-jumping rite. The single-drum dance has a rich repertoire of performance techniques, a distinctive style of its own, and is captivating. While dancing, the movement of the feet drives the twisting and swinging of the waist, so that the 32 waist bells hung at the waist knock against one another and give off a rhythmically distinct, crisp and pleasing "hua hua" sound; at the same time the hands strike the single drum in coordination with it. The dance steps of the single-drum dance change continuously, including the shuffling step of the T-shaped stance, the revolving step that traces a circle, three small steps forward followed by one step back, and marking time on the spot, among others. The Wula Chen Han Military Banner Single-Drum Dance is closely bound up with family sacrificial activities. Although the dance and its techniques serve the sacrificial activities of its own clan, they are of important significance for the study of the history of cultural intermingling between the Manchu and Han peoples in China, especially in northeast China.

The single drum and the peace drum

Two family names for the same instrument, the Chang calling it the single drum and the Zhang the peace drum.

Thirty-two waist bells

Steps drive the hips so that thirty-two bells at the waist clash in crisp rhythm while the hands beat the drum.

T-step, shuffle and circling steps

Its steps change continuously: the shuffling T-step, the circling step, three forward and one back, and marking time in place.

Releasing the eagle spirit and beating the five roads

Born in 1976, Zhang Hongnian has worked to recover the technique; his Releasing the Eagle Spirit and Beating the Five Roads inherit his father's art.

The two clans' ancestral rites

The dance belongs to the Chang and Zhang family rites, yet it documents the cultural mixing of Manchu and Han in the northeast.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

The chief transmitting body of the Wula Chen Han Military Banner Single-Drum Dance is the Chang and Zhang clans of the Wula area around Wulajie, Jilin City, Jilin Province. Because it was bound to family sacrifice, it was in the past not taught beyond the clan. In recent years its range of transmission has widened with support from bodies such as the Jilin City Art Research Institute, and Zhang Hongnian has already trained a ninth-generation inheritor.

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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

Inherited after the founding of the Jin dynasty and passed on through the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, it is still transmitted today. Zhang Hongnian (official archive record of the associated inheritor): Male, of Manchu ethnicity, born in March 1976, native of Jilin City, Jilin Province. He has devoted himself year-round to uncovering, organizing, transmitting and improving the dance techniques of the Wula Chen Han Military Banner Single-Drum Dance, and has fully inherited the distinctive techniques and original cultural beliefs of his elders' generation in such pieces as "releasing the eagle spirit" and "beating the five routes" that he performs, winning the praise of his clansmen and the affection of the public, and has taken part many times in performance events organized domestically. Representative inheritor of the national-level intangible cultural heritage project Drum Dance (Wula Chen Han Military Banner Single-Drum Dance), fifth national batch. In recent years he has regularly carried out transmission training and performance events, trained ninth-generation inheritors, expanded the influence of the Wula Chen Han Military Banner Single-Drum Dance, and brought fine traditional culture into fuller play.

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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