Qilin Dance
01 · Historical Records
The Bantang Yongsheng Hall qilin dance is named for its meaning that 'the qilin is always victorious', and it was devised in 1840 by Ao Toutou Si (a personal style name), the founder of the Bantang Yongsheng Hall qilin dance. Beginning in 1841, the Yongsheng Hall qilin dance was invited to give performances in various localities. During the Republican era, the Yongsheng Hall qilin dance performed in the Hong Kong region. Liu Zhaoguang, the seventh-generation inheritor, opened a martial arts hall in Hong Kong and taught the qilin dance there.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The Yongsheng Hall qilin dance consists chiefly of the qilin dance itself and of martial arts performance. The qilin dance imitates the movements and demeanour of animals such as the cat and the tiger, shaking the head, swaying the tail, frolicking and playing, and it fuses martial arts footwork into this; it performs such set routines as Emerging from the Cave (Chudong), Biting the Foot (Jiaojiao), Playing with the Tail (Nong Qilinwei), Dozing (Dankeshui), Swinging the Greens (Baiqing), Kicking the Greens (Tiqing), Gathering the Greens (Caiqing), Narcissus (Shuixianhua), the Cross-Clear Formation (Shiqing), Oriole Garden (Liaohuayuan) and the Qilin Turns the King (Qilin Fanwang). The martial arts performance includes fist forms, broadsword, staff, trident, the inner-needle weapon (neizhen) and sparring demonstrations. The qilin dance, this folk traditional dance, is part of the festival and celebratory customs of the Bantang Hakka and is deeply loved by the local people.
Emerging from the cave, chewing the foot, teasing the tail, dozing
One of the core routines, modelling the qilin on the head-shaking and tail-wagging of cats and tigers with martial-arts footwork woven in.
Laying out, kicking and plucking the greens
The linked passages dealing with the greens, from laying them out through testing and kicking to plucking them, and the most demanding part of the set.
Narcissus, cross-clear, starling garden and king-turning
Four named routine segments that run alongside the cave and greens passages and give the Yongshengtang style its distinctive sequence.
Boxing, broadsword, staff, trident, needle and paired combat
The martial display that follows the qilin dance: boxing and weapons in sequence, ending with paired combat on the same stance and footwork as the dance.
The founding of Yongshengtang
The troupe takes its name from the wish that the qilin ever be victorious; it was founded in 1840 and has since passed through twelve generations.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The Yongsheng Hall qilin dance is centred on Bantang Subdistrict of Longgang District, Shenzhen City. It spreads through Shenzhen's Hakka settlements such as Xixiang Subdistrict of Bao'an District, and it was carried into Hong Kong by clan members who migrated there. The Hakka around Bantang organise by ancestral hall: a master teaches in the clan hall or on the drying yard (heping), and the troupe turns out for the Spring Festival, weddings, ancestor worship and village celebrations. During the Republican era Liu Zhaoguang, the seventh-generation inheritor, opened a martial arts hall in Hong Kong and taught the qilin dance together with fist forms, so that this craft has circulated among the Hakka villages on both sides of the Shenzhen-Hong Kong border. A Yongsheng Hall performance team is made up of the qilin dancers and the martial arts members together, and the qilin routines run on unbroken from the unarmed and armed demonstrations. The greens used for caiqing are hung by the host family on the door lintel, and the qilin must take them in its head or mouth without letting them touch the ground; once it has taken the greens it bows to the host in congratulation. Within the troupe one man beats the drum and one holds the gong, and the rhythm changes with the routines, Chudong being leisurely and Fanwang being urgent and rapid. The heights and strides of the two qilin dancers must match one another, and they are normally paired permanently as clan relatives or as master and apprentice of the same school. Boys begin by practising the tail movements and only learn the head movements after reaching adulthood; the basic training consists chiefly of horse stances and leaps, and only those able to complete a whole set of routines continuously are allowed to appear in formal occasions.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Qilin Dance · Qilin Dance · Qilin Dance · Qilin Dance · Qilin Dance · Qilin Dance · Qilin Dance · Qilin Dance.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
It is transmitted mainly in Bantang Subdistrict of Longgang District, in Xixiang Subdistrict of Bao'an District and elsewhere in Shenzhen. Handed down to the present it has a history of more than 170 years and has been transmitted through twelve generations.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Yang Yinhai 03-0928
- Zhang Xishan 05-2248
- Songzhang 05-2249
- Liu Jintang
- Hanzhiyong
- Xie Yuqiu
- Zhang Zhiming
- Liu Weituan
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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