Qilin Dance
01 · Historical Records
Therefore Hakka young people learned martial arts in order to defend their home villages, and the qilin dance originated in martial arts training activities.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The Xigong Hang Hau Hakka qilin dance is a form of traditional dance handed down through generations by the Hakka communities of Hong Kong, and it is distributed mainly among the villages of the Hang Hau area in the Sai Kung District of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Historically a group of Hakka people came to Hong Kong and settled along the coast of the Clear Water Bay peninsula at Hang Hau, Sai Kung. They farmed on terraces and caught fish and shrimp in the bays; life was hard, and they were frequently harassed by pirates. The qilin used as a prop is a composite of a dragon's head, a deer's body, hooves and an ox's tail; it has a single horn on its head and fish scales on its body. The qilin's head is built of paper and bamboo splints, while its body is made of cloth in the five colours that stand for the five elements. To the accompaniment of drum, gong and cymbals, the performers animate the individual character of the qilin: it walks very carefully and will not harm living things on the ground; it is curious about its surroundings and wants to inspect the places it passes through. A qilin dance team basically consists of one leader (normally taken by a master or a senior member), two people responsible respectively for dancing the head and the tail of the qilin, and three people responsible for the percussion of drum, gong and cymbals. The Hakka regard the qilin as an auspicious beast that can drive away malign influences and bring good fortune. So the qilin dance is performed at celebrations and at festival ceremonies. When a villager goes to fetch his bride, the qilin welcomes her at the village entrance and escorts her to the clan hall. During the Lunar New Year, the qilin teams of the various villages visit one another; this is called 'going out to the sheds' (chupeng). The Hakka stress that the qilin dance must attend to ritual propriety; when a team visits another village, the qilin must kowtow at the temple and in the clan hall. Before the qilin enters the clan hall, it first bows at the doorway, then reads the couplets on either side of the doorway, and then brings the head and body of the qilin into contact with the edges of the door frame and the columns. After the qilin enters the clan hall, it dances around the two columns of the spirit screen, and these actions carry the meaning of 'purification'. Then the qilin enters the shrine hall beside the courtyard and pays its respects before the ancestral tablets. When it enters the hall to kowtow, the route traced by the dancing qilin forms a 'knot'; so after the worship the qilin must retreat backwards out of the hall along the path by which it came, in token of respect, and this is to 'untie the knot'. After the worship in the clan hall is finished, the qilin team performs on open ground. In recent years some villagers have voluntarily trained the younger generation without payment, and hold a 'qilin association' every year in the first lunar month, raising villagers' interest in the qilin dance. At the same time the qilin dance has been carried to places such as the United Kingdom along with the movement of population, and passed on to the next generation. The Hakka of Hang Hau, Sai Kung, have projected their ideal vision onto the qilin. The early qilin dance was a compound of physical exercise, entertainment, defence of the homeland and religious ritual.
Chupeng, the New Year village visits
At Lunar New Year the qilin teams of the Hang Hau villages visit one another; propriety requires the qilin to salute the host village's temple and hall.
Saluting the door, reading the couplets, purifying the pillars
Before entering the hall the qilin bows to the door, reads the couplets, brushes the doorframe and pillars, then circles the screen posts as an act of purification.
Untying the knot
The path traced in worship forms a knot, so after bowing the qilin must withdraw backwards along the same route, an act called untying the knot.
The qilin and the five-colour cloth
The prop combines a dragon head, deer body, hoofed feet and ox tail, with a single horn and scales; the head is paper and bamboo, the body five-colour cloth for the five elements.
The six-member team
A team normally consists of one leader, usually the master or a senior member, two dancers for head and tail and three players of drum, gong and cymbals.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The Hang Hau Hakka qilin dance is distributed among a number of villages in the Hang Hau area of Sai Kung District in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, with the Hakka villages along the coast of the Clear Water Bay peninsula as its base. The local Hakka historically farmed terraces and caught fish in the bays, and village visited village through the custom of 'going out to the sheds': during the Lunar New Year each team in turn called at the door of the others, first kowtowing at the other side's temple and clan hall and then presenting their art on open ground. Hang Hau Hakka who emigrated to the United Kingdom took their qilin teams with them and went on performing at the festivals of the expatriate community, so that this body of ritual left a branch among overseas Chinese communities; in recent years villagers in Hong Kong have voluntarily trained the younger generation without payment and have held a 'qilin association' every year in the first lunar month.
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
Today the qilin dance remains an important vehicle for transmitting traditional ritual and culture, and it is also a traditional activity that unites the village and maintains the relationships between its residents.
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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