Shangyang Dance
01 · Historical Records
The Shangyang bird dance is an ancient folk dance. It originated in the northern part of Juancheng County, Shandong Province, and is transmitted around Lijinshitang Town and Jiucheng Town, with Xinghuagang Village of Lijinshitang Town being the most outstanding. According to research, this dance originated in the period of the Shang and Zhou dynasties, matured during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, and reached its height in the Song and Ming periods.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
It was originally an activity for praying for rain in which ancient people imitated the movements of the Shangyang bird; in the course of time the rain-praying activity became combined with traditional sacrificial rites, and through the elevation and refinement of the ancestors of Juancheng it gradually formed a complete pattern of dance, which has been handed down from generation to generation since the Shang and Zhou period until today. On Xinghuagang hill in Xinghuagang Village, Jiucheng Town, Juancheng County, there stands a Sanguan Temple, inside which are sculpted images of Yao, Shun and Yu; in every year of drought and deficient rainfall, people gather in front of the Sanguan Temple to dance the Shangyang bird dance and pray to the gods for rain. Apart from being used to pray for rain in times of drought, the Shangyang bird dance is normally fixed for performance on the third day of the third lunar month of the year. The Shangyang bird dance is a collective dance, and the dancers number twelve to sixteen, half men and half women. In performance, the dancers wear rings of willow twigs on their heads, go barefoot with their trousers rolled up, and wear rings of jingling bells at their ankles and wrists, and they dance to the accompaniment of a band; while imitating the movements of the Shangyang bird, they rhythmically strike clappers, emitting crisp sounds, and the dance style is archaic and elegant, lively and bright.
The hesitant step and the clack step
Two basic steps: the hesitant step touches the toe forward and snatches it back as if crossing marshland, while the clack step imitates the one-legged hopping bird.
Willow wreaths, bell rings and clappers
Dancers wear willow wreaths on their heads and strings of bells at wrist and ankle, barefoot with trousers rolled, clashing clappers as they imitate the bird.
Rain prayers at the Three Lords temple
The hill bears a temple to Yao, Shun and Yu where villagers danced for rain in dry years; apart from drought, the dance is fixed to the third day of the third lunar month.
The shangyang bird and its ancient origin
Originating as an imitation of the shangyang bird to pray for rain, the dance merged with sacrificial ritual and has been handed down since the Shang and Zhou.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The Shangyang bird dance takes Xinghuagang Village of Lijinshitang Town, Juancheng County, as its core, and the villages around Lijinshitang Town and Jiucheng Town each have their own dance teams, which take turns to appear when rain is prayed for and at the gathering on the third day of the third lunar month. The dance teams take the young men and women of the village as their backbone; the rings of willow twigs and the rings of bells among the props are made by the village itself, while the clappers are handed down from generation to generation as old objects; in 1957 the Juancheng delegation won first prize with this dance at the Shandong provincial folk literature and art exchange performance. The inheritor Chen Yuying has long collected scattered props and oral materials, and has organised surrounding farmers to learn the dance during the slack farming season, so that this ancient folk art has been able to continue.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The Shangyang bird dance, rich in local and folkloric character, is a representative of Juancheng's traditional culture; it touches on every aspect of Juancheng's festival customs and it has important value for research in anthropology and folklore. Because of the changes of the times, the Shangyang bird dance lacks successors and finds survival difficult; it urgently needs protection. Chen Yuying (as recorded in the official archive of the associated inheritor): female, Han ethnicity, born in September 1944, a native of Juancheng County, Shandong Province. Because of her natural intelligence and strong power of comprehension, she became an outstanding performer of the Shangyang bird dance and served as the leader of the dance team. The basic step of the Shangyang bird dance as performed by her, the "hesitating step", has the ball of the front foot tap forward and be drawn back quickly, as if walking through marshland where one may sink into a mud hole at any moment; the "gedeng step" imitates the way the one-legged Shangyang bird hops and walks. Over many years she has continually collected and preserved precious materials and props, providing a solid basis for the verification, excavation, organisation and study of the Shangyang bird dance. Representative inheritor of the fifth national-level batch of the national intangible cultural heritage project Shangyang Bird Dance. The Shangyang bird dance in which she took part in 1957 won first prize at the Shandong provincial folk literature and art exchange performance. She has also actively organised surrounding farmers to learn the Shangyang bird dance, so that this ancient folk art has been transmitted and protected.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Chen Yuying 05-2259
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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