Roulianxiang
01 · Historical Records
It evolved out of the old-time "mud spirit procession", and originated among the lowest ranks of society.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Before the founding of the People's Republic of China, beggars smeared thin mud over their bare bodies, danced and gesticulated, and slapped door to door and street by street, forcing householders to give alms; this was colloquially called the "mud spirit procession". It is characterized by distinctive performance with the body: during the performance the palms strike the forehead, shoulders, face, arms, elbows, waist and legs, producing rhythmic sounds, and it is for this reason called "Roulianxiang", meaning that flesh resounds in succession. Roulianxiang is performed mostly by men, and the performance space may be of any size. Its performance style is vivid and humorous, free and lively; in terms of movement it emphasizes rounded, soft beauty and natural coordination, and the dancer must constantly change the angle of the body's tilt as the part being struck shifts. The principal movements of Roulianxiang include more than a dozen such as the "yangge step", "piercing the palm with a leg-sucking jump", "shaking step circling the head and turning", "double strike", "ten-beat", "seven-beat", "four-beat" and "three-beat". In its earliest performances there was neither sung vocal style nor instrumental accompaniment; the performers composed and sang their own songs, at the same time using the sounds of snapping the tongue and flicking the fingers as accompaniment, to add to the festive mood of the dance. In the course of transmission and development, folk dance movements such as yangge and zhulianxiang were blended into Roulianxiang one after another, and the tune "Lianhualuo" was matched to it accordingly. Tujia Roulianxiang, together with the Lichuan dengge and the Lichuan xiaoqu, is hailed as one of the "Three Masterpieces" of the ethnic culture of Lichuan.
The mud-deity begging custom
Before 1949 beggars smeared mud on their bare bodies and danced from door to door to press for alms, a custom called the mud deity from which the dance descends.
Striking forehead, shoulder, face, arm, elbow, waist and leg
The dance's hallmark is striking the forehead, shoulder, face, arm, elbow, waist and leg with the palm to produce rhythm, the body tilting as the target shifts.
The ten-, seven-, four- and three-strike routines
Its dozen or so actions include the yangge step, the palm-through and knee-lift jump, the shaking turn and the ten-, seven-, four- and three-strike sequences.
Adding the lotus-fall tune and drums
Originally unaccompanied, with the dancer singing and clicking tongue and fingers, the form later absorbed yangge and bamboo-lotus steps and the lotus-fall melody.
Wu Xiufu and the three wonders of Lichuan
In the 1980s the cultural centre and the inheritor Wu Xiufu reworked the mud deity into a group fitness dance set to the lotus-fall tune; it counts as one of Lichuan's three wonders.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Roulianxiang is a local dance of an ethnic minority and is mainly transmitted in the Duting, Wangying and Nanping areas of Lichuan City, Hubei Province.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
In the 1980s, staff of the Lichuan City Cultural Centre, together with Wu Xiufu and others who inherited the "mud spirit procession", excavated, processed and organized the traditional "mud spirit procession", matched it with the tune "Lianhualuo", added gong and drum patterns, and interpreted it into the group fitness dance of today, Roulianxiang. With its distinctive performance form Roulianxiang has become the "signature dance" of the Tujia people, and it is of important value for the study of Tujia humanistic traditions. Because Roulianxiang demands an extremely high standard of movement, few people take up its practice, which leaves the transmission chain of this precious folk art too fragile; effective measures must be taken to strengthen its protection. Wu Xiufu (as recorded in the official file of the associated inheritor): Through decades of study and exploration he mastered a set of superb skills. He actively taught and led disciples, training several thousand students, of whom more than two hundred became key performers. Male, Tujia ethnicity, born in October 1928, died on 15 March 2017, native of Lichuan City, Hubei Province. Representative inheritor of Roulianxiang, a national-level intangible cultural heritage project in the third national-level batch. In 1992 he went with the Hubei provincial delegation to Nanning, Guangxi, to take part in the National Traditional Games of Ethnic Minorities, where he performed Roulianxiang and won an award.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Wu Xiufu 03-0935
- Liu Shouhong
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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