He Dance
01 · Historical Records
Sanzao Crane Dance is a folk dance unique to Sanzao Town in Jinwan District, Zhuhai City, Guangdong Province. It is performed only during the Spring Festival, and according to a locally transmitted account it has a history of more than seven hundred years, having grown out of the tidal-flat life of the Sanzao people, who have dwelt for generations on the shores of Lingdingyang. White cranes have always found a habitat on the local coastal mudflats. Villagers watched the cranes coming to the door, foraging, washing their beaks, preening their feathers, resting, frolicking and returning to their nests, and gradually imitated it as a dance, taking from the crane's association with longevity the sense of paying respects to elders over sixty and praying for the well-being of villagers over thirty. The performance is accompanied by gong and drum, with auspicious crane songs sung in between, so the scene is merry, lively and harmonious. The crane costumes are handmade by village artisans; performers crawl inside the costume and manipulate the crane head and body. By old custom they were burned at the village entrance on the evening of the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, but in recent years, so as not to disturb the farming season, this has been moved to the seventh day of the first lunar month.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Sanzao Crane Dance is a traditional dance unique to Sanzao Town, Zhuhai City, Guangdong Province, and is performed only during the Spring Festival. Among the people there has always been the saying that the white crane symbolizes longevity. The crane dance is also a ritual custom by which Sanzao villagers pay birthday respects to elders over sixty and pray for the well-being of villagers over thirty. By legend, the dance already has a history of more than seven hundred years. The white crane imagery of the dance is vivid and lifelike and its movements graceful; it depicts with remarkable vividness the crane's everyday states — coming to the door, foraging, washing its beak, preening its feathers, resting, frolicking and returning to its nest. In performance it is accompanied by gong and drum, with auspicious "crane songs" sung in between, making the scene merry, lively and harmonious. In Sanzao Town, performing the crane dance follows a customarily settled ritual with three fixed procedures: kai guang ("eye-opening", a rite of worship in which the eyes of the "crane" are dotted), bai lao (going house to house to offer birthday greetings and prayers) and yu hua (formerly the crane costume was burned at the village entrance on the evening of the fifteenth day of the first lunar month; in recent years, so as not to disturb the farming season, it has been changed to the seventh day of the first lunar month). These three procedures carry rich cultural content and a lofty moral realm.
Consecration, birthday visits and cremation
The three fixed rites of the Sanzao crane dance: consecrating the eyes, visiting elders door to door, and burning the crane costume to send it skyward.
Six steps and four movements
The inheritor Chen Fuyan codified six gaits and four grooming movements, giving the dance its vivid detail.
Gongs, drums and crane songs
The dance is accompanied by gongs and drums with auspicious crane songs interspersed.
Chen Fuyan
Chen Fuyan, born in Zhuhai in 1933, apprenticed at sixteen and has spent decades safeguarding the crane dance.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The circulation of Sanzao Crane Dance is concentrated within a single town and belongs to a performance system distinct from the dragon dances and lion dances of neighbouring areas; the protecting unit is the Cultural Service Center of Sanzao Town, Jinwan District, Zhuhai City (the Senior Cadres Activity Center of Sanzao Town, Jinwan District, Zhuhai City). Locally, crane dance teams are organized by village on their own and go house to house to offer birthday greetings during the Spring Festival. Old artists train apprentices, while most young people work away from home, and the number of dancers able to carry the full three procedures of kai guang, bai lao and yu hua is steadily shrinking.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Korean He Dance.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
At present the old artists of the crane dance are of advanced age, the younger generation lacks enthusiasm for learning this traditional dance, and the transmission of Sanzao Crane Dance is close to extinction. Chen Fuyan (as recorded in the official file of the associated inheritor): Male, Han ethnicity, born in October 1933, native of Zhuhai City, Guangdong Province. As a child he became interested in the crane dance on seeing elders perform it, and at the age of 16 formally became an apprentice to learn the art of the crane dance. He pays close attention to observing the crane's living habits, such as pecking at food, preening, frolicking and returning to the nest, and divides the performing content of the crane dance into steps such as the slow step, quick step, leaping step, bounding step, bow step and arrow step, and into movements such as washing the beak, pecking, preening the plumage and brushing the coat, pouring feeling into the movements and the expressions so as to make them more vivid and lifelike. Representative inheritor of the fourth national-level batch of the intangible cultural heritage item Crane Dance (Sanzao Crane Dance). For decades he has devoted himself to the protection and transmission of the crane dance.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Chen Fuyan 04-1574
- Tansenrong
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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