Yao Hou Drum Dance
01 · Historical Records
The Yao monkey drum dance is a product of totem worship in primitive society; in miniature it displays the history of the migration of the Libo White Trouser Yao, revealing their indomitable will to struggle for survival and their national spirit undaunted by powerful enemies, and providing concrete evidence for the study of the history of the White Trouser Yao. The monkey drum dance of the Libo White Trouser Yao is accompanied by bronze drum sacrifice: the bronze drum is a heavy heirloom instrument which by old custom may be brought out only on major sacrificial occasions, and its drumhead is usually cast with sun patterns and cloud-and-thunder patterns; when it is played, one drum is operated by two people, one of whom stands behind the drum holding a rice-vat-like "resonance box" and moving it in and out like drawing water, so that the drum sound becomes deeper and heavier.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
In the Yao language the Yao monkey drum dance is called "Jiuge Lang"; it is a ritual dance that the ancestors of the White Trouser Yao spontaneously formed to commemorate their ancestors and the closely related "first monkey", and it circulates only in the White Trouser Yao settlements within Libo County, Guizhou Province. The Yao monkey drum dance takes the hide drum and the bronze drum as its instruments, and in performance the hide drummer serves as the lead dancer and conductor. The participants form a large circle around the hide drum, with several to more than a dozen bronze drums hung on the other side. Each bronze drum has two musicians: one beats the drum, and the other stands behind it holding a rice-vat-like "resonance box" and moving it in and out like drawing water, so that the drum sound becomes deeper and heavier. The hide drummer dances and leaps around the hide drum while beating it. Stepping in time with the beats, the participants dance one after another, imitating the postures and movements of monkeys, climbing and leaping; the dance style combines gentleness with firmness and is clearly differentiated in weight, showing a bold and valiant style.
The skin drummer leads
The skin drummer leads and conducts, dancing and striking while the crowd circles and imitates monkeys.
Bronze drums and resonance box
Several bronze drums hang to one side, each worked by two players, one beating and one working a resonance box behind it.
A miniature of migration history
A product of totem worship, the dance condenses the migration history of the Libo White-trouser Yao.
Honouring ancestors and the ancestral monkey
Called Jiugelang in Yao, it is a ritual dance honouring the ancestors and the ancestral monkey.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The Yao monkey drum dance circulates mainly in the White Trouser Yao villages of Libo County in Qiannan Bouyei and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Guizhou Province; the Libo County Cultural Center is the protecting unit. The White Trouser Yao take their name from the white knee-length shorts worn by the men, and are settled in the mountainous areas around Yaoshan and Yaolu in Libo County; the monkey drum dance is generally organized by clan or by village, with the hide drummer as lead dancer and conductor and the participants forming a circle around the drum to dance.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
As society has changed, the living environment of the Yao monkey drum dance has altered enormously; at present only one or two elderly artists master the full range of the monkey drum techniques. This ancient ethnic dance has few successors and faces the danger of dying out, so urgent rescue and protection is needed. The White Trouser Yao have no script of their own, and the migration and hunting memories enacted by the monkey drum dance are handed down mainly through bodily movement and the lyrics of ancient songs, becoming concrete evidence for the study of their migration history and national spirit.
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
This static English edition is rendered at the edge for search engines, AI crawlers and readers without JavaScript; it mirrors the bilingual dossier. 阅读中文版，或返回 英文名录。