Jiacuo
01 · Historical Records
Its origin can be traced back to the Stone Age, closely tied to the primitive Mosuo religion known as Daba and to production, hunting and warfare. According to legend, Jiacuo originally had seventy-two tunes and dances, but only a dozen or so of them — “Cuode”, “Liaocuoyou”, “Gemu cuo”, “Ashisaer cuo”, “Wocao Jiamomu” and others — have been transmitted intact down to the present.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Jiacuo (jia cuo) is a primitive folk dance formed by the Mosuo people in the course of long-term production practice and life customs, and it has long circulated widely in the Lugu Lake area and its surroundings. Jiacuo means a beating dance or a guozhuang dance: “jia” means something fine or beautiful, “cuo” means to dance — in other words, dancing for a beautiful hour. The dance has a lively rhythm and vigorous, unpolished steps. Usually a lead dancer playing a pipe or a lusheng sets it off; partners face the bonfire, link their arms tightly, cross their fingers and begin to dance anticlockwise, the steps varying with the speeding up and slowing down of the music. Jiacuo is performed above all by a group, closely integrating singing, dancing and music; its melodies are beautiful and its steps varied and graceful, combining the aesthetic, the lyrical, the playful and the participatory, and it is full of a strong sense of history and of the breath of daily life.
The Daba religion and Jiacuo
The dance reaches back to the Stone Age and is bound up with the Daba religion, hunting and warfare.
A flute-led counter-clockwise circle
A flute or reed-pipe player leads as partners face the fire, arms linked, circling counter-clockwise.
Dancing for an auspicious hour
The name means dancing for the auspicious hour, brisk in rhythm and bold in step.
La Wengji
La Wengji, born in Yanyuan in 1959, performs and promotes Jiacuo and Mosuo culture to visitors.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Jiacuo circulates mainly among the Mosuo villages around Lugu Lake Town in Yanyuan County, Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, and the Yanyuan County Cultural Centre is the protecting unit. According to legend, Jiacuo originally had seventy-two tunes and dances, and only a dozen or more of them — “Cuode”, “Liaocuoyou”, “Gemu cuo”, “Ashisaer cuo”, “Wocao Jiamomu” and others — have been transmitted intact down to the present. The local inheritor Lawengji began learning Jiacuo dance at the age of six and became thoroughly skilled in tunes and steps such as “Cuode” and “Jiacuoyou”; through his exploration and innovation, the number of Jiacuo dance tunes grew from the original eight to thirty-four.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
As a living fossil of primitive song-and-dance art, Jiacuo fully displays the wisdom of the Mosuo forebears; it is a bloom of unusual brilliance and singular charm in the treasure house of the culture of the Chinese nation, it has research value in many fields, and it can make a positive contribution to enriching the cultural life of the people, promoting ethnic unity, carrying forward outstanding ethnic culture and building a harmonious society. As the times have changed, the ancient primitive folk dance Jiacuo has already entered an endangered state, with few successors to carry it on, and stands in urgent need of rescue and protection. Lawengji (as recorded in the official dossier of the associated inheritor): Male, of Tibetan ethnicity, born in August 1959, a native of Yanyuan County, Sichuan Province. He began learning Jiacuo dance at the age of six. He has mastered the core skills of the traditional Jiacuo dance — the tunes and steps “Cuode” and “Jiacuoyou” — and his posture is at one moment brisk, at another light, at another bold and unrestrained, freely controlled either way. While devoting himself wholeheartedly to practice, he has also researched, explored, transmitted and innovated, making the traditional dance forms and tunes of Jiacuo richer, so that the number of dance tunes grew from the original eight to thirty-four. Representative inheritor of Jiacuo, a national-level intangible cultural heritage project in the fifth national-level batch. He actively organises Jiacuo dance demonstrations and competitions, publicises Jiacuo dance and Mosuo traditional culture to visitors from China and abroad through many forms, and mobilises the younger generation to learn and perform the dance; he is a representative inheritor of considerable local influence.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Lawengji 05-2267
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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