Bobasengen
01 · Historical Records
In Tibetan, Bobasengen means “Tibetans who crouch like lions and coil like dragons”. It is a dance peculiar to Ganbao Village in Li County, Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, and it presents, in the Jiarong-area Situzhuang (Four-Land guozhuang) form, the historical culture and life customs of the Wutun (today the Zagu, Ganbao, Shangmeng, Xiameng, Jiuzi and other areas under Li County) during the Daoguang reign of the Qing dynasty. According to local accounts, the narrative section of Bobasengen recounts the story of the Wutun garrison troops marching away to the coast to fight the British; its content is related to the garrison system around Li County in the Daoguang reign of the Qing dynasty.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Bobasengen was created by the Tibetan garrison troops to commemorate the battles in which they fought the British and the comrades who fell in those battles; by extolling the courage and martial skill of the garrison, it expresses the patriotic sentiment of the Tibetan people. Bobasengen events are held every year on the Dragon Boat Festival, when every man, woman, old person and child in the village takes part. The dance is divided into two parts, and the whole performance lasts about two hours. In the first part, the lead dancer, holding a strand of bells in the hand, leads the other dancers singing and dancing as they move in a circle. The lead dancer sings a verse and the dancers in unison sing it after him; once a section has been sung, the “zuan”, the threading sequence, begins. Two dancers raise their right hands high, the lead dancer threads through between them, and the other dancers follow in turn, threading through while singing. Then comes the “niu”, the twisting sequence: each dancer clasps the right hand of the dancer in front and rests it on that dancer’s right shoulder. Then the “jie”, the unwinding sequence, begins; from the “niu” posture the dancers return to holding hands, and in the course of this they gradually enclose the lead dancer in the centre. The second part of the dance is sung as a solo in the centre of the circle by a respected and venerable elder, while the dancers squat in place and listen, then join in the singing. When the singing is finished, the dancers cheer together and scatter lungda offerings, praying for good fortune and for happiness, peace and well-being. Bobasengen follows the performance form of the ancient Situzhuang of the Jiarong Tibetan area (among Tibetan dances, the kicking dance of Tibet, the xianzi of Batang and the guozhuang of Situzhuang are the best known to the world), fusing it with the Tibetan garrison commemorative rite to form the Jiarong Wutun guozhuang that dances first and narrates afterwards, displaying a markedly local character. Bobasengen’s tunes are simple and clear, using two modes of the ethnic modal system, “shang” and “gong”; in the dance it creates forms such as “zuan”, “niu” and “jie”, and it originates a performance form in which the lead dancer narrates in song while all the dancers listen.
Threading, twisting and untying
The opening part proceeds through threading under raised arms, twisting into a linked chain, and untying into a encircling ring.
Dance first, narration after
Held each Dragon Boat Festival, the two-part performance ends with a solo song in the ring, answered by the seated dancers.
Shang and gong modes
The tunes are simple, using the shang and gong modes, with a narrative solo for the lead dancer.
Four-tusi Guozhuang and garrison commemoration
It fuses the ancient four-tusi Guozhuang of the Rgyalrong region with a garrison memorial, creating the Five-Tun Guozhuang.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Bobasengen is transmitted in one place only, Ganbao Village in Li County, and the Li County Cultural Centre is the protecting unit. The Ganbao Tibetan village lies on the banks of the Zagu Nao River and was one of the garrison stations of the Qing-dynasty Wutun troops; ruins of the fortified stockade and watchtower where the garrison was billeted remain in the village. Bobasengen is performed at the Dragon Boat Festival gathering each year by the descendants of the Ganbao garrison troops.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The research value of what is utterly singular — its strong local and temporal character — goes without saying. In recent years, because of changes in traditional modes of production, shifts in the main economic mainstay and the evolution of people’s living habits, the transmission of Bobasengen has run into a serious crisis and urgently needs rescue and protection.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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