Yi Sanxian Dance
01 · Historical Records
It is the most representative folk dance of the Axi people of the Yi nationality, originating in the ancient and simple “Axile music and dance” of the Axi people; because it is mostly danced beside a bonfire under the moonlight, it is named “Axile tiaoyue”. Axile tiaoyue originated in the Xishan area of Mile County, Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province, and is widely circulated in the villages where Axi Yi people live in Mile County and in places such as Luxi and Luliang. There are several legends about the origin of Axile tiaoyue. People were overjoyed, picking up firewood and lighting a fire, and dancing around the bonfire in celebration; this is the origin of Axile tiaoyue.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The Yi three-string dance is a folk dance handed down from generation to generation among the Yi people; in their leisure or at moments of joy, Yi people will often dance it. Different regions and different Yi branches have different names for the three-string dance: the three-string dance circulating in the Axi Yi area is called “Axile tiaoyue”, and the three-string dance circulating in the Sani Yi area is called “Sani large three-string”. The three-string dance is a group dance in which both men and women may take part, but while dancing only the men play the three-stringed instrument, and the women simply step to the rhythm as accompaniment. The large three-string dance has a long history; in recent decades it has often been seen at large-scale celebrations and in film and television programmes, and therefore enjoys fairly high fame within the country. By comparison, the music and dance rhythm of the small three-string dance are slow, so it is also called the “slow three-step”. In the Axi language, Axile tiaoyue is called “gasibu”, which means “joyful jumping”. In remote antiquity there was a man named “Mudeng” who drilled into a fir tree to obtain fire, finding for the people a way to keep fire alive. People called him “Mudengbi”, which means “jumping at the bonfire”. As for why the Axi people always maintain a jumping posture in the “three-step string”, there is also a legend: long ago, the people of the Axile area lived for a long time a life of slavery based on slash-and-burn cultivation. In every sowing season, in order to save time, the people could not wait for the embers of the burning fields to die out, and would begin their labour barefoot on the scorching fields. In order to keep their feet from being scorched by the fire still left in the fields, they worked while jumping. Later, on the basis of this ceaselessly jumping movement, the people added the stamping of the feet and the left-and-right swinging of the upper limbs and the clapping of hands, and gradually formed “Axile tiaoyue”. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the Axi people became masters of the state and of the nation, and the “music and dance” gradually shed its various taboos and became an indispensable mass folk entertainment activity at New Year and on festival occasions. Axile tiaoyue involves from a dozen-odd performers to more than a thousand; it is performed mainly at sacrifices, festivals and grand ceremonies, and is strongly self-initiated, self-amusing and popular in character. It combines singing, dancing and music in one, and has regularised dance steps and routines. Its dance is divided into the old people’s dance and the young people’s dance, and the dance steps include stamping-foot jumping, crane-step single-leg jumping, bouncing steps, running jumps, turning jumps and clapping-hands jumps; the music is in the gong mode with a five-beat measure, and at the start of the dance the accompaniment is played on such Axi folk instruments of their own making as the large three-stringed instrument, bamboo flutes of large, medium and small sizes, the small three-stringed instrument, the sanhu, the yueqin, the suona and the whistle. Axile tiaoyue has an ardent and cheerful rhythm, bold and unconstrained movements, agile and graceful postures, a vigorous musical cadence, a grand scale that shakes the heart, and a strong power of appeal.
Elders' and youths' dances
The elders' dance uses a small sanxian and slow tempo; the youths' uses the large sanxian with jumping, kicking and clapping steps.
Five-beat phrases and home-made instruments
The music moves in five-beat phrases in the gong mode, played on home-made sanxian, flutes, huqin, yueqin, suona and whistles.
Mudengbi and the fire dance
Legend tells of Mudeng who drilled fire from fir wood; the joyous fire dance, Mudengbi, is seen as the origin of Axi Tiaoyue.
The Xishan heartland
Originating in the Xishan hills of Mile, the dance spread through Axi villages and to Luxi and Luliang, from a dozen to a thousand dancers.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The Yi three-string dance is divided into two kinds, the large three-string dance and the small three-string dance. Young people use the large three-stringed instrument when they dance, so it is called the “large three-string dance”; middle-aged and old people use a smaller three-stringed instrument, so it is called the “small three-string dance”. Axile tiaoyue bears marked ethnic and regional characteristics and is a typical representative of the Yi mountain culture; it plays an important role in strengthening ethnic unity and promoting ethnic cultural exchange.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Yi Sanxian Dance.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
For a long time, the Yi three-string dance, which creates a joyful and harmonious atmosphere, has played a positive role in strengthening group consciousness and promoting ethnic unity; it has been praised by relevant scholars as a “living fossil” of ancient dance, and it has provided a great deal of highly instructive and precious material for the study of the origin and development of dance. Because it has been affected by the impact of foreign culture, many traditional dance routines of the Yi three-string dance are facing the risk of being lost, and Axile tiaoyue is on the verge of a survival crisis and urgently needs protection.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Duan Zhengrong 05-2271
- Bi Guangming 05-2272
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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