Naxi Remeicuo
01 · Historical Records
Remeicao is a Chinese-character transcription of a Naxi word. The historical evolution of the Naxi remeicao is not clearly recorded in writing; according to the comparative study of song and dance in the Lijiang area by He Shiwen and others, it is very similar to Worere, which is preserved to this day on the Ninglang side of the valley of the Jinsha River.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The Naxi remeicao fuses poetry, song and dance into a single whole and is performed as a complete set; in performance men and women sing together in a collective dance, no props are used, the number of participants is unlimited, ranging from a dozen or so to several hundred. Men, women, old and young all join hands, form a ring around the fire and sing and dance in a clockwise direction. The dance movements are archaic and natural, and the vocal style is close to a shout, yet every participant has to keep in time with the others in the singing and dancing so as to achieve harmony. The dance movements of remeicao carry no ornamentation, and the music is a natural sound issuing from the chest and throat, so it cannot be recorded accurately for teaching. The Naxi must begin to acquire the techniques of remeicao in childhood, through oral transmission from their elders and through long participation in practice, and then improvise as the situation prompts them.
Poetry, song and dance in one
The form fuses poetry, song and dance, sung in mixed voices without props, from a dozen to several hundred participants.
Circling the fire clockwise
Old and young join hands around the fire clockwise, singing in near-shouts but keeping a single beat.
Oral transmission and improvisation
Because the music cannot be notated, it is learned from childhood orally and improvised in context.
He Zhenqiang and He Hongliang
He Zhenqiang improvised verses from Dongba lore; his son He Hongliang now leads the singing and organisation.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Remeicao is transmitted mainly in the area of Dadong Township in Gucheng District, Lijiang City, including the towering mountains east of the Yulong Snow Mountain and west of the Jinsha River and the small strips of river valley along the river; the Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection and Management Center of Gucheng District is the protecting unit, and Wenming Village of Dadong Township has a remeicao transmission site. The father and son He Zhenqiang and He Hongliang were successively recognized as national-level representative inheritors of the project. Since 2010 He Hongliang has insisted on carrying out transmission teaching at the remeicao transmission site in Wenming Village, Dadong Township, and has taught more than two hundred fifty students.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The Naxi remeicao is a primitive collective song-and-dance that the Naxi people have handed down through several thousand years down to the present. It is transmitted in Dadong Township, to the northeast of the plain of Gucheng District, Lijiang City, Yunnan Province, including the towering mountains east of the Yulong Snow Mountain and west of the Jinsha River and the small strips of river valley along the river. The Naxi remeicao has a long history and rich content, has exerted a clear influence on the Lijiang ancient music and on the Naxi classical music suite Baisha Xiyue, and has research value in ethnology, art studies and historical culture. At present the transmission of the Naxi remeicao faces enormous difficulties and urgently needs rescue and protection. He Zhenqiang (as recorded in the official archive of the associated inheritor): born into a family with a strong tradition of folk song and dance, he was exposed to it from childhood and devoted himself to learning; he is familiar with the beats and melodies of remeicao, has a thorough command of Naxi folk proverbs and Dongba classic tales, and can compose and sing the appropriate lyrics on the spot according to the concrete occasion and surroundings. He organized and took part in Naxi remeicao performances many times, and went to Japan for exchange performances. From 2004 he was engaged as a consultant of the Dadong Township Remeicao Association. A man of the Naxi ethnic group, born in February 1938, died in August 2012, native of Lijiang City, Yunnan Province. Representative inheritor of the fourth-batch national-level intangible cultural heritage project Naxi remeicao. He was keen on training successors, taking part in more than fifty sessions of training and exchange organized by the natural villages and cultural stations, training a total of one thousand person-times. He Hongliang (as recorded in the official archive of the associated inheritor): a man of the Naxi ethnic group, born in October 1967, native of Lijiang City, Yunnan Province. He has thoroughly mastered the dance and singing techniques of remeicao, is an influential lead dancer and lead singer in Dadong Township, Gucheng District, Lijiang City, and is also an organizer and leader of remeicao in the Dadong Township area; he has been invited to perform many times and has received favourable reviews. Since 2010 he has insisted on carrying out transmission teaching activities at the remeicao transmission site in Wenming Village, Dadong Township, teaching more than two hundred fifty students. Representative inheritor of the fifth-batch national-level intangible cultural heritage project Naxi remeicao. He is the eldest son of He Zhenqiang, representative inheritor of the fourth-batch national-level intangible cultural heritage project Naxi remeicao.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- He Zhenqiang 04-1577
- He Hongliang 05-2273
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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