Blang Fengtong Drum Dance
01 · Historical Records
The Blang bee-drum dance is the general term for drum dancing among the Blang people. It originates in the Blang creation myth and in sacrificial rites, and is transmitted in Blang villages such as Bangbing Township and Dawen Township in Shuangjiang Lahu, Wa, Blang and Dai Autonomous County, Lincang City, Yunnan Province.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The Blang bee-drum dance consists of three parts: dancing the bee drum (keguang), dancing the elephant-foot drum (keguangjin) and dancing the handkerchief (xiwupajie). It has five repertoires and two basic kinds of steps, a three-step and a five-step; the movements of the three-step dance are gentle and slow, while those of the five-step dance are stirring and vigorous. The bee-drum dance is suitable both for open-air performances in a public square and for stage performance, and the number of participants can be large or small; the participating Blang people often line up in one or two rows and dance with ease on the roads or in the square of the village. During the dance the elephant-foot drum, the jinmang, the gong and the small cymbals accompany from the side; the whole dancing scene is magnificent and the postures beautiful, showing strong power to move those who watch.
Drum, elephant-foot drum and towel dance
The dance comprises three parts: the barrel drum, the elephant-foot drum and the towel-waving dance.
Three-step and five-step forms
Five routines and two basic steps: the three-step is soft and slow, the five-step vigorous and firm.
Men drum, women wave towels
The men carry and beat the drums, the women wave towels to the beat.
Feng Jiming
Feng Jiming, born in Shuangjiang in 1955, joined the county troupe in 1971 and has since led village drumming.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The participants may be divided into a male team and a female team. The men carry the bee drum on their backs and beat it as they dance, looking romantic and free and easy; the women hold handkerchiefs in their hands and swing them to the rhythm of the drum as they dance, merrily and unconstrainedly. The bee-drum dance is transmitted mainly in the Blang villages of Bangbing Township and Dawen Township in Shuangjiang County; the Cultural Centre of Shuangjiang Lahu, Wa, Blang and Dai Autonomous County is the protecting unit. At fourteen years old Feng Jiming already had a command of both making the bee drum and the traditional drum patterns, and became the drum king of the village and a leader and organizer of its festival dancing activities.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The bee-drum dance is a dance form unique to the Blang people. In its distinctive dance language it reflects the Blang people's view of history, moral outlook, values and way of thinking, and expresses their wish for a good life; it has an extremely strong power of ethnic cohesion and artistic appeal, and it is of very high research value in the fields of ethnology, folklore and sociology. At present the traditional Blang bee-drum dance is being hit by fashionable culture, and rescuing and protecting it has become an urgent task. Feng Jiming (as recorded in the official archive of the associated inheritor): a man of the Blang ethnic group, born in November 1955, native of Shuangjiang Lahu, Wa, Blang and Dai Autonomous County, Yunnan Province. At fourteen years old he fully mastered the technique of making the bee drum, the playing method of the traditional drum patterns, and the highly difficult techniques of the bee-drum dance, becoming the drum king of the village. In 1971 he joined the county cultural troupe; through hard study and training he became the bee-drum prince of the county troupe. In 1984 he gave up his public post and returned home to farm. He is the organizer and leader of the festival and celebratory dance activities held in the Blang mountain villages every year, and enjoys high fame and influence among the people. Representative inheritor of the third-batch national-level intangible cultural heritage project Blang bee-drum dance. The bee drum is so named because it resembles the bee-hives used in traditional Blang beekeeping; its sound matches the elephant-foot drum, the jinmang, the gong and the small cymbals, and the whole dancing scene is magnificent and the postures beautiful.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Fengjiming 03-0942
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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