Duixie
01 · Historical Records
As a distinctive school of dance in the northern part of Garzê, Sichuan, Garzê step dance originated in the ritual dance of the Tibetan Bon religion; it first branched off and evolved out of qiangmu, the masked deity dance performed in temples.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
This heritage item is transmitted mainly in Garzê County of the Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province. Its core area is Garzê Town, radiating to a number of neighbouring townships and administrative villages. Garzê County, located on the upper reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River, is a famous cultural city of southwest China and has a continental plateau monsoon climate. The county has open terrain, clear and sunny weather, plentiful sunshine and strong solar radiation, and is known as the “city of the little sun”; hot springs are found throughout the county, so it is also called the “capital of hot springs”, and it further enjoys the fine reputation of the “granary of northern Khampa”. This heritage item is a dance performance art that integrates lyrics, qin, song, dance and the sound of stamping steps into one; it stresses not only the work of the feet but also the movements of the hands and the body. The dancers wave their light and colourful long sleeves as they step in richly varied dance patterns. At a slow tempo it gives a feeling of ease and relaxation; at a fast tempo it is coordinated and bright, uninhibited and rugged. Garzê step dance is not restricted in the number of performers — as few as one person or as many as several hundred or a thousand — and the venue is unrestricted: it can be taken up indoors, in the home, or in the fields. In performance the dancers wear full dress but do not carry a waist knife; a string of jingling bells must be hung at the feet and waist to enrich the colouring of the sound. Garzê step dance is divided into accompanied step dance, unaccompanied step dance, vocal step dance and silent step dance. It gradually changed from a dance form of monks into a folk adult step dance, and later children’s step dance and women’s step dance appeared. In recent years, through the inheritance and reference of amateur and professional dance workers, Garzê step dance has gradually enriched its expressive power, and it is one of the performing forms of Khampa dance.
With and without accompaniment or sound
Four forms are distinguished, with and without instrumental accompaniment and with and without audible ringing, the same steps being adapted to the occasion.
Bells, but no waist sword
Dancers wear full dress but no waist sword, hanging a string of bells on foot and waist so that steps and turns add a bright ringing colour.
From monks to children and women
Rooted in Bon ritual and split off from monastery cham, it moved from monastic dance to adult village stomping and in recent decades to children's and women's versions.
Words, strings, song, dance and stamping
It unites verse, strings, song, dance and the sound of stamping, stressing hands and body as much as footwork, relaxed when slow and uninhibited when fast.
Chen Bangwen of the Kham stomping
Born in Ganzi in 1946, Chen Bangwen learned from local stack-dance elders and became the local representative, his upper body led by wide, fast arm movement; he teaches after retirement.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Garzê step dance takes Garzê Town of Garzê County as its core area of transmission, radiating to the surrounding townships and administrative villages of the upper Yarlung Zangbo River; Garzê County lies on the plateau of northwestern Sichuan, where the terrain is open, the weather clear, sunshine plentiful and solar radiation strong, and hot springs are found everywhere. Known as the “city of the little sun”, the “capital of hot springs” and the “granary of northern Khampa”, these geographical and climatic conditions provide the space for the daily practice of step dance.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Duixie.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
This heritage item relies mainly on master-apprentice transmission and transmission through the community. Garzê step dance is an indispensable part of the cultural life of the people of Garzê, fully displaying their simple, warm-hearted and kindly qualities; it plays a role in inheriting and spreading Tibetan culture, and provides a large amount of historical material for tracing the origins of Tibetan culture and for studying the evolution of Tibetan Buddhism. Activities such as children’s step-dance exercises during school breaks and step dance for the elderly also have fitness and recreational effects; protecting this cultural heritage plays a positive role in strengthening ethnic cultural identity and promoting social harmony. Chen Bangwen (as recorded in the official file of the associated inheritor): male, of Tibetan ethnicity, born in June 1946, a native of Garzê County, Sichuan Province. As a young man he took an active part in the various forms of folk cultural activity in Garzê County, learned from the local elderly Duixie artists, and became a representative figure of the local Duixie art. In performance his footwork is light and lively, cheerful and spirited, while the movements of the upper body take the arms as their main line, with large amplitude and fast speed, bringing out the basic features of Garzê step dance. He has taken part in all kinds of cultural and artistic performances, and has met with the warm welcome of the local Tibetan and Han people and the high praise of his peers. After retirement he has coached members of the public and students in learning Garzê step dance at the local cultural service centre. Representative inheritor of the fifth-batch national-level intangible cultural heritage project Duixie (Garzê step dance).
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Laba 03-0945
- Chenbangwen 05-2276
- Zhaxiwangla
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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