Gaer
01 · Historical Records
Gar first emerged from the song-and-dance performances of folk artists at festivals; later it was taken up by the monasteries of various places and by professional music-and-dance troupes, becoming an indispensable ritual observance in the large-scale religious activities of monasteries, and it has been carried on at grand ceremonies and on occasions when senior lamas are welcomed and escorted.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
“Gar” means song and dance, or music and dance, in Tibetan; it is a ceremonial song-and-dance of the Tibetan people. At first it was song and dance performed by folk artists at festivals; later it gradually entered the great monasteries of various places and became a programme that had to be performed at the large-scale religious activities of monasteries. Gar has beautiful dance movements and a distinctive musical style; it is now performed mainly at grand ceremonies and at important occasions such as welcoming and escorting the Panchen Lama. In the Ngari area, Gar dance and xuan dance are collectively called “gar xuan”. The dance music of Gar is free, broad and drawn out; the dance is strongly sculptural in its shaping, the movements of the dancers are highly standardised, intense and wide in range, and the formations change in many ways. All the performers are male, and are divided into gar zhuba, garba and garben. Gar zhuba are boy singers and dancers, garba are singers and dancers, and garben are the artistic director and administrative head. Gar dance is divided into two types, gar and garlu; garlu is an art form of unison singing in children’s voices, and in performance it is accompanied by instruments such as the six-string lute “zhai nian”, the bamboo flute “lingu”, the yangqin, the dulcimer, the genka and the aiga. Gar is further divided into bogar and mogar; bogar is men’s song and dance and mogar is women’s song and dance; in fact both song-and-dance forms are performed by men, and only the names differ. Gar performance is technically difficult and highly standardised; under the impact of modern economic and cultural life it faces an ageing talent base and a steadily shrinking scale of performance, and is in urgent need of rescue and protection.
The three ranks of performers
All performers are male and divided into the boy dancers, the dancers and the director, dancers moving between ranks with age and experience.
The male and female styles
Ghar divides into the male and female styles, though in practice both are performed by men, only the names differing.
Ghar-lu, sung by boys in unison
Alongside the dance there is ghar-lu, sung in unison by boys' voices and accompanied by zhanian, linggu flute, dulcimer, iron zither, genka and the ega.
The ghar orchestra
Its ensemble includes the zhanian, the linggu bamboo flute, dulcimer, iron zither, genka and ega; the music is free, broad and drawn out and the movement highly standardised.
Phuntsok Gyurme and Tashi Tsering
Phuntsok Gyurme moved from professional troupe to palace dance corps in 1957 and later became director; Tashi Tsering published the ghar scores Qudren Ghar-re and Tibetan Classical Music.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Gar is transmitted mainly in Lhasa, Shigatse and Ngari, and the monasteries and folk performance troupes of each place keep their own transmission; in the Ngari area it is collectively called “gar xuan” together with xuan dance, and it is further divided into bogar and mogar, the former being men’s song and dance and the latter women’s song and dance, though in fact both are performed by men and only the names differ.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Gar is living material for understanding the customs, beliefs and rituals of the Ngari area; it is an important artistic model for carrying forward ethnic and folk culture, and has research value in folklore, historical culture and other fields. Pingcuo Yujie (as recorded in the official file of the associated inheritor): in 1941 he was selected into a professional art troupe, and in 1957 he was transferred to the court music-and-dance troupe; he can dance Gar dance, nangma and Duixie, his dance movements are beautiful, and at the same time he masters the performance technique and the music theory and scores of instruments used exclusively for Gar, such as the yangqin, the zhai nian, the flute, the jinghu, the transverse flute and the suona. He performed year-round at grand celebrations and on occasions of welcoming and escorting the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama; as he grew older, his position in the ensemble changed from gar zhuba to garben. Male, of Tibetan ethnicity, born in October 1927, died in August 2018, a native of Lhasa City, Tibet Autonomous Region. Representative inheritor of the third-batch national-level intangible cultural heritage project Gar. Zhaxi Ciren (as recorded in the official file of the associated inheritor): male, of Tibetan ethnicity, born in January 1942, a native of Lhasa City, Tibet Autonomous Region. In 1951 he was selected into a professional art troupe and studied Gar dance under noted masters of Tibetan traditional music; at the same time he mastered the performance technique and the music theory and scores of instruments such as the yangqin, the zhai nian, the flute, the jinghu, the erhu, the biwang sanxian (ganjia), the transverse flute and the suona. Before retirement he collated and published the Gar dance musical score Quzhen Garui; after retirement he published the music album Fine Traditional Tibetan Music, and in 2000 he published Tibetan Classical Music. In 2014 he collated the musical scores and lyrics of Gar dance and recorded the music collection Garlu Quzhen Gaduan together with video materials. Representative inheritor of the fourth-batch national-level intangible cultural heritage project Gar. In 2013 he taught Gar dance to colleagues of the Tibetan opera troupe. Since 2008 he has taught Gar dance, nangma, Duixie and other forms openly to anyone who wishes to learn.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Ping Cuoyujie 03-0948
- Zhaxiciren 04-1580
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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