Mangkangsanxian Dance
01 · Historical Records
Mangkang sanchian dance is a folk dance of the Tibet region. It originated in Daxu Village, Quzika Township, Mangkang County in the Qamdo region of Tibet, and is widely transmitted there.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
According to textual research, Mangkang sanchian dance already has a history of four or five hundred years. Mangkang sanchian dance uses a purely wooden three-string fiddle as its accompanying instrument; the performance is not restricted in the number of people or the venue, and men and women sing and dance together to the music. In performance men and women form separate halves, and the men, playing the xianzi fiddle, stand at the head of the line and lead the crowd as they dance, brushing their sleeves away; they sometimes gather into a circle, sometimes scatter, and sometimes circle round while dancing. The sung words are folk songs of the “xie” form and may also be improvised; men and women sing in antiphon, taking the musical rhythm of the men’s xianzi fiddle as the lead, one voice rising as another falls. The movements of the whole dance are uninhibited and flowing, the lyrics are clear and pleasant to the ear, and the music moves from a relaxed and extended tune gradually towards a lively and ardent one; it is highly distinctive, and embodies the fine wishes of celebrating the harvest, averting disaster and praying for good fortune.
The all-wood three-string lute
The dance is accompanied by an all-wood three-string lute, the leading man's playing governing the troupe's entries, exits and tempo.
Folk-verse texts and improvisation
Its words are folk verses of the she type, or improvised on the spot, praying for harvest, protection from disaster and good fortune.
Origins in Daxu village
It arose in Daxu village of Quzika township in Mangkang and spread locally, with some four or five centuries of history.
The leading man and three formations
The lead man draws the crowd into sleeves-sweeping dance, gathering into a circle, scattering and circling, the music moving from calm to ardent.
Jampel Lhundrub's three-string touch
Born in Mangkang in 1942, Jampel Lhundrub was taught by his father, worked out his own plucking method for the three-string melody and trained many successors.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Mangkang sanchian dance originated in Daxu Village, Quzika Township, Mangkang County of Qamdo City, Tibet, and is transmitted within Mangkang County and in the area where Tibet, Sichuan and Yunnan meet; to the present day it has a history of four or five hundred years. The performance is not restricted in the number of people or the venue; men and women form separate halves, and the men, playing the xianzi fiddle, stand at the head of the line to lead the dance, sometimes gathering into a circle, sometimes scattering and sometimes circling round as they dance. Mangkang lies in the Hengduan Mountains where Sichuan, Tibet and Yunnan meet, and the Lancang River, the Jinsha River and the Nu River run side by side here; Quzika is famous for its hot springs and salt wells, and the people of Daxu Village combined the xianzi fiddle with step-singing, which gradually settled into a regular dance item of local festivals.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The ancient and magical Mangkang sanchian dance has a long history, distinctive forms and rich content, showing a marked ethnic style and strong plateau characteristics; it has important influence in the area where Tibet, Sichuan and Yunnan meet and in the southeastern part of the Tibet Autonomous Region, and has research value in ethnology, folklore and other fields. At present the traditional Mangkang sanchian dance is struck by the tide of commerce, has fallen into a survival predicament, is on the verge of disappearing and is in urgent need of rescue and protection. Jiangbai Lunzhu (as recorded in the official file of the associated inheritor): male, of Tibetan ethnicity, born in July 1942, a native of Mangkang County, Tibet Autonomous Region. The lyrics of the sanchian dance he masters are beautiful, its rhythm is extended, sometimes fast and sometimes slow, its music is plain and bright, and its vocal style is uninhibited and flowing, with averting disaster, celebrating the harvest and wishing for good fortune as its main content. Representative inheritor of the third-batch national-level intangible cultural heritage project Mangkang sanchian dance. Taught and guided in sanchian dance by his father, he worked out in practice the playing method for the rhythm of the sanchian; after years of repeated practice he accumulated quite rich experience. As a representative figure and inheritor of Mangkang sanchian dance, he has trained a large number of successor artists for the local area.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Jiang Bailunzhu 03-0949
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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