Tiaomafu
01 · Historical Records
The Jumping Horse Attendant grew out of the deity-procession tradition of Rudong. In the old days, in places such as Fengli, Juegang and Chaoqiao, when the “Du Tianwang” (Prince of the Capital) made his annual progress, the villagers would fulfil a vow by burning “ma fu incense”; those who voluntarily served as horse attendants had to fast and purify themselves beforehand, tie cloth kerchiefs on their heads and stick needles in their cheeks, and then marched in procession alongside the deity’s palanquin. This ritual was interrupted for a time after 1949; only in the early 1980s, when dance workers such as Ren Naigui and old artists together excavated and collated the material, was it restored as the traditional dance seen today.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The Jumping Horse Attendant, popularly called “burning the horse-attendant incense”, is a men’s collective dance transmitted in the area of Rudong County, Jiangsu Province, performed during deity-procession festivals expressly to sacrifice to “Du Tianwang” — to Zhang Xun according to one account, or to Zhang Shicheng, the peasant-rebellion leader of the late Yuan, according to another. The dance is especially flourishing in Fengli, Juegang, Chaoqiao and other places. According to legend, Zhang Xun was a general in the reign of Emperor Suzong of Tang, who during the An-Shi Rebellion led his men in holding the city for as long as three years. When he found himself in a desperate situation with neither provisions nor warhorses, he ordered the soldiers and the commoners to tie horse bells to their bodies and run back and forth on the battlefield, and the sound of the bells made the enemy mistake them for reinforcements; outnumbered at last, Zhang Xun died for his country. Later, Emperor Suzong posthumously honoured Zhang Xun as “Du Tianwang” and ordered that temples be built for him throughout the realm. The Jumping Horse Attendant is the dance form by which the people around Rudong sacrifice to Du Tianwang. When the dance is performed, the “ma fu incense burners”, numbering from three or five hundred to more than three thousand, tie coloured cloth kerchiefs on their heads, wear yellow paper hats, dress in horse-attendant costume, wear straw sandals, tie bronze bells at the waist, hold horse-whips more than one metre long, and stick silver needles in their cheeks. In a solemn and mysterious atmosphere they dance in lines a vigorous and unadorned dance, giving forth thunderous shouts, leaping to and fro before and after the palanquins of Du Tianwang and the other bodhisattvas, clearing the way and acting as escort for them. In this way they express remembrance of the heroic martyrs, reverence for an unyielding spirit of struggle, and the wish that the deities will dispel disaster and bring down blessing.
Burning the groom's incense
The dance is popularly called burning the groom's incense, a men's collective rite honouring the Lord of High Heaven at temple fairs.
Bronze bells and silver needles
Grooms wear bronze bells at the waist, carry a groom's pole over a metre long, have silver needles through their cheeks and wear straw sandals.
Zhang Xun and the Lord of High Heaven
The deity is said to be the Tang general Zhang Xun, or else the rebel Zhang Shicheng; Zhang Xun held his city for three years and died after tying bells on his people to feign reinforcements.
Clearing the way with the groom's pole
From three hundred to three thousand men leap before and behind the palanquin to clear and guard its way, honouring the martyr and praying for deliverance.
Ren Naigui's reconstruction
Born in Rudong in 1950, Ren Naigui recovered the rite dance in 1980 and shaped it as performed today; his three-hundred-strong staging won gold at the 2006 provincial games.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The Jumping Horse Attendant is transmitted mainly in the area of Rudong County, Jiangsu Province, and is most flourishing in the townships of Fengli, Juegang and Chaoqiao; when the procession goes out the contingent numbers from three or five hundred to more than three thousand, the attendants tying bronze bells at the waist, holding horse-whips more than one metre long and sticking silver needles in their cheeks, leaping before and after the palanquins of Du Tianwang and the other bodhisattvas to clear the way and escort them.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Ren Naigui (official archive record of the associated inheritor): Male, of Han ethnicity, born in April 1950, native of Rudong County, Jiangsu Province. In the early 1980s he worked with other dance specialists to excavate and collate the folk ritual dance “burning the horse-attendant incense”; on the basis of preserving the transmissive character of the dance he introduced revisions, and formed the traditional dance Jumping Horse Attendant. He has taken part many times in provincial and municipal folk song-and-dance exchange performances, serving as lead dancer each time and at the same time being responsible for making costumes and props. He established two bases for the transmission and training of the Jumping Horse Attendant, at Rudong Secondary Specialized School and at Nantong University, and was engaged as a visiting professor. Representative inheritor of the Jumping Horse Attendant, a national-level intangible cultural heritage project in the fifth national batch. The 300-person Jumping Horse Attendant he choreographed in 2006 won a gold medal at the opening ceremony of the 16th Jiangsu Provincial Games, and the 100-person Jumping Horse Attendant he choreographed in 2010 won a Fine Works Award in the intangible cultural heritage item display and appraisal at the first China Farmers’ Art Festival, sponsored by the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Culture and the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Ren Naigui 05-2287
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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