Zhanggu Drum Dance
01 · Historical Records
The Sangzhi Bai people migrated here from Dali, Yunnan, at the end of the Song and the beginning of the Yuan, and have a history of more than seven hundred years. Before 1949 almost every Bai man could dance the Zhang Drum Dance. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China the Sangzhi Zhang Drum Dance took part in provincial-level art exchange performances, but it was banned during the Cultural Revolution; only when seven Bai townships were established in Sangzhi County in 1984 did this traditional Bai folk dance become active again.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The Zhang Drum Dance is a men’s collective dance in which the Bai men of Sangzhi hold a zhang drum (a slender-waisted long drum, also written zhang gu) as they perform. It can be seen at the festival celebrations, harvest thanksgiving, deity processions, temple fairs, folk sacrifices and other ritual occasions of the Bai settlements such as Baijia Shanzhai in Sangzhi County. The performers dance to the beat of percussion instruments such as drums, gongs and cymbals. There may be as few as six performers or as many as ten to twenty; onlookers may join in on the spur of the moment, and anyone without a drum may pick up a wooden stick, a tobacco pipe or some other object and dance along. When the dance reaches an emotional climax, the audience keeps shouting “oh ho” to urge the dancers on, and the scene becomes very lively. Only by the early Ming, when the population of the Sangzhi Bai area had increased and the Zhang Drum Dance had developed, did fixed dance sequences such as “thirty-two linked rings” gradually come into being. The Zhang Drum Dance is transmitted mainly in the seven Bai townships of Mahekou, Maidiping, Furongqiao, Hongjiaguan, Zoumaping, Linxihe and Liujiaping, as well as in more than ten townships such as Guandiping and Ruitapu in the outer half of the county. The zhang drum, also called zhang gu, is a slender-waisted long drum; the dancer holds the drum in one hand and strikes it with the other, dancing to the beat of percussion instruments such as the drum, gong and cymbals. When the population of the Sangzhi Bai area increased in the early Ming, the Zhang Drum Dance developed accordingly and complete suites such as “thirty-two linked rings” gradually took shape, with as few as six performers and as many as ten to twenty; onlookers may pick up a wooden stick or a tobacco pipe and join in, and when the dance reaches its climax the audience keeps shouting “oh ho” to urge the dancers on.
The slender-waisted drum
The zhang drum is a slender-waisted long drum struck with one hand; those without a drum join in with a stick or a tobacco pipe.
The seven Bai townships
It is danced in seven Bai townships and in a dozen further townships such as Guandiping and Ruitapu, the hallmark custom of Sangzhi's Bai communities.
The three founding ancestors
Local tradition credits the founding ancestors Gu Junwan, Wang Pengkai and Zhong Qianyi with creating the dance after settling at Maidiping and Mahekou.
The 1984 revival
After appearing in provincial festivals it was banned during the Cultural Revolution and only revived when the seven Bai townships were established in 1984.
Zhong Huilong and the school class
Born in Sangzhi in 1930, Zhong Huilong dances with plain gravity and rough agility, commands several other folk forms, and brought the dance into primary schools.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
According to local legend, the Zhang Drum Dance was created by the founding ancestors of the Sangzhi Bai — Gu Junwan, Wang Pengkai, Zhong Qianyi and others — after they led their sons and grandsons to flee the wars and settle around Maidiping, Mahekou and other places.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Zhong Huilong (official archive record of the associated inheritor): Male, of Bai ethnicity, born in May 1930, native of Sangzhi County, Hunan Province. The Zhang Drum Dance he performs is simple and solemn, and at the same time both rugged and highly agile and varied. He also masters the basic sequences of folk dances such as the Sangzhi mourning dance, the flower lantern dance and the nuo dance, and is a many-sided performer of folk dance. He has many times led troupes to Jishou and other places to take part in art performances and competitions. He has taught disciples widely, and has also brought the Zhang Drum Dance into primary school classrooms. Representative inheritor of the Zhang Drum Dance (Sangzhi Zhang Drum Dance), a national-level intangible cultural heritage project in the fourth national batch. The Sangzhi Bai migrated here from Dali, Yunnan at the end of the Song and the beginning of the Yuan; according to local legend the Zhang Drum Dance was created after the founding ancestors Gu Junwan, Wang Pengkai, Zhong Qianyi and others had led their sons and grandsons to flee the wars and settle around Maidiping and Mahekou. Before 1949 almost every Bai man could dance the Zhang Drum Dance; after seven Bai townships were established in Sangzhi County in 1984 this traditional dance became active again, and artists such as Zhong Huilong brought it into primary school classrooms as well.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Zhong Huilong 04-1584
- Zhong Biwu
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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