I. The historical origin of Yao long drum dance
This dance with unique ethnic flavor contains a beautiful love story. Legend has it that a long time ago, there were three people living in Yao Mountain, the old man divided the family property equally between his two sons before he died. The elder brother was greedy for money, and took all the property as his own, and the younger brother, Dongbi, had to wander around and work for people to make a living. The daughter of King Pangu, Fansha Thirteen Sisters, saw the good character of Dongbi and came down to earth to marry him. The brother of Dongbi wanted to kill Dongbi and take Fansha Thirteen Sisters by a wild method. Knowing this, King Pangu helped Dongbi defeat his brother and recalled Thirteen Sisters to Heaven. Before leaving, the thirteen sisters told Dongbi: there is a tree on the south mountain, cut it down to make a long drum with 360 rings, wait until October 16th (the birthday of King Pangu's wife), step on the rings and beat the drum, jumping on the 360 rings, then you can fly up to the sky like an eagle to be reunited with her. Winter than in accordance with the thirteen sister's instructions, undaunted by the danger, came to the South Mountain, found the piano tree, made a long drum, and indeed in the agreed time jumped up, and finally flew up to the sky and thirteen sister reunion. People in order to commemorate this loving couple, and then every time Pangu Wangwu birthday juggling song hall, we have to jump long drum, this custom, has been passed down to the present day.
Every year during the Spring Festival, row Yao compatriots in addition to their own long jump drums to celebrate the festivities, but also formed a flower-drum team, to the nearby Han, Zhuang area to celebrate the New Year to the brothers of all ethnic groups. Everywhere they go, they are warmly welcomed. Han, Zhuang brothers take out the New Year cake food, boiled sweet wine dumplings, hospitality. After the dance, the host also had to send a letter of "Lishui", congratulating Yao compatriots on the auspicious new year.
Changgu Yao language called "broadcast public", its long history. Southern Song Dynasty Shaoxing two years (1132) issued on May 3, "twelve surnames of Yao people over the mountain list," which reads: "The Prince of Heaven in front of the Hall, the King's long shirt and big sleeves, long waist wooden drums, spotted clothes and red collars, pipa blowing and singing." Accordingly, the Yao long drum has a history of more than 800 years.
II. Yao long drum style characteristics
1. Basic movements
When performing, the drummer's left hand holds the waist of the long drum up and down, and the right hand with the beat, while dancing and striking. The movements mainly include simulation of animals and rituals. The dance is robust and simple in style. Some of them can also dance on a table of eight immortals, beating and dancing at the same time. Generally accompanied by suona, gongs and drums, and sometimes also sing "Pan Wang song" to cheer.
The long drum dance is divided into "single dance", "double dance", "group dance" and other types of dance. It has 72 sets of performance programs, and each set is divided into a number of animal details such as "starting the hall" and "moving the hall". Its movements are characterized by roughness, bravery, exuberance, strength, virility, pugnacity and spontaneity. Whether it is jumping, leaping, squatting, thwarting or rotating, flopping, bouncing, yangteng and other dynamics, all of them show the passionate, unrestrained, strong and brave character traits of the Yao people.
Most of the drumming actions of the long drums show the production and life contents, such as building houses, plowing and planting, imitating the movements of animals and birds, etc., which are vivid and full of life atmosphere. Drumming is divided into martial arts. Wen playing soft and slow action, martial arts rough and bold; 2 people play, 4 people play, can also be a large group of people in a circle to play, the atmosphere is warm, the drums sound loud.
2. Props
(1) Classification
The long drum is divided into three kinds of drums according to its shape: small, medium and large. The small drum, also known as the short drum, is about 70-90 centimeters long, with a diameter of 4-5 centimeters at the waist and 8-10 centimeters at the ends; the medium drum, also known as the long waist drum or the yellow mud drum, is about 110-130 centimeters long, with a diameter of 15-20 centimeters at the waist and 8-10 centimeters at the ends. -The medium-length drum, also known as the long waist drum or yellow mud drum, is about 110-130 centimeters long, with a waist diameter of about 15-20 centimeters and a surface diameter of about 25-30 centimeters at both ends.
(2) Production
The long drum is usually made of Shatong wood, with a cow or goat skin covering the drum surface. 1.2 meters long, small in the middle, large at both ends, with one end slightly larger by one-third. Wooden heart hollowed out, both ends of the horn covered with refined yellow sheepskin, and then 6 to 8 dyed hemp rope pulled tightly on both ends of the yellow sheepskin, and then painted red, yellow, white and other colors, painted with dragon and phoenix patterns, beautify the drum body. When dancing, the dancers use a colorful belt tied with two "drum neck", hanging on the shoulder, across the waist, the right hand to make the palm of the left hand holding a piece of bamboo to hit the drum, with the beat of the music, that is, "reciting snap reciting bang" resounding sound. If more than four people hit the drum, with the beat of the music, that is, the sound of "crackling Pong Ping" thick and impassioned. If with the horn, gong, suona accompaniment, such as the ancient lineup of killing, drums and horns in the sky, the mountains and valleys should be, inspiring.
3. Regional differences
Pai Yao people living in the mountainous areas of northern Guangdong Province, on New Year's Day, all like to dance long encouragement. The long drum dance of the Yao people in Liannan, Guangdong Province, was introduced to the Paiyao people when their ancestors migrated to Liannan in the Sui and Tang dynasties, and flourished along with the Juggling Song Hall. Dance, dancers dressed in festive costumes, waist tie red silk, feet wrapped in white binding, hanging more than 1 meter long drums, sometimes aerial turn, sometimes like a tiger pouncing on the ground, especially when the two performers, like two tigers, like two dragons playing beads, it is really interesting. The whole set of action is strong and powerful, rough and free, the Yao people's hard-working and courageous spirit and strong character, performance is very delicate. Among them, "cockfighting", "archery", "tiger jump Dragon Gate" and other actions, beautiful and peculiar dance, but the difficulty is also very high, requiring skillful performance skills.
The long drum is called "Wangdu" in Yao language, about 4 feet long, with two big ends and a small center, in the shape of a trumpet. The body of the drum is made of Shatong wood. Both ends are covered with cowhide or sheepskin as the drum surface. When the dance is hung across the waist, the five fingers of the right hand together, palm beat the drum. Issued by the "than" sound; left hand holding a bamboo piece, beat the drum surface, issued by the "winter" sound. This rhythmic continuous beat, it will be issued "winter than winter than winter than winter than" sound. Performers with the dance action, change the beat, performance of different content and emotion, to achieve its artistic effect. In the form of performance, the long drum is divided into single dance, double dance and multi-person dance (4, 6, 8 people), ***36 sets of performance program, the content is very rich. Yao long drum drum body is wooden, hollowed out at both ends, covered with sheepskin. Drum size two kinds of drums, the long drum is more than 1 meter long, drum diameter 0.2 meters, the middle drum waist thin 7 to 8 centimeters; small long drum is about 0.8 meters long, drum diameter of about 0.1 meters. Drums are often used to beat the yellow mud paste on the drum surface, regulating the tone, so this dance is also known as the yellow mud drum dance.
The long drum dance of Guangdong Paiyao region is a male dance. The dancers hang the big drum diagonally at the waist, hold the bamboo piece in the left hand to beat the drum, and clap with the palm of the right hand. The form of the performance includes a pair dance and a circle dance. In the pair dance, one person leads the dance, and the other corresponds to the dance; in the circle dance, one person leads the dance, and the crowd joins in. The basic rhythm of the dance is the continuous circular movement of the upper body and the soft undulating pace of half bending the knees, which is driven by the shaking of the head of the drum when it is struck. There are male and female drums in the Dayao Mountain area of Guangxi. The male drum has the same shape as the above, and is held in the left hand and clapped with the right hand; the female drum is short and thick and round, and is hung at the waist by a dancer. The dancers are often led by older drummers in the villages. Usually by a female drum, 4 male drums form a dance team, by the female drum to master the rhythm of the whole dance. The drummer is a man, and the woman holds a handkerchief and dances and sings in between.
The small long drum evolved from the big long drum, which is mainly popular in the Dayao Mountains of Guangxi and the Yao areas of Hunan. It is usually danced by two or four people holding long drums, and is attended by a large number of people during grand festivals. The small long drum is lightweight and flexible, with many dance moves, and is divided into three postures: "high pile", "middle pile" and "low pile" due to the degree of knee flexion and stretching and the different heights of the parts when playing the drum. The playing method is divided into "Wen Ta" and "Wu Ta", with "Wen Ta" movements being gentle and expansive, and "Wu Ta" movements being rough and complex. The movements of "Wen-Da" are gentle and expansive, while those of "Wu-Da" are rough and complex. There is also the "playing on a high table", which is played on a table or two tables, and the dancing skills are more difficult. There are as many as 36 sets of Yao long drums, which can be categorized according to their contents: those for building houses, agricultural production, making long drums, ceremonial and playful ones, etc. Each set of movements starts from a slow motion and then changes to a more complex one. Each set of movement is from slow to fast, gradually forming a climax to the end. This kind of dance is mainly accompanied by its own drums, and is also commonly accompanied by suona, gongs and cymbals. When the crowd is large, it is often accompanied by a yellow mud drum song.
Three. Yao long encouragement heritage status
Yao long encouragement belongs to the festive dance. Yao family in the "New Year", the lunar calendar October 16 "play song hall" and other traditional festivals, or to celebrate the harvest, congratulate the newlyweds and other joyous occasions, the young song Gui impromptu dance, a call for a hundred responses, the dragon and the tiger leap, magnificent, really spectacular.
Yao playing long drums mostly in the lunar calendar in March 3, June 6, August 15, October 16 held. Especially on October 16th Yao "Pan Wang Festival" is the most popular." Also Pan Wang wishes "three years a small wish, twelve years a big wish; small wish to play the long drum for three days and three nights, big wish to play seven days and seven nights. Before the founding of the People's Republic of China, such activities were organized by the same clan. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the village as a unit of organization, and is not limited to the above holidays, National Day, the Spring Festival or to celebrate the harvest, can play the long drum.
In 1951 and 1954, the National Day, Jianghua Yao long drummer Pan Tianfeng, Pan Yongming and Zhou Decheng, Zhao Gengmei, have been to Beijing to perform in the Great Hall of the People by the leaders of the Party and the state received.1982 September, Jianghua Yao long drummer Feng Maolin, Huang Wengui in the second national minority traditional sports meeting made a performance.
Four. The significance of the inheritance of the Yao long drum
The long drum mostly reflects the production struggles and living customs of the Yao people, reflecting the thoughts, feelings and ideal aspirations of the Yao people, with a unique style of the Yao people. In the form and program of performance, it fully expresses the character traits and temperament of Yao people. The movements of the dance are rough, brave, unrestrained, vigorous and free; the rhythm is fast and agile. The dance vocabulary imitates going up and down the mountains, crossing the streams and valleys, cutting down trees and carrying wood, fighting with dragons and tigers, etc., which is vivid and understandable at a glance. Almost all Yao dances are mass, square, and have certain props, such as long drums, flower drums, cow horns, parasols, etc., which constitute the style of this ethnic group and are popular among the masses and easy to circulate. Therefore, on various occasions such as festivals, weddings, religions, funerals and so on, there are songs and dances, which are very lively.