The Tujia ancestors experienced a historical process from "Totem Worship" to "Ancestor Worship" to "King Worship" and "Tulushi Worship". The historical process of "Totem Worship" to "Ancestor Worship" to "Tujing Worship" and "Tulaosi Worship", which are the main forms of worship constitute the basic structure of the Tujia culture. As the Tujia people, who are the descendants of Gogun or Huba, because of "Gogun's death, his soul is a white tiger", they first produced the worship form of blood sacrifice to the white tiger totem, the so-called blood sacrifice is human sacrifice, which is an ancient and cruel form of worship, and was replaced by the form of "Ancestor Worship" along with the progress of the society; the worship of the Tujia people was replaced by the form of "Ancestor Worship". "The worship of the "eight kings" is the main content of "ancestor worship". The "Eight Great Kings", also known as the "Eight Great Gods", are said to be the eight gods who grew up drinking tiger's milk, and their names are as follows: Bochaohe She, Xitie Lao, Xihe Lao, Ridu, Su Du, Na Umi, Fo this also by also Chong, and Jie also by also Na Feilei also. Youyang County, You pay for the town of Bako village built "eight big king of the temple", now still exists "eight big king of the position" a remnant of the monument. Because of their unlimited power, outstanding achievements, virtue in the people, become the ancient ancestors of the Tujia worship; "worship of the king" is in the implementation of the Tujia system only after the implementation of a form of worship, are to the family name as a link, with obvious clan colors. "Tulaoji worship" is another form of "Tujing worship". Tu Lao Si, Tujia language called "Tima", is the Tujia people believe in the national "sorcerer". The Tujia people see "Tima" as the unity of man and God, in the primitive and backward social environment, especially in the period of the Tujia system, "Tima" is the Tujia people can see and touch the object of worship. He wore a phoenix crown and high hat, wearing eight dresses, using the eight treasures of copper bells, cow horns, the Division of the knife, GuaZi, tokens and other magic weapons, engaged in "shaking the baby", "return the cow Bodhisattva wishes" and other legal affairs, presided over large-scale ancestor worship and swinging hand dance activities to "Tima Jumping God" is a form of praying for good luck by eliminating calamities and diseases. Tima" is the organizer, conductor and implementer of "totem worship", "ancestor worship" and "earth king worship" of the Tujia ancestors. As the main role of the Tujia cultural model, "Tima" in the wedding, funeral, hand-waving ancestor worship, respect for the gods to drive away evil spirits, curing diseases and disasters, praying for happiness and good luck and other social activities, assumed an important social function. In the Tujia area, "Tima" enjoys a high social status, and even the Tujia also fear a few points.
Youyang is located in the ancient five streams of the first Youxi zone, belonging to the reign of the Tujia "nine streams eighteen Dong" primitive tribes. Since the ancient times, the "witch winds prevailed", and the ancient books contained here in the past, "the language is vulgar", "even the waist of the hoof", "like ghosts and Shang witch! "Therefore, there is a record in Youyang Prefecture's history that "the natives sang and danced in front of the bonfire to worship the gods". Needless to say, in the form and content of the Pendulum Dance, there is a very prominent "witch culture" color. Witch" has extremely complex social reasons, it is accompanied by human fuzzy understanding of things and a cultural phenomenon, with the continuous progress of society, this cultural phenomenon in the Central Plains gradually disappeared, but in the relative backwardness of the Wuling Mountain area to be able to long-term preservation and infiltration of a variety of cultural forms.
Tujia ancestors in the "totem worship", "ancestor worship", "worship of the King of the soil" and swinging hand dance ancestor worship and other activities, are strongly expressed the ancestor of the sacrifice and worship. The ancestral worship is strongly expressed in such activities as the "Ancestor Worship", "Tujing Worship" and the Pendulum Dance. Both the song and the dance of the Pendulum Dance carry the theme of praying for the protection of the gods and sacrificing to the ancestors. The Tujia people use this form of song and dance to realize the purpose of "entertaining the gods" and self-entertainment. Youyang Tujia Hand Dance is rooted in the hinterland of Wuling, the Youshui waterfront of this deep fertile soil, endowed with the spirit of the yellow sky and thick soil gave birth to this splendid national culture. It is from the heart of the true emotional outpouring of feelings, feelings deep and sincere, artistic expression of vivid and vivid, after thousands of years of circulation and processing, become extremely fine narrative poetry, has a strong artistic infectivity.
The beauty of simplicity and gravity
Youyang Tujia Pendulum Dance is very simple both in form and content, and the content reflected involves all aspects of Tujia people's life, which is grand and fine. In terms of form, it is divided into the "big hand-waving" form and the "small hand-waving" form due to the different time, place and subject of worship. The "big swing" is generally "three years two swing", the location of most of the "big swing" in the hall "or" eight parts of the great king of the temple "held, the main body of the sacrifice is mainly" eight great kings "to hold" big swing "in the center of the swinging hand dam set more than ten feet high" dragon and phoenix flag" In order to show gratitude to the "dragon breastfeeding, phoenix feather temperature" of the grace, but also in the pendulum field around the insertion of many flags and streamers, so as to set off and create a solemn, solemn atmosphere. Historically, the "big hand pendulum hall" are set up geographically, when not divided into states, counties, four townships and eight villages of the Tujia people converge on the "big hand pendulum hall" before, to participate in this national event. The "small wall hand" is a village or family name as a unit of the annual ritual activities, generally in the "Tu Wang Temple" or "Lord Palace", the main body of the sacrifice is mainly "Ran, Yang, Tian" or "Peng, Tian, to" and other three surnames of the Toji and ancestors. Compared with the "big hand", this form is more practical and convenient. Both forms reflect the Tujia ancestors use the ritual activities of "one year a small pendulum, two years a big pendulum" to express their prayers to the gods and ancestors; from the content point of view, the "big pendulum" mainly expresses the origin of mankind, myths and legends, ancient wars and other grand scenes. The "Great Pendulum Hand" mainly expresses grand scenes of human origins, myths and legends, ancient wars, etc., and is performed with spears or short sticks, clad in "Xilan Kapu", with brocade instead of armor, and with swarthy, strong and courageous dances, and interspersed with performances of more primitive and ancient Tujia "Maugus" dances in the middle of the performance. "In addition to myths and legends, sacrificial mountain hunting and other themes, the performance also highlights the cultural phenomenon of the Tujia forefathers' "fertility worship", i.e., the worship of "male roots". The "small wall hand" mainly expresses the national migration and production life picture, etc., the dance is soft and delicate, the performance rarely use props, also not subject to clothing restrictions, but the content of the reflection is very detailed, such as: planting rice seedlings, weeding, playing mosquitoes, shaking the Eey flea, cow rubbing the back, playing patty cake and so on. The simple performance form and heavy performance content constitute the extremely deep national cultural connotation of the Youyang Tujia Pendulum Dance, which expresses the Tujia people's reverence for their ancestors and their simple beliefs of loving life, overcoming nature, and praying for a good harvest.
Song, dance and music combined with the beauty of nature
The primitive Pendulum Dance has both songs and dances, as well as the accompaniment of percussion music, which are all in one, complement each other, and flow naturally.
The singing of the Song of the Pendulum is divided into two forms: one is sung by the soil priests, and most of the lyrics are about ancestor worship, history of the nation, and migration stories, etc., which are usually arranged to be sung before the Pendulum Dance is performed. For example, the primitive Pendulum Dance, which has been passed down in the area of Xiazhai Village of Youyang County and reflects the migration of the nation as its main content, is the first to be sung in the Gugen Song, which reads: "Speaking of Gugen, singing Gugen, speaking of the Tujia, there is a reason to think of the Tujia in the past, the Tujia people are in floods of tears. ...... In order to thank the ancestors, the Tujia people ah sing Gugen, cottage construction of the Tujia King Temple, swinging feet swinging hands into the temple court ......" This not only shows a strong color of sacrifice, but also answers the question of why the origin of the dance of swinging hands; the other is sung by the performers themselves, the song is sung by the performers themselves. The other is sung by the performers themselves, with the lyrics mostly reflecting the scenes of production and life, usually interspersed in the Pendulum Dance. For example, the original Pendulum Dance circulating in the area of Ke Da Township and Hou Xi Township of You Yang County, which mainly shows agricultural work, will be sung in the Tujia language as the "Song of Agricultural Matters", which reads: "Ligu Ma write Xie Fork also, private Ri Zi Mei Jie Ga also ......", and its Chinese meaning is: "Yangzi well planted, rice to eat full", but also interspersed with Tujia language dialog, its form is very primitive and simple. The pure percussion accompaniment in the primitive pendulum dance is another characteristic of the pendulum dance, and the musical instruments are drums and gongs made of clay, with thick, low sound and solemn, solemn atmosphere.
Exaggerated movements, crude and primitive beauty
Youyang Tujia Pendulum Dance is very natural and sincere in the expression of emotions, pursuing the reality of life and expressing the reality of art. It directly reflects the psychological quality and aesthetic interest of the Tujia people, and is the sublimation of the image generalization and real emotion of the Tujia people's production life through the generations, and the emotion is natural and simple, touching and deep.
The basic movements of the Youyang Tujia Pendulum Dance show the organic combination of the real life and the real art from different levels. For example, the movements of "single pendulum", "double pendulum", "pirouette pendulum", etc., which are adapted to the needs of the Tujia people, are the most important movements of the Tujia people. For example, the movements of "single pendulum", "double pendulum" and "pirouette pendulum" on the same side of the hands and feet are the artistic exaggeration of the Tujia ancestors who adapted to the real life of shoulder picking, back grinding and walking along the mountain streams and paths, or the optimism and romanticism in the face of strong ecological pressures; and also the movements of "shaking the wart flea" and "hollering". Another example is: "Shaking the wart flea" and "Barking the fire", which are very ugly, but they reflect the pain and suffering of the Tujia forefathers during their migration, and always educate the future generations not to forget the history of the nation; and another example is: "Grinding the eagle and flashing the wings" (i.e. the rock eagle) and other actions, which are the primitive imitations of the Tujia forefathers of the rock eagles that hovered and soared in the sky above Wuling, and they reflect the optimistic spirit and romanticism of the Tujia people before strong ecological pressures.
Excavation and promotion
Since the establishment of Youyang Tujia and Miao Autonomous County, the Youyang County Party Committee and County Government have refined, sublimated and popularized the Tujia Pendulum Dance, a valuable national cultural heritage, and introduced the Square Pendulum Dance and related dance masterpieces integrating ornamental and popularization, which has made the Youyang Square Pendulum Dance a popular square dance with great national characteristics.
In 1956, Mr. Pan Guangdan, a famous professor engaged in ethnic affairs, came to Youyang from Beijing to investigate, and was y attracted by the rich and colorful Tujia culture hidden in this magical land. He suggested that the local government should organize a professional team as soon as possible to rescue, excavate, collect and organize these valuable national cultural treasures. Youyang successive county party committee and county government leaders will collect and organize the work on the important agenda, began in early 1982 on the various ethnic folk culture and art categories embedded in the territory of the county, especially on the Youyang Tujia Pendulum Dance of the original data for a comprehensive census, mapping and picking up work. 1984, according to the State Ministry of Culture, "on the collection and collation of folk dance integration of the spirit of the notice". In 1993, the county party committee and the county government invited Zhang Yubing, vice president of Chengdu Song and Dance Drama Theater and national choreographer, Ju Yu'an, executive director of Sichuan Dancers' Association, and Chen Dade, composer and writer of Chengdu Song and Dance Drama Theater, to create a large-scale music and dance of Tujia characteristics based on the ethnic and folk cultures and arts of Youyang, and launched the first set of square dances in Youyang, which was the first of its kind. In 1994, "Pendulum Ritual" won the "Special Prize" at the Second Ethnic Minority Arts Festival in Sichuan Province, which was the first time that the Youyang Tujia Pendulum Dance was sung as a national cultural brand. Since then, Youyang has been launching new artistic and cultural masterpieces in the refinement of Tujia Pendulum Dance. 1998, the dance "Ode to the Rock Eagle" was created with the original Pendulum Dance movement "Rock Eagle Spreading its Wings" as the basic material; in 1996, the dance "Ode to the Rock Eagle" was created by Comrade Lu Xiaobo based on the "Playing Coffin" and the Pendulum Dance percussion. In March 2001, Youyang was named the "Hometown of Pendulum Dance" by Chongqing Municipal People's Government. In March 2001, Youyang was named the "Hometown of Pendulum Dance" by the Chongqing Municipal People's Government. In 1999, the Tujia Pendulum Dance choreographed by Youyang County, on behalf of Chongqing Municipality, went to Hong Kong to participate in the International Tourism Festival to display, favored by Hong Kong compatriots and overseas people, and in the same year, it also went to Beijing to participate in the performance of the Seventh National Minority Games project competitions and won the Bronze Medal Award; Chongqing Television, Shanghai Oriental Television, China Central Television, Hong Kong, Phoenix Satellite Television, "Into the Life," "Charm of the 12," "Literature and Art World" and other columns have been to Chongqing for many times. Literature and Art World" and other columns have been to Youyang many times to shoot the pendulum dance special programs and interviews, and will be Youyang pendulum dance in 1998, Chongqing TV and Hong Kong Phoenix TV jointly organized the Spring Festival Gala broadcast; October 3, 2001, the former Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the *** Central Committee, the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, Comrade Li Peng, back to visit the old areas of the people in Youyang, the Peach Blossom Garden in the northern part of the city plaza with the people of various ethnic groups In the Peach Blossom Garden Square in the north of the city, he danced the Youyang Tujia Hand Dance with the people of all ethnic groups, and then he readily wrote an inscription: "Youyang - the hometown of the Tujia Hand Dance". In May 2002, the Ministry of Culture named Youyang as the "Hometown of Chinese Folk Art (Pendulum Dance)", and on June 7, 2008, the State Council listed the Youyang Tujia Pendulum Dance as the second batch of national intangible cultural heritage. Now the popularity of Youyang Tujia Pendulum Dance has penetrated into thousands of households, the popularity rate of more than 80%, the mass culture, square cultural activities flourish, the awareness of the protection of national culture has been strengthened, in order to promote the construction of the "three civilizations" and to promote the development of the county's economy, and has played a positive role in promoting.