Tujia Hand Waving Dance

The Pendulum Dance is an activity of the Tujia people's rituals and prayers, which is usually held on New Year's Day and has developed into a comprehensive folklore activity of rituals, prayers, songs and dances, socializing, sports competitions, and material exchanges, etc. The "Pendulum Dance" has different sizes. There are different sizes of "Pendulum". Held every three or five years is called "big hands". The "big hand" large-scale, set of more, long time, lasted seven or eight days, with the market trade, arts and sports activities together, held in front of the "Pendulum Hall". The "Pendulum Hall" is located in the Tuo Wang Shrine. The "Small Pendulum" is small in scale, with fewer sets, generally from one to three days, and is mostly held in the ancestral hall of the clan. Tujia people in the pendulum in the activities, remembering the ancestors of the hardships of entrepreneurship, remembering the achievements of ancestors, show the Tujia ancestors of the life scene, the whole activity is with a strong trace of ancestor worship.

"Fushi city in the brocade as a nest, the soil king palace water waves. The red lanterns of ten thousand people are stacked on top of each other, and a piece of lingering hand-swinging songs are sung." After reading the classic work of Tujia poet Peng Shiduo in the Qing Dynasty, one cannot help but think of the magnificent scenes of Tujia songs and dances that flourished in western Hubei, western Hunan and Yudong in those years.

The Hand Waving Dance is the most influential large-scale dance of the Tujia people, with strong sacrificial colors. It is a kind of dance for praying for happiness and rewarding ancestors. It expresses the production, life, war, myths and legends of the Tujia people. The song follows the dance, and the dance gets its name from the song. It originated in ancient times and flourished in the Ming and Qing dynasties. After the ritual ceremony, the Tujia people beat the drums and gongs, and the "Tima" or master of the altar led the crowd into the Pendulum Hall or Pendulum Ping to dance and sing the Pendulum Song, which is majestic and magnificent, and it is very moving.

Pendulum dance according to the scale of its activities are divided into "big pendulum", "small pendulum" two; according to its dance form is divided into "single pendulum", "double pendulum", "swing pendulum", etc.; according to the time it is held is divided into "the first month of the Hall", "February Hall", "March Hall", "May Hall", "June Hall" and so on. The Pendulum Dance is divided into the Big Pendulum Dance and the Small Pendulum Dance. The big swinging hand activity scale is huge, to sacrifice "eight big gods" as the main, perform the origin of mankind, national migration, resist foreign trouble and agricultural activities; small swinging hand activity scale is smaller, to sacrifice Lord Peng, to the old official, Tian good man and the local soil king as the main, perform part of the agricultural activities.

The Big Pendulum is held in the Pendulum Hall. In the center of the hall, the idols of the eight kings and their wives "Pa Pa Pa" are enshrined. Pendulum Hall in the middle of the large ping to stand a 24-meter-high flagpole, above the two dragon flags fluttering in the wind, the top of the flagpole of a white crane wings to fly.

The big swinging hand activity according to the traditional custom of three years twice swinging, in the first month of the ninth to eleven days held. Boundary, the village according to the family name or clan room composed of pendulum "row", each "row" for a pendulum team, each "row" number of people vary, are equipped with pendulum team, sacrificial team, flag team, band, armor team, cannonball team.

The first column is the dragon and phoenix flag team. Dragon flag and phoenix flag system with red, blue, white, yellow silk made of four colors of a triangle flag. Flag length of more than ten feet, the edge of the set with the cockle-shaped lace. The white dragon flag and the red phoenix flag as the upper bearing, side by side at the forefront of the procession.

The next column is the sacrificial team. Composed of respected elders on the walled village, as many as twenty people. They are dressed in soap-colored tunic, holding a stick of Qi Mei, knife, tube and other props, an honored person holding a wine jar with the word "blessed", led by the burden of grains, burden of prey, end of the poi, pick deep-fried noodles, mention tofu and other offerings, along with the palm of the teacher of the rituals, singing the ritual song.

Behind the ritual team is the dance team. Men, women and children of all ages can participate in the procession, dressed in festive attire and holding a bamboo tube or a branch of an evergreen tree in their hands.

Following the dance team is a small flag team. All households a colorful, rectangular and triangular two kinds, also decorated with ruffles. The flags are presented at the altar of the "Eight Kings" to show appreciation for their ancestors' kindness.

Next is the band, armor team, cannonball team. The band is divided into two types: the distillation and the swinging hand gongs and drums. They are accompanied by cow horns, native horns, wild horns and dongdong quinquets, which play the unique melodies of the Tujia festivals.

The armor team is made up of young and strong men wearing colorful "Silankappu". The Tujia people are strong and courageous by nature, and they are keen on martial arts, and they use brocade as armor in the hand-waving dance to show that they are powerful and strong.

The cannonball team consists of bird cannons and three-eyed cannons, and each team enters the Pendulum Hall in accordance with the above program. After entering the hall, first sweep the evil, and then the gods. Zhang Tang division holding a broom, with the soaring voice cavity, strongly condemned those "big bucket into, small bucket out, less catty lack of two" exploiters; moral iron broom, sweeping those "start the heart of harm, theft for *" of the national scum, fully demonstrated the Turkish cynicism, pure and simple and kind virtues. Sacrifice, sacrifices in the palm of the teacher's leadership, in order to kneel down on the left foot, the dance crowd also knelt down devoutly, and the sacrificial team a leader of one together, singing God's song, lyrics euphemistic and deep, the atmosphere is solemn and dignified. After the song, each platoon will present their own offerings to the god, on which there are "blessing, luck, longevity and happiness", "good luck", "good harvest", "good weather" and other words.

After the sacrifice was completed, the ceremonial cannon sounded three times, shaking the sky and earth, destroying the people dance, the whole scene boiled. People in the palm of the teacher's command, neatly changing the dance movements, sometimes single pendulum, sometimes double pendulum, sometimes pirouette, beautiful dance, realistic movements, rigid and flexible, rough and majestic. The content of the dance shows the national migration, hunting and war, agriculture and weaving, etc., a picture scroll rich in national characteristics and the flavor of life.

Small pendulum hand, is the Tujia residential areas generally prevalent in a cultural and customary activities, in the past, where a hundred households of the township, are built pendulum hand hall, some also built rows of buildings, theaters and so on. In the past, all the townships with 100 households had a hand-waving hall, and some of them also had a row of buildings and a stage. At the time of the dance, men and women gathered at the earth dam in front of the Pendulum Hall, beating the drums and sounding the gong to pendulum hands. It is characterized by swinging the same side of the hand, bowing and bending the knees, to the body's twisting with the hand flinging. The performances include "dragging the pheasant's tail", "jumping toad", "wooden eagle flashing wings", "rhinoceros looking at the moon" and other hunting actions, and "chopping fire dregs", "digging soil", "burning ash to accumulate fertilizers", "planting cereals", "grass-gathering", "rice-planting", "cutting grain", "weaving" and other production and life actions.

The beats of the Tujia Swinging Hands Dance:

Beginning: Worshiping the Fire

1, Reunion Hands (four times): Reunion Hands --- spreading the wings to the right --- giving two high fives

2, Wheeling Hands (two times): Wheeling two times --- Reunion Hands two times --- spreading the wings two times ------------ Passing through the door: spreading the wings two times

3, Shaking the Lattice (four times): Shaking four beats --- spreading the wings two times

3, Shaking the Lattice ( Four times): Shake four beats --- round hand four beats --- put the purse (right-left-squat) ------------ through the door: spread wings twice

4, worship Goddess of Mercy (four times): worship four beats --- jump to worship --- squat to worship --- spread wings twice (hand does not retract) --- jump to worship once

5, double pendulum (eight times): the first 12 beats do not move --- three beats to the left --- three beats to the right --- three beats to the left --- three beats to the right --- three beats to the left --- three beats to the right --- three beats to the left --- three beats to the right --- three beats around the Right three beats --- around three beats --- hands before and after pulling three beats

6, wrapped waist (three times): on three beats --- down three beats --- wrapped three beats --- up three beats. Which wrapped twice after a walk of six beats ----- over the door: spread wings twice

7, large reunion hand (eight times): reunion hand four beats --- up to hit the right hand four beats --- bullfighting hand eight beats (right-left-right) --------- over the door: clapping eight times

8, beat the waves (four times): 1, 2 beats to hit the left hand --- 3, 4, 5 beats around the "∞" --- 6 beats to stop --- -7, 8 beat bullfighting hand

9, Sheba:

The end of the group fire ----

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