Studies of Maogusi (Part One)
Maogusi is mainly distributed in Tujia mountain villages where the Tujia language is still spoken, in Longshan, Yongshun, Baojing, and Guzhang counties along the Youshui River basin of northwestern Hunan. Maogusi is a cultural symbol of the Tujia people and a rare flower in the garden of Chinese national cultures. It appears before people in a plain, rugged, and mysterious guise. Maogusi reflects humanity's...
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Maogusi is mainly distributed in the Tujia mountain villages where the Tujia language is still spoken in Longshan County, Yongshun County, Baojing County, and Guzhang County in the You River basin of northwestern Hunan. Maogusi is a cultural symbol of the Tujia people, and also a rare flower in the hundred-flower garden of Chinese national culture. Maogusi appears before people in a simple, unrestrained, and mysterious posture.
Maogusi reflects the primitive culture of humanity, "restores" the production relations of primitive society, displays the course of human cultural development, and reproduces the production and life culture of primitive human society with remarkable fidelity. It provides fossil-like evidence for ethnologists and sociologists studying the genesis of human culture, and has very high value for appreciation and research.
From an artistic point of view, Maogusi is both a primitive drama of the Tujia people and a primitive dance. To call it drama is because it has dramatic scenes, dramatic characters, and dramatic dialogue, conforming to the three elements of drama. To call it dance is because during the performance there are also some rough and bold dance movements.
Before formally studying Maogusi, a rough introduction to the Tujia hand-waving dance must first be given. The hand-waving dance is the Chinese-language name for a kind of dance culture of the Tujia people; in the Tujia language it is called "Shebari." This is because the performance of Maogusi is inseparable from the Tujia hand-waving dance. Maogusi is an important component of the hand-waving dance. Taken together, the two form a whole; viewed separately, the two are also two independent cultural symbols. It can be said this way: without the hand-waving dance, there would be no Maogusi. After the Tujia people perform the hand-waving dance, they then perform Maogusi. This is an established custom and is also specific: the order cannot be reversed. It is absolutely impermissible to perform Maogusi first and then the hand-waving dance. The Tujia hand-waving dance is held every year in the first and third lunar months, and a small number of Tujia mountain villages also hold it in the sixth lunar month. In some places, hand-waving activities are even held in both the first and third lunar months, such as among the Peng clan of Xiejia Village in Xihu Township, Longshan County. Hand-waving in the first lunar month is called the "First-Month Hall," hand-waving activities held in the third lunar month are called the "Third-Month Hall," and hand-waving activities held in the sixth lunar month are called the "Sixth-Month Hall." Hand-waving activity is a very sacred sacrificial and deity-entertaining activity of the Tujia mountain villages in the basin of the You River (a tributary of the Yuan River). Before the Republic of China period, every Tujia mountain village had hand-waving dance performances. Regarding the function of the hand-waving dance, the great Song dynasty scholar Zhu Xi said in Collected Annotations on the Songs of Chu that there was "song and dance to entertain the gods," and Zhu Xi's statement is relatively correct. The Tujia hand-waving dance is precisely the Tujia people using song and dance to let the deities feel a kind of joy, to make the deities happy. After the deities feel joy and become happy, they then bestow blessings upon the human world. This is a mutually reinforcing relationship.
Regarding the situation of the hand-waving dance, there is no lack of records in some local gazetteers of western Hunan from the past. For example, the Yongshun Prefecture Gazetteer of the 28th year of the Qianlong reign of the Qing dynasty records: "Each village (referring to Tujia mountain villages) has a hand-waving hall, also called a ghost hall. It is said to be the underworld office of the deceased local officials. Every year from the third to the seventeenth day of the first lunar month, at night gongs are struck and drums are beaten, men and women gather, dance and sing long songs, and it is called 'hand-waving.' This custom still survives." The Longshan County Gazetteer of the 20th year of the Jiaqing reign of the Qing dynasty also records something about the hand-waving dance: "The native people (the name used for the Tujia at that time) set up hand-waving halls, said to be the underworld offices of the deceased hereditary officials, and offered memorial tablets there. At dusk they strike gongs and beat drums, men and women gather, dance and sing long songs, and it is called 'hand-waving.' Some take the first lunar month as the period, some take the third or sixth lunar month as the period. It is most flourishing only in Dongbu (present-day Nongche Township and Tani Township), Wuzhai (present-day Xiche Town, Ganxi Township, and Mengxi Township), and Sanjiali (present-day Longtou Town and Yanchong Township). Repeated notices were issued to prohibit it, but it could not be stopped. They also cultivated its number and did not change its customs. However, among them there were those who knew propriety and were also ashamed to do it. As for the native people near the city, this custom has long ceased, but the hall sites still remain." The Yongshun County Gazetteer of the 19th year of the Republic of China also records something about the hand-waving dance: "Hereditary official shrines exist in every county, to sacrifice to the hereditary officials of past dynasties, commonly called Tuwang temples. Every year after the first lunar month and before the Lantern Festival, the descendants of the hereditary officials strike gongs and beat drums, dance and sing long songs, and it is called hand-waving. County Magistrate Chen Bingjun inscribed a poem on the Tuwang Shrine, saying:
What of the ambition of carving out a domain for a thousand years? The grand design leaned on the rocky heights.
Heaven encircles ten thousand ridges, opening passes and stockades; Earth binds repeated shoals, aiding armor and spears.
In the Five Dynasties the soldiers were few, the bronze pillar cold; among a hundred southern peoples ancient customs remain, and cave dwellers are many.
To this day the wild temple holds its yearly sacrifice; in the deep lanes the hand-waving song is still passed down."
The Tujia hand-waving dance is divided into the Grand Hand-Waving Dance and the Small Hand-Waving Dance. The Grand Hand-Waving Dance is called "ie21 ti53 xe21" in the Tujia language, transcribed in Chinese characters as "Yuetihei." Among these, the Chinese meaning of "yue" is god, the Chinese meaning of "ti" is to revere, and the Chinese meaning of "hei" is to make a vow. Translated into Chinese, the meaning is "revere the gods," and the complete meaning of "Yuetihei" is "to revere the gods in order to fulfill a vow to them." Some also call it "me35 tse21 li21," transcribed in Chinese characters as "Maizeli"; the Chinese meaning of this appellation still awaits study. The names of the Small Hand-Waving Dance in the Tujia language include "Shebari," "Shebaba," "Shebagechi," and so on. These Tujia-language names all share two common syllables—"sheba." The meaning of "sheba" is: "she" is the plural personal pronoun "you," and "you" here refers to the deities; the Chinese meaning of "ba" is "to look"; the Chinese meaning of "ri" (note: the "ri" here has no corresponding Chinese character transcription, only an approximate sound. The pronunciation should be the high falling tone of "ri"; more precisely, it should be the fanqie spelling of "ri a") is "to do." The overall Chinese meaning of "Shebari" is "the (dance) done for the gods to see." The "gods" here are the Tujia ancestors, the Eight Great Kings, and the hereditary official kings of past dynasties. The Chinese meaning of "Shebaba" is "(please) gods come and take a look." In "Shebagechi," the Tujia-language "gechi" means "to play," and the Chinese meaning is "to play (and make merry) for the gods." There is also the hand-waving dance in the Tujia mountain villages of Guzhang County and Baojing in western Hunan, called the Tiaonian dance. This is entirely a sinicized name, meaning to properly regulate the year, in order to seek a good harvest in the new year.
The Grand Hand-Waving Dance is grand in scale and is mainly distributed in Mati Township, Xichehe Town, Ganxi Township, and Changtan Township in Longshan County, western Hunan. Because of its grand scale, it is costly. Before conducting the Grand Hand-Waving Dance, the preparatory work is thorough and meticulous, and generally it is held twice every three years. In the one year when there is no hand-waving activity, preparations are still made for the next year's Grand Hand-Waving Dance.
The activity is carefully prepared and carefully designed. When the year for holding the Grand Hand-Waving activity arrives, it must be handled conscientiously, without the slightest mistake. Generally, the Grand Hand-Waving activity begins on the third day of the first lunar month and ends on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, lasting several days. There are many people who participate in and watch the Grand Hand-Waving activity; men and women, old and young from villages within dozens of li around must all take part and watch, and it can be described as turning out in full force. Even some acrobats and small traders from far away come to watch and join in the excitement. Taking advantage of the crowds, they show off their acrobatic skills and do a little business, adding a lively atmosphere to the entire hand-waving dance scene. In Nongche Village, Longshan County, in some years before Liberation, participants and onlookers numbered as many as ten thousand.