Zhangjiajie Ethnic Song and Dance
Gaohuadeng is a dance with strong ethnic characteristics popular in the Yuanguping area of Dayong. Performances involve twelve to fourteen people, accompanied by gongs, cymbals, suona, and drums. Each performer holds a lantern lit with two candles, topped with a small wooden figure, and decorated with colored paper cutouts depicting opera scenes such as 'The Eight Immortals,' 'Wagang Fort,' and 'Heroes of Liangshan.'
This article has been compiled from historical materials on 'Zhangjiajie Tour Guide Network' (33519.com · Specialty Foods / Cuisine / Customs section). Prices, business hours, administrative divisions, and statistical data mentioned in the text may already be outdated. Before traveling, please refer to the latest announcements from merchants, scenic areas, and local competent authorities; the parts involving folk legends and folk customs are local historical and cultural anecdotes, provided for cultural reference.
Gao Hua Deng (Tall Flower Lantern)
This is a dance with rich ethnic characteristics popular in the Yuanguping area of Dayong. During performance, there are twelve to fourteen performers, accompanied by gongs, cymbals, suona, drums, and other instruments. Each person holds a lantern with two lit candles inside, topped with a wooden idol, and five-colored cutouts depicting opera stories such as "Eight Immortals," "Wagang Fort," and "Heroes of Liangshan." The High Flower Lantern performance has a set procedure, requiring starting from the east and ending in the west, entering with a "Half Moon" and exiting with a "Full Moon," and dancing a "Taiji Diagram." It can also be performed inside people's homes, called "Votive Lanterns," mostly for blessings, fulfilling vows, or adding festivity to a family's happy occasion. Shouting and whistling can only be done outdoors, called "Public Lanterns," meant for everyone to watch. Its forms are further divided into Civil Lanterns and War Lanterns. The former depicts the migration, reproduction, labor, and life of ancient ancestors; the latter depicts battles and breaking formations. Formation changes include "Weaving a Fence," "Rolling Pillars," "Eighteen Battles," "Snail Turning to the Top," "Eight Trigrams Formation," "Passing Sky Star," "Single-Line Snake," and more than twenty others. For example, in breaking the "Chessboard Formation," the host inserts thirty-two sticks of incense arranged as a chessboard. During the performance, the host raises a red umbrella while the lantern players raise black umbrellas, entering from the river channel and "eating" the pieces one by one (i.e., stepping on the incense). This is a contest of wits. Lantern lights dart and weave like meteors in dance, accompanied by dragon lanterns dancing in tandem (pairing with dragon lanterns is one of the main features of High Flower Lanterns). The rousing sounds of gongs, drums, shouts, and whistles create rhythmic waves of sound, lively and joyful. The High Flower Lantern is said to have originated in the early years of Emperor Zhang of the Eastern Han Dynasty, when the "Zhong Man" Qin Erjian raised a rebellion against the Han in the middle and lower reaches of the Lishui River, fighting the Han army "at Hongxia" (said to be present-day Hongtuping in Dayong, pending verification). The "Man people" of Hongxia danced with torches to cheer on the rebel army. Ultimately, due to the Han army's superior numbers, Qin Erjian and his entire rebel force died in battle (ancient battlefield relics such as Xuangu Ping, Yujia Ya, Zhaying Mountain, and Beacon Towers remain to this day). Afterwards, the local Man people would gather every year during the post-New Year period (from the first day of the first lunar month to the Lantern Festival) to dance with torches and do "yangzhuang" (a local term for somersaults), expressing commemoration of the "Battle of Hongxia." Over time, torches evolved into lanterns and costumed figures, and the performance developed certain rules. To this day, this dance art retains its ancient, primitive, rugged, bold, and solemn characteristics.
Bench Dragon
Dragon dance is a Chinese folk sports art. The bench dragon in Dayong is a unique form of dragon dance. The Bai people of Sangzhi County in particular have a special fondness for dancing the bench dragon. The Bai people's bench dragon dance is said to have originated in the Han Dynasty, evolving from the religious activity of "dragon dance to pray for rain" by the Bai ancestors. There are two styles of bench dragon. One is the simple bench dragon, with two people lifting a long bench as the head and one person behind choosing a suitable "stage" for performance; the other is the "bamboo-strip bench dragon," where a dragon shape is woven from bamboo strips and placed on a bench, with wooden feet representing dragon claws, beautifully and realistically shaped. Bench dragon dancing is further divided into two dance styles: the single-bench dragon and the nine-section dragon (nine benches connected). Bench dragon movements include "Two Dragons Competing for the Pearl," "Yellow Dragon Threading Through Flowers," "Two Dragons Playing in Water," "Golden Cicada Shedding Its Shell," and "Yellow Dragon Coiling Around." Straw dragons are also popular in Yongshun and Cili, with dragon ears made of straw. Dragon dances are also divided into "dry dragons" and "wet dragons." "Dry dragons" are mostly for entertainment, while "wet dragons" are for praying for rain. Wherever the "dragon" goes, the people must splash water to cheer, and the dancers get thoroughly soaked—extremely lively and joyful.
San Bang Gu (Three-Stick Drum)
The Three-Stick Drum was called the Three-Staff Drum in the Tang Dynasty. Shen Xingfu of the Ming Dynasty wrote in Guqu Zayan: "In Wu, where do the three-stick drum beggars come from? I saw them in my youth; they originated in the Xiantong era of the Tang Dynasty (865 AD)." It was introduced to this region around the Ming Dynasty and gradually became a folk art form loved by the masses. Every Spring Festival, performers travel together from village to village to pay New Year calls, visiting every household regardless of wealth. When encountering a poor family, the performers give them gifts presented by other families, meaning everyone should enjoy the festival. This fully reflects the Tujia people's warm hospitality and kind-hearted ethnic character, and plays a certain role in strengthening ethnic unity. The Three-Stick Drum usually consists of three to five people: one beats the drum and sings, one plays gongs and cymbals, and one juggles flower sticks. There are three flower sticks, each one chi long. The performer holds one in each hand and tosses the third into the air, striking the airborne flower stick to keep it from falling. There are also skills using knives instead of sticks, with five knives replacing three sticks. Highly skilled performers suddenly toss the knives extremely high, creating a dazzling display that leaves viewers amazed. Three-Stick Drum performances usually have four sets: "Welcoming Spring Plowing," "Harvesting and Threshing," "Celebrating the Harvest," and "New Year Greetings," with items such as "Carp Leaping Over the Dragon Gate," "Jade Maiden Shuttling," and "Slate Rafting Through Rapids." Three-Stick Drum is highly technical, requiring full concentration during performance, appropriate force, seamless coordination, and silent rapport with the singer.
Baishou Dance (Hand-Waving Dance)
The Hand-Waving Dance is the most influential large-scale dance of the Tujia people, with strong sacrificial overtones. Songs arise with the dance, and the dance takes its name from the songs. The Hand-Waving Dance originated in ancient times and was especially prevalent during the Ming and Qing dynasties. The Qing Yongzheng Yongshun Prefecture Gazetteer records: "Every year from the third to the seventeenth day of the first lunar month, men and women gather together, beating gongs and drums, dancing and singing, called hand-waving." The Hand-Waving Dance is also called "Sheba." The entire activity uses sacrificial dances, singing, and other performance forms, with content narrating human origins, ethnic migration, and heroic deeds. After the sacrificial ceremony, the "Tima" or altar master leads everyone into the Hand-Waving Hall or Hand-Waving Ground to dance the Hand-Waving Dance and sing Hand-Waving songs. The Book of Later Han calls the Hand-Waving Dance the "Bayu Dance"; the Book of Jin: Music Records holds that among the four dance pieces, "Yuyu" and "Nuyu" are inseparable from weapons, thus making it an ancient war dance. The Tujia people danced this before battle to boost morale. The Hand-Waving Dance is divided into single-wave, double-wave, large hand-waving, and small hand-waving types. When dancing the Hand-Waving Dance, large drums are beaten and large gongs sounded, creating a magnificent and soul-stirring momentum. During the dance, hands and feet move on the same side, kicking and waving, fluttering forward and back, in pairs, with vivid artistic imagery. The Hand-Waving Dance is not only a folk sports activity for entertainment and fitness but also a unique artistic treasure on stage. As the saying goes: "In front of the Hand-Waving Hall, many a splendid gathering, hand in hand, sleeve to sleeve, slowly singing. The sound of drums and gongs mingles with murmuring voices, lingering melodies—ho yi ho."
Some of the images above are from the internet, and their sources are unknown. Authors, please contact this website.