Bronze drum dance (Wenshan Zhuang and Yi bronze drum dance)

Name of China's national intangible cultural heritage: Bronze Drum Dance

Applicant: Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province

Item No.: 129

Project No.: Ⅲ - 26

Time of publication: 2006 (the first batch)

Category: traditional dance

Region: Yunnan Province

Type: new item

Applicant: Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province

Protection unit: Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture intangible cultural heritage protection and Art Research Center

Brief introduction of bronze drum dance (Wenshan Zhuang and Yi bronze drum dance)

Applicant: Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province

Copper drum dance is one of the most popular and influential ancient dances among the Zhuang and Yi people in Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture of Yunnan Province. It is distributed in Zhuang and Yi villages in Guangnan, Malipo, Funing, Xichou, Maguan and Qiubei counties, and is most representative in Zhuang, Yi and Xinzhai township of Malipo County in Guangnan County and Baiyao branch of Yi nationality in Muyang township of Funing County.

The earliest bronze drum unearthed in Guangnan County is the Shaguo drum in the spring and Autumn period and the Warring States period, which has a history of more than 2000 years. The bronze drum has long been used as a symbol of power, an artifact for exorcism and blessing, and an instrument for entertaining gods. The bronze drum dance began with the nature worship and ancestor worship of Zhuang and Yi ancestors in Wenshan. Yi people believe that the bronze drum is the spirit of all things. By beating and dancing, they can convey people's wishes to God and their ancestors. Zhuang people think that beating the bronze drum and dancing can help the village to subdue demons and exorcise evil spirits and pray for peace.

Bronze drum dance is a group dance of ethnic group. The dancers formed a circle and danced counter clockwise with the rhythm of drums. They finished one group of dances and then another group of dances. The contents were all the reflection of farming production and life of Zhuang and Yi people. The bronze drum dance of the Zhuang Nationality in Magui village, NASA Town, Guangnan retains 12 sets of dance movements, reflecting the different production contents in four seasons and 12 months of the year. Bronze drum dance in Malipo, Funing and other villages is mainly used for praying for rain, harvest, funeral and other folk activities. Zhuang and Yi People's bronze drum dance is popular, with simple movements and rich dance vocabulary. In the performance of Zhuang's bronze drum dance, one plays the bronze drum, and the other uses wooden box to form resonance glide, which can't be found in other music performances. Yi People's bronze drum playing is a special skill. One person can play twelve tone combinations with both male and female bronze drums, referred to as twelve tones. It is said that the gong drum represents the sun, the Mu drum represents the moon, and the twelve tunes represent twelve months of a year. Therefore, the Yi People's bronze drum dance also contains the calendar culture of the local people, accumulating the historical and cultural connotations of Zhuang and Yi ancestors' nature worship, ancestor worship, and maintaining the survival and development of the nation. It has distinctive national and regional characteristics and important historical, cultural and artistic values .

Due to the impact of foreign culture, the young generation of Zhuang and Yi people lack a deep understanding of the national traditional history and culture, which leads to a sharp decrease in the number of dancers who learn bronze drum. If they do not protect and inherit it in time, they will die out.