Tu Nationality in Tu

Name of Chinese national intangible cultural heritage: Tu Yutu

Applicant: Tongren County, Qinghai Province

Item No.: 143

Project No.: Ⅲ - 40

Time of publication: 2006 (the first batch)

Category: traditional dance

Region: Qinghai Province

Type: new item

Applicant: Tongren County, Qinghai Province

Protection unit: Tongren County Cultural Center

A brief introduction to Yu Tu of Tu Nationality

Applicant: Tongren County, Qinghai Province

Tu Yutu, a unique folk culture, is popular in Nianduhu village, Tongren County, Qinghai Province. It is held from the 5th to the 20th day of the 11th lunar month every year, including the ritual of reading the peace Sutra, entertaining people and gods together, and eliminating epidemic diseases and evil spirits. Yu Tu is also the name of the dancer. At the beginning of the ceremony, a dancer named Yu Tu painted tiger and leopard patterns on his bare upper body and performed along the village, dancing door to door. It has been hundreds of years since Tu People's Tu dance spread.

There are many views on the historical origin of the custom of "Yutu", such as the theory of Chu custom, the theory of Qiang custom, the theory of native religion ceremony, and so on. In history, the "Yutu" series of folk activities once spread in some villages in the Longwu River Basin, but now they are only inherited in Nianduhu village, and are in an endangered state. The protection of "Yutu" is of great significance to show the originality and richness of Tu's traditional culture and to enhance Tu's national identity and cultural consciousness.