Zhuma (Dongba lantern)

Name of China's national intangible cultural heritage: Zhuma (Dongba lantern)

Applicant: Gaochun County, Jiangsu Province

Item No.: 641

Project No.: Ⅲ - 44

Time of publication: 2008 (second batch)

Category: traditional dance

Region:

Type: new item

Applicant: Gaochun County, Jiangsu Province

Protected by: cultural center of Gaochun District, Nanjing

Introduction to Zhuma (Dongba lantern)

Applicant: Gaochun County, Jiangsu Province

Bamboo horse, also known as "running lantern", "living horse" and "bamboo lantern", is a traditional folk dance style. It began in the Song Dynasty, experienced the repeated practice of folk artists, formed a fixed form of performance, mostly in the Spring Festival, Lantern Festival and other festive festivals of folk temple fair performance. When making a bamboo horse, it is usually first made of bamboo skin or bamboo strips, then pasted with several layers of thick paper on the outside, painted with tung oil, tied with a bell on the horse neck, surrounded by a white apron, and then painted with galloping horse legs on the skirt, and the rider's legs on both sides of the horse's belly.

The form of bamboo horse performance is simple. When performing, the dancers are dressed in national costumes, tied with bamboo poles or bamboo strips, and divided into two parts, making a riding shape, constantly changing the formation and pace, walking while performing, and the audience is chasing all the way. The performance is also relatively simple, with dancers running around. The number of performers can be more or less. One person is called "single horse" and performs horse acting, jumping and lying. The two perform "young couple back to their mother's home" and the four perform "three heroes and Lv Bu". When performing, percussion instruments such as gongs, drums and cymbals are often used for accompaniment. In some places, folk music is played with suona to enhance the atmosphere and rhythm.

Bamboo horse is a kind of unique folk music and dance, which has the research value of history, culture and art. At present, under the impact of the modern economic tide, the inheritance and development of bamboo and horse encounter difficulties, facing a series of problems such as aging talents and obsolete props, which urgently need the rescue support and protection of relevant departments.

Dongba lantern is popular in Dongba village, Dongba Town, Gaochun County, Jiangsu Province. It originated in the Tang Dynasty and flourished in the Song Dynasty. It has a history of more than 1000 years. This kind of lantern is composed of two people to perform a horse, which is taller than the props of the general lantern. It is made of bamboo horse rack, flannel made of horse skin, and decorated with saddle, reins, brass bell, etc. The lantern performance queue is generally composed of seven horses, which imitate the roaring and galloping of real horses and look lifelike. The performance was accompanied by folk instrumental music, and the horse team was arranged alternately under the command of drums. The actors who played the roles of Liu Bei, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei and other figures of the Three Kingdoms jumped the horse to march out, just like galloping on the battlefield, making the audience feel personally on the scene. In the end, the horse team ended up in the line of "peace in the world". The actors of the lantern are all villagers of Dongba village, and they are often performed by three generations.

Dongba grand lantern is the specific expression of Wu Fengchu rhyme. The performance reflects Gaochun people's loyalty and the spirit of changing the world, and expresses people's yearning for good weather and peace of the country. It has important historical and cultural research value.

Since 1949, Dongba lantern has won many awards in national and provincial folk art performances. The people's government attaches great importance to the excavation and arrangement of Dongba lantern, especially since the reform and opening up, the local government and the municipal and county cultural departments have listed the rescue and protection of Dongba lantern as the focus of their work, given strong financial and material support, and made contributions to the inheritance and development of Dongba lantern. However, under the impact of modernization, this ancient folk dance is still difficult to avoid the crisis of gradual decline, which needs further rescue and protection.