Tiger Sheng of Yi Nationality

Name of Chinese national intangible cultural heritage: Tiger Sheng of Yi Nationality

Applicant: Shuangbai County, Yunnan Province

Project No.: 669

Project No.: Ⅲ - 72

Time of publication: 2008 (second batch)

Category: traditional dance

Region: Yunnan Province

Type: new item

Applicant: Shuangbai County, Yunnan Province

Protection unit: Shuangbai County Cultural Center

Introduction to tiger Sheng of Yi Nationality

Applicant: Shuangbai County, Yunnan Province

Tiger Sheng of Yi nationality is a kind of dance with both sacrifice and self entertainment, which is mainly spread in Shuangbai County, Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province.

Tiger Sheng dance is famous for its bold and vigorous, which shows the strong character of the mountain nationality and the Yi People's worship of tiger. Its main action is to simulate the various dynamics of the tiger, vigorous and powerful, reflecting the Yi People's totem worship customs, simple tradition.

The ancestors of Yi people believed that the decomposition of tiger corpse created all things. They worshipped tiger and respected tiger. Taking tiger as their ancestor, they called themselves "Luoluo", namely "tiger people". Mai Mai Di Chong in FA town of Shuangbai County is the birthplace of tiger Sheng. The Yi people living here have an eight day "tiger Festival" from the eighth day of the first lunar month to the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, during which activities such as "sacrifice tiger", "pick up tiger", "jump tiger" and "send tiger" are held. Tiger jumpers are bound with black felt to look like tiger skin. They paint tiger patterns on the exposed parts of their bodies. They dress up as tigers. It usually takes 16 people to dance tiger Sheng, dressed up as eight tigers, two cats, two mountain gods, one Taoist, two drummers and one Gong player. The dancers line up in a column and move counter clockwise. The dance movements of the tiger Sheng are very rich, including the tiger kissing, the tiger bridging, the tiger wiping the buttocks and other movements imitating the habits of the tiger, as well as the movements of sending fertilizer, plowing, plowing, scattering seedlings, planting, pulling seedlings, harvesting and other simulated agricultural activities.

As a living historical material of tiger totem worship of Yi people, tiger Sheng vividly reflects the view of tiger worship of Yi People's ancestors and the development view of harmonious coexistence between man and nature. It carries a lot of Yi People's historical and cultural information and original memory, and has gradually become a platform for Yi people's traditional cultural inheritance in long-term development, with high research value of anthropology, ethnology and folklore.

At present, influenced by the change of traditional life style and the commercialization trend of folk activities, the original appearance of tiger Sheng has changed, and its inheritance is facing a serious crisis, which is in urgent need of rescue and protection.