*Kylin Dance

*Kylin Dance

Nominating Unit: Haifeng County, City of Shanwei

Haifeng Kylin Dance is a kind of folk dance very popular within the boundaries of Haifeng County in eastern Guangdong Province. It has a history of over 200 years.

The Haifeng Kylin Dance is deeply rooted in the Chinese martial art and the local natural environment. Two famous generals from the Ming Dynasty, Yu Dayou and Qi Jiguang, fought the Japanese pirates in Haifeng County and Lufeng County. It is said that they used to teach the local residents Yujiagun and Rattan Shield Formation. During the reign of Emperor Qianlong in the Qing Dynasty, an exiled martial art master from Shao Lin temple also Taught martial arts here, which later turned into Yuanshan Fist. Thereafter, kylin playing has become an important way for martial arts practitioners to strengthen their bodies, and gradually became the kylin dance. Also, since Haifeng County borders the sea, it is ever plagued with natural disasters, such as typhoons, tidal waves, earth quakes, etc. To the locals, kylin as a sacred beast could spare them from disasters and safeguard safety, this has been another reason for kylin dance to become popular.

The looks of Haifeng Kylins differ between one with a mustache and one without. To this, the locals have two explanations: one has to do with the growth of kylin, i.e., the first year kylin does not have a mustache, and the second year kylin can wear a black or red mustache, and later on it has to change into a white mustache. The second explanation has to do with the martial art origins of the kylin dancing team. This means that if the martial art origin behind the dance was totally local, it does not wear a mustache, and if it was imported, then the kylin must wear a mustache.

Haifeng Kylin Dance usually takes open spaces in villages to serve as its stage. One person would dance with the kylin’s head, the other with its tail. It first bows to the heaven three times with the accompaniment of strong play-ups of gongs, drums and trumpets. Then it circles around the stage and the four corners, looking for food. After that, it will start to dance in the center of the stage, depicting amusingly such movements as rolling over, licking feet, washing mustache, biting off fl ea, even with lively expressions of joy, anger, sadness and contentedness. However, different kylin troupes have different styles. The simplest difference may be in the kylin costume itself, while the green kylin dance from Yuanshan Village of Fucheng Township has two extra dance leaders added. One wears a ferocious mask as Kui Xing who lifts a sacred Buddha in one hand and strokes the kylin occasionally with the other hand. The other wears a Na Zha hat, with a sword on his back and an embroidered ball dangling in one hand, playing with the kylin from time to time. The kylin, under such stimulations, behaves more vigorously and lively, and the dancing itself becomes more interesting because of the plots. Traditional Haifeng Kylin Dance has the whole set of martial art performance called “Ban Wu Cai” as its ending part, including the playing of staff, fist, sword, javelin, and rattan shield. It finally concludes with the bowing of kylin’s head in the sound of salute guns.(https://www.daowen.com)

The accompanying music for Haifeng Kylin Dance is mainly ancient and simple trumpet and drum rhythms, which the locals call Drums and Gongs Play Up. Among the most adopted melodies are“Chi Si Men”, “Yao Sao”, etc. The Drums and Gongs band usually takes the central part of the stage, with colored flags flying high behind them. The laud music accompanies the kylin dance performance with ostentatious colors, bringing out the best in each other.

The Haifeng Kylin Dance bears great value in studying the ancient folk dancing art of Southern Guangdong Province. However, because of culture multi-polarization and diversification, the young generation has changed their tastes and the performance is facing shrinkage. Its unique rendering style and accompanying music rich in local culture are losing transmission. Care should be taken to rescue and protect it.

It was enlisted into the second batch of state-level intangible cultural heritage in 2008.