Bamboo Horse Dance

38.Bamboo Horse Dance

Nominating Unit: Wuhua County, City of Meizhou

It is told that the Bamboo Horse Dance was originated from folklore in which Jiang Ziya, the then primer and general of King Zhouwang assembled a wedding parade by turning bamboo flag poles into live horses, and green bamboos into live chicken, ducks, geese, fish, etc. through theurgy. He finally defeated his enemy during King Zhouwang’s crusade and successfully brought Deng Chanyu back to marry Monkey King. This dance was introduced into Wuhua County of eastern Guangdong Province at the end of the Ming Dynasty, and was nick-named “horse lantern”, “bamboo horse dance”, and has a history of nearly 400 years. Today it is mainly distributed around townships such as Xinqiao, Huacheng, Tanxia, etc, among which Xiqiao is the most representative, with an ever continuous transmission, and 22 troupes at its peak time, covering every village.

Wuhua Bamboo Horse Dance uses various kinds of props. The most typical kind is a bamboo horse, which is made with bamboo strips and wrapped with paper and cloth all over its body. The shape is like a real big horse, and is hollow inside to accommodate a dancer. There are even lantern props to mimic the cart, chicken, duck, goose, fish, lamb, rabbit, etc., and various kinds of umbrellas and color fans.(https://www.daowen.com)

The most prominent feature of Wuhua Bamboo Horse Dance is that there are many characters in the dance, such as a bamboo horse man and a bamboo horse lady, a male clown, a female clown, a cart pusher, an umbrella girl, a trumpeter, a gift girl, young maids, etc., and it still retains the merry wedding atmosphere in concord with the folklore. During the performance, lanterns of six animals would lead the formation, followed by the male and female clowns performing the fan dance. The horse man would ride the bamboo horse wearing a long suit, and the maid would follow up holding an umbrella. The bride rides in the pushcart waving a fan, wearing a chicken, a duck, a fish and a goose on her head. Young maids dance around holding umbrellas. What is worth mentioning is the horse man who ties the bamboo horse on his waist, holding the halter in his hands. His gesture is like riding a horse strolling around. With the changes in formation and dancers’ movements, the “horse”, “cart”,“fan”, “umbrella” all come to life. The dancing is accompanied with singing in a jolly and lively atmosphere.

The accompaniment of Wuhua Bamboo Horse Dance is also very unique. The leading instruments include flutes and trumpets, accompanied by erhu, gaohu, Yang Qin, Three Strings, gongs, drums, cymbals, etc. The main scores include “Xin Wu Diao”, “Guan Deng Diao”, “Wen Diao”, “Chou Qiang”, etc., all of which feature strong rural and Hakka flavors.

Under the impact of market economy, many young dancers left hometown to make a living, and the number of old artists are diminishing. Wuhua bamboo horse dance is faced with a breakdown in its transmission, which should sound an alarm for timely rescuing.