Cup Dance

39.Cup Dance

Nominating Unit: Xingning Municipality, City of Meizhou

Xingning Municipality in the Hakka area of eastern Guangdong Province was originally Xingning County. During the Ming and the Qing Dynasties, Taoist activities were very popular in this region. Cup dance was exactly a type of Taoist ceremonial dance. Besides this county, it was also practiced in other counties such as Longchuan, Pingyuan, Meixian, Wuhua, etc. The dance used to be accompanied with bamboo plates used in Hakka “Five Line Verse”. A Taoist named Zhu Guanxiang in the late Qing Dynasty replaced that musical instrument with porcelain cup nicknamed “Bo Gong Bei” by the locals to make the sound clearer and the performance more skillful. Later it became a special prop used in Xingning Taoist dance and has been used ever since.

The cup used in Xingning Cup Dance is 2 inches wide on the rim, and 0.9 inch wide on the bottom, with a height of 2 inches. When being used, two cups are leaned against each other by their rims. The performer uses his thumb to hold the cup bottom; his middle finger is bent inside the upper cup and holds it tight; his index finger and ring finger are put on both sides of the upper cup. The upper cup is tilted upside down inside the rim of the lower cup. The performer can move his wrist up and down and knock the cups against each other.(https://www.daowen.com)

Xingning Cup Dance is normally performed on a six-foot long, 3.6 feet wide mattress during Taoist ceremonies such as “An Long”, “Feng Chao”, “Zuo Xi” praying to the god for good fortune of the living. A male dancer would perform a witch in disguise, and two other people would sing along and play the music. The dance mainly depicts a story where three grannies, surnamed Chen, Li, Lin, traveled to Maoshan Mountain to learn theurgy to defeat demons. During the performance, the witch is incarnated into the trinity of three grannies, who holds two cups in both hands, singing and dancing while knocking the cups. Her footwork includes cloud step, side steps, kneeing steps, and lower stretching steps, etc. The steps can move both forward and backward, or in circle, or in “∞” shape. The movements to knock the cups include swinging, beating, rotating, rubbing, throwing, etc. The dancer goes along with the rhythms of her steps and knocks the porcelain cups with great skills to produce crisp, changeful, yet enchanting sounds. The dancing does not have to follow strict rules with the accompanying music, and the latter can freely repeat itself. The main score includes “Cup Flower”. Two people out of the performing stage would play the music and sing along with small drums and gongs.

Xingning Cup Dance is a living evidence of the wide influence of Taoism in eastern Guangdong Province region in ancient times. It has certain historical values to the studying of religion and local beliefs in south China. Its unique performing skills and styles demonstrate high artistic values as well. After 1949, Xinging Cup Dance has come out of its religious background and become a folk art, turning from a sacrifice dance to a dance for entertainment. It has become a regular program at local people’s celebrations for festivals. However, due to a less developed economy, its transmission is in danger of breaking down. Therefore, urgent protective measures are called for.