*Fluttercolor Show of Fushi village, City of Taish...

*Fluttercolor Show of Fushi village, City of Taishan

Nominating Unit: Taishan Municipality, City of Jiangmen

Piaose (Fluttercolor Show) of Fushi village, City of Taishan, originated in the late Ming Dynasty and the early Qing Dynasty, was officially recorded in Fushi genealogy in the 14th year of Emperor Guangxu in the Qing Dynasty (1888 A. D. ).

With a history of more than 300 years, it is mainly distributed in Fushi village, Doushan Town, City of Taishan in Guangdong Province.

Fluttercolor Show of Fushi village consists of 10 color cabinets with each one named after a historical story. They are mostly modeled on famous myths, legends and dramas, such as “Zhao Yun (a major military general during the civil wars of the late Han Dynasty and during the Three Kingdoms era of China) stopping the river to rescue Ah Dou”, “Chang’e Flying to the Moon”, “the Cowherd and the Weaving Maid”, “Lübu and Diao Chan” (one of the four beauties in ancient China), “Mu Guiying(a woman warrior in The Song Dynasty) Taking Command”, “Mulan (lady general) Joining the Army”,“Saving Mother by Cleaving Through the Mountain” and so on to reflect the aspirations of villagers for traditional virtues.(https://www.daowen.com)

The design of Fluttercolor Show of Fushi village is unique in that the left foot of a character is fixed while its right foot is high up in the sky to move freely, making people feel miraculous and dangerous. Each Piaose consists of two children from 8 to 10 years old (called Sezai) dressing up as characters in historical stories, myths and legends. Carried on a color cabinet by villagers for parade, it is the major part of temple fair parade on Pak Tai’s (Supreme Emperor of the Northern Heaven or the Mysterious Heaven) birth on the 3rd day of the third lunar month every year. On that occasion, Fushi villagers will line up carrying the Pak Tai statue with banners and flags, canopies, gongs and drums, auspicious lions and color wedges clearing the way forward, accompanied by eight immortals(a group of legendary immortals in Chinese mythology) celebrating birthday and Bayin orchestra behind to form an enormous team of antique beauty. The team tours the whole village and then returns to the temple to pray for people safety, bumper harvest, thriving domestic animals. Thus a grand and diversified folk custom festival comes into being. In 1996, Fushi Village was lauded as “Home of Ethnic Folk Culture in Guangdong Province” by the Department of Culture of Guangdong Province and in 2000, it was again lauded as “Home of Ethnic Folk Art in China” by the Ministry of Culture of China.

Fluttercolor Show of Fushi village comes into being to cater to the needs of local folk festival activities of Pak Tai’s birth. Nurtured in local folk customs and immersed in Buddhism, it has vital reference value for research on local folk culture and religious beliefs and was selected into the list of the second batch of state-level intangible cultural heritage in 2008.

Fluttercolor Show of Fushi village is demanding in skills and complicated in working process. Due to the old age of successors in practice of Piaose, the tradition is caught in shortage of successors and in urgent need of effective protective and supportive measures.