Fluttercolor Show in Huangpu

Fluttercolor Show in Huangpu

Nominating Unit: Huangpu Town, City of Zhongshan

Fluttercolor Show in Huangpu, developing from puppet in the late Ming Dynasty and the early Qing Dynasty, is now mainly distributed in such villages as Sanshefang, Guloufang, and Linghuifang in Huangpu town, City of Zhongshan. According to the records in Ho genealogy, during the reign of Emperor Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty, He Tengwei from Anhui Province was dispatched to be stationed in Guangdong Province and then to suppress bandits in Fujian coastal areas. In 1378, his whole family regularly stayed in Shuijingtou, Huangpu, introducing puppet from Fujian for leisure play. Later, it was popular to carry statues of Buddha on parade. Every year on Pak Tai’s birth on the third day of the third lunar month, puppet is transformed into disguising as characters in stories by boys and girls, called parade and Piaose especially popular during the Qing Dynasty and the period of the Republic of China.

Fluttercolor Show in Huangpu is mostly a single character supported by a steel stalk which is carried by people for drift show and is themed by historical allusions, folklores and dramas. The characters are almost little girls of two to three years old who weigh about 10 kg, featuring small and exquisite. In particular, the design of steel stalk is unique. The steel stalk of general Piaose is just a steel bar while that of Fluttercolor Show in Huangpu integrates forging, making, molding, painting and spraying and other techniques so that each steel stalk presents a fairy tale or story, producing a threedimensional effect.(https://www.daowen.com)

On Pak Tai’s birthday, villagers of Sanshefang, Guloufang, and Linghuifang will always hold Piaose parade, praying to Pak Tai for favorable climate and bumper harvest. The parade is accompanied by such props as the awakening lion, yangko (a popular rural folk dance in China), drums, stilts, color stalks, Bayin drums and so on.

Fluttercolor Show in Huangpu is well-known for its brilliant color, pretty character, tender stalk and rich connotation with magnificent parade scenes, and is of great value for research on local folk customs and religious beliefs. Fluttercolor Show in Huangpu, since its birth in the late the Ming Dynasty and the early Qing Dynasty, has been passed on well in Huangpu with a small parade every year and a large parade every three years. The annual grand parade makes Piaose technique followed actively by ardent folk artisans. In 1998, Huangpu Town was awarded “Home of Ethnic Folk Art in Guangdong Province”by the Department of Culture of Guangdong Province. In 2005, Huangpu Town was awarded “Home of Piaose in Huangpu” by China Society for the Study of Folk Literature and Art.

Due to various reasons, Fluttercolor Show in Huangpu now encounters great difficulties in terms of its inheritance, especially in designing stalks and accompaniment, which calls for effective protective and supportive measures.