Current location - Music Encyclopedia - NetEase Cloud Music - Introduction to the "Eight Treasures Bronze Bell Dance" with Tujia characteristics
Introduction to the "Eight Treasures Bronze Bell Dance" with Tujia characteristics

Origin and Development

The Eight Treasure Bronze Bell Dance is an ancient sacrificial dance of the Tujia people. According to legend, Babao was the leader of the eight tribes of the ancient Tujia ancestors, known as the "Eight Tribes King" and "Eight Tribes Great God". Later, the eight leaders died in battle. In order to commemorate them, later generations carefully crafted eight copper bells. And according to the eight-piece Luo skirt worn by the eight kings when they were in power, they rode on the BMWs that symbolized the ancestors' rides, rang copper bells, danced gracefully, and sang ancient songs to worship their ancestors and pray for blessings to show their memory. Because the eight copper bells represent the eight leaders, this dance was named "Eight Treasures Bronze Bell Dance". Originally, participating in the "Eight Treasures Bronze Bell Dance" event, the ceremony was carried out among the Tujia people. The old saying goes that "brass does not stick to iron, and Tujia does not stick to guests (Hakka, referring to foreigners)". However, later, due to the differences between Tujia, Miao and Han people, *** went to the national disaster, fought against the invasion of foreign invaders, and formed a life-and-death friendship. The Tujia master gave a copper bell to the Miao master and another to the Han old master. Therefore, today's eight treasure copper bells are actually only Six brass bells. With the development of history, the "Eight Treasures Bronze Bell Dance" was originally a sacrificial dance for the Tujia ancestor worship ceremony, and later became an oath dance symbolizing national unity.

Dance characteristics

After the copper bell dance developed into a Tujia mass dance, it turned into a group dance, divided into a standing copper bell dance and a seated copper bell dance. There are only seven copper bells tied to the vertical brass bell dance. The dancer is required to ring the bell once, take three steps forward and back, and then turn. This goes around and over again, walking and dancing non-stop, with many movements. There are only six bells tied to the seated bell dance, and there are fewer dance moves.

The lyrics of the Eight Treasures Bronze Bell Dance are the "Sacred Songs" sung by the Tujia Tima of the past dynasties. The content ranges from the origin of the Tujia people and the migration of the nation to the hardships of fishing and hunting, the cruelty of war, and from the ghosts and gods of heaven and earth to the world. Vientiane, almost all-encompassing and involved in everything. The singing music is "Ho Ho tune". Almost every part of the song is sung with the words "Ho ho yeah", "Liao Shen" and other lining words. The tone is simple and low, powerful and bold.

The main movements of the Eight Treasures Bronze Bell Dance include "Tian's Three Step Gang", "Straddle the Horse and Rein the Rein", "Prancing Horse across the Beach", "Horse Archery" and other routine combinations. The expressions are rich and changeable, and the movements such as "dance the knife and rattle the bell", "feed the horse", "mount the horse", "dismount the horse", "gallop the horse", and "horse the horse" are connected in series, giving people a simple and beautiful enjoyment.

The Bronze Bell Dance integrates song, dance and music, telling the origin, migration, production and life of the Tujia people. It has important historical value for studying the historical origins of the Tujia people. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the government organized ethnic workers to excavate and sort out the Tujia national culture, making the copper bell dance appear on the stage of ethnic cultural performances. It has won many provincial and national awards and certificates, and has developed from a one-person dance to worship gods. A group dance performed by multiple people. "Bronze Bell Dance" choreographed by Shi Yuan'ao and composed by Li Zhuoyu won the 1980 National Ethnic Minority Arts Performance Excellence Award, making the Bronze Bell Dance open to the public in the garden of ethnic literature and art.