A documentary about Xiuyan dangu (岫岩单鼓), commonly known as shaoxiang (烧香, burning incense [before an altar of an idol or an ancestor]), an ancient tradition of sacrificial drum dance from Xiuyan Manchu Autonomous County (岫岩满族自治县), Anshan (鞍山市), southeastern Liaoning province (辽宁省), Northeast China, which derives from the shamanistic sacrificial rituals of the Jurchens, the ancestors of the Manchu people. Manchu people also refer to this tradition as qixiang (旗香, literally "banner incense [ritual]"), while Han people call it "minxiang" (民香, literally "people's incense [ritual]").
Xiuyan dangu has a history of about 400 years, having been introduced to Xiuyan in the late Ming Dynasty. Although its popularity was originally limited to people of Manchu ethnicity, it was later also gradually adopted by people of Han ethnicity. In the past, Manchu and Han people in Xiuyan held incense-burning rituals mainly to worship gods and ancestors, ask for their intercession in times of crisis, or redeem vows to deities as a way of expressing gratitude for a good year. Although it was originally a sacrificial activity, it later gradually developed into a show performed for entertainment purposes. Xiuyan dangu does not use musical scores; instead, songs and dances are transmitted orally.
Although Xiuyan dangu (and similar traditions found elsewhere in Northeast China) enjoyed wide popularity prior to the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949, it gradually declined after that, although it began to recover in a few places in the 1980s, following the end of the Cultural Revolution. With a dwindling number of skilled performers and troupes, and fewer and fewer people being willing to invest the time, effort, and money to learn from a master, this tradition's future remains uncertain.
This video, which was produced by the Xiuyan Manchu Autonomous County Cultural Center (岫岩满族自治县文化馆), was probably filmed in Xiuyan Manchu Autonomous County (岫岩满族自治县), Anshan (鞍山市), southeastern Liaoning province (辽宁省), Northeast China in 2005, and published in September 2005. The exact locations of filming are unknown. As Manchu people make up the largest ethnic group in Xiuyan Manchu Autonomous County, accounting for approximately 90% of the county's total population, it is likely that most or all of the performers in this video are of Manchu heritage.
The culture bearers featured in this video include:
● Mr. Yuan Degui (袁德贵, born c. 1933), director of the Linggou Township dangu troupe (岭沟乡单鼓班)
● Mr. Wang Hongquan (王洪全, born c. 1930), director of the Qianyingzi Town dangu troupe (前营子镇单鼓班)
● Mr. Zhou Qingwen (周庆文, born c. 1935), director of the Longtan Town dangu troupe (龙潭镇单鼓班)
● Mr. Liang Yonghe (梁永合, born c. 1937), senior Xiuyan dangu performer
In 2006 the tradition of Xiuyan dangu was included in the First Batch of the Liaoning Province Province-Level Intangible Cultural Heritage List (辽宁省第一批省级非物质文化遗产名录).
Additionally, in 2007 Xiuyan dangu was included in the First Batch of the Anshan Municipality Municipal-Level Intangible Cultural Heritage List (鞍山市首批非物质文化遗产名录).
In 2011 a similar tradition, Wula Chen Han junqi dangu wu (乌拉陈汉军旗单鼓舞), listed under the heading of drum dance (Chinese: gu wu, 鼓舞), and centering on Jilin City (吉林市), Jilin province (吉林省), Northeast China, was included as one of the Extended Items for the Third Batch of China's National-Level Intangible Cultural Heritage List (第三批国家级非物质文化遗产扩展项目名录).
岫岩单鼓(非遗项目)
所属专辑：
满族专栏--满族欣赏、非遗项目
日期：
2013-01-16
简介：
满族专栏-满族欣赏-岫岩单鼓
More information:
https://www.cdstm.cn/videos/videolish...
https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%B2%A...
https://xianxiao.ssap.com.cn/catalog/...
https://www.mjys.org.cn/2023/07/05/4396/
https://qikan.cqvip.com/Qikan/Article...
https://www.tutechan114.com/techan/19...
https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%8D%9...
https://web.archive.org/web/202012182...
https://news.sina.com.cn/c/2007-02-03...
https://tinyurl.com/ychh5gps
https://tinyurl.com/y92wl9on
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