The Miao nationality is one of the largest ethnic minorities in China. She has always been famous for its long history, wide distribution and rich and colorful culture. Among the millions of Miao people in China, the Miao compatriots living in the vast green mountains and green waters of Guizhou Province account for more than half.
For this reason, our crew of "Chinese Ethnic Sports" went to Hongfeng Lake in Qingzhen City, Guizhou Province, Duli Xiaokang Ethnic Village, and Wudangba Township in Guiyang City after filming "National Sports in Yunnan Miao Village" in June 1999. In areas such as Kabao Miao Village, Huaxi and Zhenyuan, there was a colorful traditional sports song and dance performance by the Miao compatriots, which were perfectly recorded by our cameras.
Overlooking the view of Hongfeng Lake
On the afternoon of June 15th, after finishing the filming of the Buyi dragon dance in Wudang Yongle, accompanied by Director Zhang of the Guizhou Civil Affairs Commission and comrades Linghu Caimei, the film crew went to the beautiful Hongfeng Lake in Qingzhen and Dig into a well-off village, and watched three performances of the Miao nationality's unique skills "Up the Knife Mountain", "Under the Sea of Fire" and "Lusheng Dance".
Among the many traditional sports of the Miao nationality, the most thrilling and unbelievable; the activities that give the audience a strong sense of visual impact are the Miao nationality's "Up the Mountain of Swords" and "Under the Sea of Fire". There is a very touching story surrounding the origin of the two projects of Shangdaoshan and Xiahuohai.
According to legend, a long time ago, the Miao compatriots who lived in the Wuling Mountains of Guizhou suffered from eye diseases. In order to collect immortal medicines, Long Jiulang, a young Miao nationality, crossed 72 mountains of knives and 72 seas of fire, and finally picked the immortal medicine. It relieved the pain of the Miao compatriots. Since then, the Miao family living in the Wuling Mountains, in order to commemorate the self-sacrificing hero Long Jiulang, created the unique skill of going up the mountain of knives and down into the sea of fire.
"Shangdao Mountain" is also called "Shangdao Ladder". The knife ladder is composed of a 12-meter-high iron pillar, 72 extremely sharp steel knives and 3 cold steel forks on the top. The performers in Hongfenghu Ethnic Village in Guizhou are now the fifth and sixth generations of the Long family. During the entire performance on the Knife Mountain, the performers have to go up barefoot and perform "Golden Rooster Independence", "Indomitable Heaven", "One-arm Hanging Knife", "Upside Down Golden Hook", "Hundred Apes Out of the Hole" and so on on the knife ladder. All kinds of difficult and thrilling aerial actions.
Before going up the knife mountain, the performers have to do a series of warm-up activities. In order to prove the sharpness of the steel knife on the knife ladder, they have to show the audience the process of being easily cut with a piece of cloth on the steel knife. Not only that, after going up the knife ladder, the performers also used the performance of their own hair being cut off by the steel knife to prove the sharpness of the steel knife again, and set off a small climax in the performance. In fact, the performance of Shangdao Mountain is always full of climaxes. Whenever a beautiful movement appears, there will be applause from the audience immediately.
"Going down to the sea of fire" of the Miao people is closely connected with "going up to the mountain of swords". When performing under the sea of fire, the performers have to step on several iron plates that have been burned for an hour and a half; the heat is as high as 800 degrees. The red-hot iron plate was placed on a long wooden board. Due to the high temperature, as soon as the iron plate was placed on it, the wooden board immediately caught fire. Performers take turns stepping on hot iron plates with their feet. When the feet stepped on the flaming iron plate, there would be puffs of green smoke from the performers' feet, but there was no blister on their feet. After the performance, they not only have to lift their legs to show people their bare feet without damage, but also put the hot iron plate into a large basin filled with clean water, and the water in the large basin is immediately boiled by the teppanyaki; There are billowing water bubbles; white mist rises accordingly, and every time at this time, the audience bursts into applause like a tidal wave.
Going up the mountain of knives and going down into the sea of fire can be regarded as the special skills in the traditional sports of the Miao people. It is indeed incomprehensible that the bare feet of the performers are not damaged by sharp steel knives, nor are they injured by hot iron plates. However, the fact is that it cannot but be convincing. It can be said that stepping on a sharp blade with bare feet, calmly climbed the mountain of knives; stepping on a sea of fire with bare feet, moving forward fearlessly. These two national sports fully embody the spirit of the Miao people who are not afraid of hardships and dangers.
Kabao Miao Village shooting site photo
Lusheng is a favorite reed wind instrument of the Miao people in Guizhou. It is said in history that it was made by the ancestor Fuxi and Nuwa, with a history of more than 3,000 years. In the long history of Miao cultural development, the Miao family not only regard the Lusheng as a representative of their own nation, but also often integrate dance, music, sports, acrobatics, etc. with it, making the splendid national culture shine.
"Lusheng Dance" is the most widely carried out traditional dance activity of the Miao people. Every region has its own jumping method. It is understood that there are more than 100 performance forms of the reed dance, with squatting, jumping and walking as the basic steps. In the digli ethnic village in Qingzhen, Guizhou Province, we saw the reed dance performed by the Miao girls with a bright rhythm and a rhythm of advancing and retreating. Preface, from simple to complex, graceful.
The Miao people are good at singing and dancing, and many of their events are mostly recreational activities that combine sports and dance. On June 16, 1999, the film crew came to the Kabao Miao Village in Xiaba Township, which is surrounded by mountains, to collect pictures. The scenery here is beautiful, the climate is pleasant, and the four seasons are like spring. It is one of the largest Miao villages in Wudang area of Guiyang City.
As soon as the film crew entered the village, they felt the enthusiasm of the Miao Village for welcoming guests. Several Miao girls sang folk songs and presented us with bowls of sweet rice wine. Comrades from the Ethnic Affairs Commission said that the traditional sports of the Miao Village in Gu Village, Kabao Township are very active, and people have a wide influence on the reputation of "Xiaoyao Flower Inspiration" and "Hua stick dance" performed by local Miao young men and women, and are famous far and near. .
"Xiaoyao Flower Drum Dance", also known as "Lusheng Drum Dance", is a dance that combines fitness and entertainment passed down from generation to generation by the Miao family in Xiaoyao Village. The Miao family in Xiaoyao Village love to dance this flower dance called "Bound and Caught Choked". There is such a beautiful and touching story among the Miao family here about "tied, scratched and choked".
According to legend, in ancient times, when the ancestors of the Xiaoyao and Miao family crossed a huge river with huge waves during their long-distance migration, a young Miao man named A Yong jumped into the river to fight the evil fish to save his father and sister. , Fighting hard for three days and three nights, he killed the evil fish and rescued the man inside the fish.
Everyone dragged the evil fish ashore, dried the fish skin, cut off a piece of fish tail, and gave it to Ayong. Ayong hung a piece of fish skin behind the door, and the wind blew and the fish drum blew. He put the fish skin on a dry big empty tree, and birds threw stones on the fish skin with a thumping sound. Ah Yong was greatly inspired. He cut bamboo and made it into a "choke" according to the tail of a fish, which is a reed. People blow "choke" and hit "bind". Later, this Miao family migrated to Guiyang and settled in Xiaoyao village, and passed down the "tied, scratched and choked" from generation to generation.
"Flower Stick Dance" is another folk dance of the Miao Village in Gu Village, Kabao Township. It uses "money sticks" as performance props, and is a collective event performed by young men and women of the Miao nationality. Most of the performances are in even numbers, and there are no restrictions on the number of people in a group of four. Its movement features are: sending shoulders, turning hips, moving waist, soft wrists, fast legs, smart hands, knee flexion, and tiptoes. The dance uses "money stick", "strike", "point", "phase strike", "turn stick", "clap stick" and other stick methods to hit the body's shoulders, elbows, crotch and other parts of the body and to hit the ground with sticks. The special charm is manifested in the fluctuation of the body.
Flower stick dance originated from the traditional folk customs of the Miao nationality. It was transformed from hunting and defending against enemies. It has a history of more than 500 years. In the process of development, it has gradually evolved into the current form of performance through continuous improvement and innovation.
The mountains, water, and people of the Miao family in Guizhou are even more beautiful. The beautiful nature endowed the Miao family with fertile grain fields, and they were able to work hard all year round and live endlessly. Labor and life have brought rich creative inspiration to the Miao family, making their many traditional cultural and sports activities more colorful. In the beautiful Huaxi in Guiyang City, the Miao people's wedding ceremony there is quite interesting.
In the Miaoling Village, if you see a group of people carrying wine and meat and many bride price; a group of young people wearing red and hanging flowers surrounded by cheerful reed pipes; no need to ask, it must be the team of the Miao family welcoming the bride. There are as many as 30 or 40 people in the wedding reception team. Among them are those who choose the bride price, those who set off firecrackers, and those who are in charge of drinking and singing. Men and women, dressed in red and green, sing and laugh constantly along the way. However, when the bride-to-be team comes to the woman's village, they will encounter roadblocks set up by the other party's female companions with wooden stakes, thorn tents and other items in advance, to show that everyone is reluctant to let her leave for their sister.
The bridegroom of the Miao family has to go through many barriers to pick up the bride at the bride's house. Usually, he has to drink roadblock wine, sing in antiphonal songs, dance wood drums and so on. After many "tests" by the bride's female companions, he can finally pick up the bride. I'm afraid this is also to let the young man of the Miao family taste the difficulty of getting married, so that in the new life in the future, he will take better care of his sweetheart and cherish this hard-won love.
On the afternoon of June 16th, after finishing the filming of the Udangkabao Miao Village, we came to the beautiful Huaxi Park. On the green lawn, the young men and women of the Miao family danced the witty and witty "Dance for Marriage". The dance vocabulary artistically expresses the traditional style of the Miao family.
With its rich content, simple form and unique style, the colorful and colorful national traditional sports songs and dances of the Miao people in Guizhou add splendor to the garden of the Chinese nation. (Photo: Feng Ganyong)
