[auspicious dragon]

I wonder if you can help me find out about a traditional Chinese earth dance. It must be Tang Dynasty or earlier. Would you know both the English, pinyin and Chinese names of this dance? How many dancers? What are the musical instruments involved? When was it celebrated? The counterpart of this dance in western culture might be the grass dance in native Indian culture of North America. So far, I have only discovered the Nuo dance that involved scaring away evil spirits with masks. It may be an earth dance, I am not sure.

[General_Zhaoyun]

There are many types of traditional chinese dances (the peak development was during Tang dynasty). However, I'm not sure what sort of dance you are referring to.

Can you please explain what is "earth dance", so that I can possibly help you find the information?

[Publius]

I'm not sure about an earth dance, but Native Americans use dance to spiritually honor nature. I found some info about the grass dance that may help CHF forummers in finding a similar Tang dance. From http://library.think.../3081/grass.htm:

Quote

Grass Dance
The Grass Dance style is a very old dance rich in history that has become very popular. In the old days, it was the job of the grass dancers to flatten the grass in the arena before a pow wow. The name "grass" does not come from the stomping of grass, but it comes from the old habit of tying braids of sweetgrass to the dancer's belts, producing a swaying effect. Today, Grass Dancers resemble a multicolored swaying mass of yarn or fringe on the dance floor. The Grass Dance is a very fluid and bendable style, with the dancers trying to move their fringe in as many places as possible at once. The Grass Dance style was born in the North, but its popularity has spread South, and now this beautiful style is availible for everyone.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Regalia
The regalia of a Grass Dancer is very different from most other styles. The head gear is much the same: roach, spreader, and maybe a beaded headband. One primary difference in Grass dancers is the optional "antennas, " which are long, thin wires with fluffs attached to the end that protrude from the spreader in the place of roach feathers. Most dancers today wear fringed capes that are edged with lots of yarn or chainette fringe. Multicolored designs in the yarn are popular, but all white with colored highlights is becoming popular. A matching apron to the cape is worn to cover the waist, and usually fringed sidetabs are worn as well. Instead of leather leggings, most Grass Dancers will wear a pair of jogging pants that have been modified with fringe just below the knees. The bells are worn just below the ankles above the moccasins.

[auspicious dragon]

Publius, on May 11 2007, 11:21 AM, said:

I'm not sure about an earth dance, but Native Americans use dance to spiritually honor nature. I found some info about the grass dance that may help CHF forummers in finding a similar Tang dance. From http://library.think.../3081/grass.htm:

I am trying to find a very old dance in China that concerns the earth. It would probably be performed by a minority people. It would be a dance to the god of the earth. There may be traces of it in some modern earth dance in China. There would be sacrifices to the earth. For example, in the Nuo Dance of the Naxi, there is the blood of the chicken offered to the earth around the time of the dance. I am associating five dances with the five elements. I associate the Qilin Dance with fire, the Dahuo (Sanglin) Dance with water, Prince Qin's Cavalry Dance with wood and the Dawu Dance with metal. Your interest is appreciated.

[auspicious dragon]

General_Zhaoyun, on May 11 2007, 09:54 AM, said:

There are many types of traditional chinese dances (the peak development was during Tang dynasty). However, I'm not sure what sort of dance you are referring to.

Can you please explain what is "earth dance", so that I can possibly help you find the information?

Hi General,

Well, it may be easier to say what it isn't rather than what it is. It isn't either a civil or military dance. It would be a very primitive dance. It may be celebrated on a particular day that is concerned strictly with the earth. It probably involves sacrifices to the earth. It honors the earth mother goddess. It would be a dance of a particular minority in China. The dances might use "grass" on their costumes. It may still be performed today, but its origin is very ancient. It would be perhaps one of the oldest dances in China. It may be held at one of the four transitions (earth transitions) between the four seasons. I am more familiar with dances of the North American Indians. For example, the Blackfoot hold a grass dance in honor of mother earth. Publius has described this grass dance in more detail in another post. The dance is associated with the drum. So, an earth dance in China may be associated mostly with the drum. It produces a low, basic sound. It may also be associated with an musical instrument made of the earth. This Chinese musical instrument is called the Ocharinas. The dance might be associated with the number one or what looks like a horizon in Chinese numbering system. Your concern is appreciated.

[Publius]

I see, this earth dance isn't really a Tang style dance that Xuanzong may have known of, but is, instead, a dance that reached full maturity during the Tang period...

That may make finding this dance more challenging (at least for me)

[auspicious dragon]

The bigger the challenge then the more I am interested. Hope you are the same way. I am going way back. I am looking at the Shang Dynasty character for dance. It is pronounced wu3. It looks like man carrying fish. Or his legs may be wrapped in grass. I would like to emphasize the grass aspect rather than the fish since I am trying to link character wu3 with an earth dance. Also, apparently the ancient Chinese may not have so clearly differentiated dance and song. We separate the two today, but in the past they may have been almost identical. The key to finding the dance may be to find the song. Ultimately, I am trying to link three things together. The ancient character for nothing wu1, the number five, and the character for dance. I must leave now.

[auspicious dragon]

The earth dance may be associated with the Shang Dynasty since their character for dance looks like a figure with grass on legs. On the other hand, the dance might be Inner Mongolian since the grasslands are found there. These are my guesses.

[auspicious dragon]

auspicious dragon, on May 12 2007, 01:23 AM, said:

The earth dance may be associated with the Shang Dynasty since their character for dance looks like a figure with grass on legs. On the other hand, the dance might be Inner Mongolian since the grasslands are found there. These are my guesses.

Professor Liv-you-lan at the Dance Academy of Beijing talks of the farmer's dance in the Shang Dynasty. There is the classic dance known as the Gudian Wu Dao and the folk dance known as the Minjian Wu Dao.

Wooden drums were unearthed at the Yin Ruins in Anyang. They were covered in boa skins.

[Gweilo]

Can anyone tell me what this traditional (ethnic) Chinese dance is? Can anyone tell me who is that gweilo involved?

 Show2.jpg (39.17K)
Number of downloads: 8

[auspicious dragon]

Sorry, I cannot identify the dance. However, if you downloaded the picture then you may want to provide the address. This might provide a clue concerning the dance.

Currently, I am in China. In some respects, this is the best place to do research about China. In other ways, it is the worst place. Internet access is spotty. Libraries may be out of bounds.

I have identified some articles about Shang dance in the Journal of the Society for Asian Music. The author is Tong Kin-Woon. He resides in Hong Kong. As part of his doctoral dissertation he outlines Performance and Performers on page 83+ in Vol. 15, Number 2, 1983 and terms relating to Performances in Vol 14, Number 2, 1983 on page 32+. If anyone is able to get access to this journal it would be helpful.

http://www.skidmore.edu/academics/asianmus...x/v31n1i5ac.htm

http://www.skidmore.edu/academics/asianmus...mcontindex.html

[Gweilo]

Sorry, I was joking a little bit. That's me in the photo. It was taken on the stage of a hotel in Guilin, back in 2001. I was on a tour of Guilin and we were taken to the hotel for a 'Chinese Culture' show. The show featured ethnic dancing from many of the minority peoples of China. I just don't remember which dance this was.

As you might expect the show featured alot of 'audience participation', and as a gweilo I was targeted twice by the dancers, and brought onstage.

Here below is another photo of a different dance I was involved in that night. I think it might have been a courtship dance of some kind. The girl began by tossing a ball (with a string attached to one end) out into the audience, aiming for the male she wanted to dance with. Her aim was good and the ball almost knocked over my beer. The targeted male was supposed to take the ball and then she pulled the end of the line and drew him towards her, for the dance. Yes, I complied.

 Show1.jpg (30.08K)
Number of downloads: 6

[auspicious dragon]

Gweilo, on May 16 2007, 05:31 PM, said:

Sorry, I was joking a little bit. That's me in the photo. It was taken on the stage of a hotel in Guilin, back in 2001. I was on a tour of Guilin and we were taken to the hotel for a 'Chinese Culture' show. The show featured ethnic dancing from many of the minority peoples of China. I just don't remember which dance this was.

As you might expect the show featured alot of 'audience participation', and as a gweilo I was targeted twice by the dancers, and brought onstage.

Here below is another photo of a different dance I was involved in that night. I think it might have been a courtship dance of some kind. The girl began by tossing a ball (with a string attached to one end) out into the audience, aiming for the male she wanted to dance with. Her aim was good and the ball almost knocked over my beer. The targeted male was supposed to take the ball and then she pulled the end of the line and drew him towards her, for the dance. Yes, I complied.

Show1.jpg

Auspicious Dragon

I suspected it might be you. You used the same term referring to the man that you used to sign in. The ball of string reminds me of play with a kitten. I wonder what it may represent. Tie the knot?