Xishan Reading Leader Program "Man and Woman Merry Dance" Held

On the afternoon of September 2^nd, Xishan Reading Leader Program series activity “Origin of Man and Woman Merry Dance ” theme lecture was held at Yada Life Bookstore of Yixing Yada Health Ecological Park. Mr. Wang Zhuhai, the representative inheritor of Jiangsu provincial intangible cultural heritage project told the development history and current situation of Man and Woman Merry Dance. He also introduced unique Yixing local feature intangible culture and dance art.

Man and Women Merry Dance, as known as “Diao Sang Mang (in Chinese)”, was listed in the first batch of Jiangsu Provinical Intangible Cultural Heritage list. It was dated back to the turning of Yuan and Ming dynasty and has had more than 600 years history. It flourished in the reign of Emperor Qianlong of Qing dynasty, and reached perfection in 1930s. The Dance in Zhangzhu town area develped into its own style, with distinct local characteristics, abundant performance content and unique dance posture and rhythm. It was widely popular.

On its origin, there are many versions. In Mr. Wang Zhuhai’s opinion, it is the most convincing that to commemorate the peasant uprising leader Mr. Zhang Shicheng. During the festival, one couple or few couples of “Man and Woman Merry Dance” dancers performed along the streets, with the expectation of sweeping away bad luck and exorcising and avoid evil.

In the activity, Mr. Wang Zhuhai performed the Dance with his elder sister Mr. Wang Chunhan. The audience had the chance to enjoy the charm of the intangible cultural heritage closely. Mr. Wang also gave a detailed introduction of prop evolution process, showed the key points of motion. The audience further learned the pattern of manifestationa nd cultural connotation of the Dance.

In recent years, at the innitiative of Mr. Wang Zhuhai, Yixing established Taoxi Man and Woman Merry Dance Research Center and recompose the Dance cooperated with colleges and universities. The recomposition is based on the authentic taste and innovates the pattern from the perspectives of modern people, infusing new expressive force and vatality into the tradition. He expected more young people to love the art and carry forward the local intangible culture.

Since the establishment, Yada Yangxian Xishan attached importance to the exploration of Yixing local culture. Around the profound history of Sushi with Yixing, it built up Dongpo Pavilion and Chu Song Pavilion. All horizontal inscribed boards in the town are excerpted from Mr. Su's poesm. In addition, the content of the horizontal inscribed boards in the residential zone is excerpted from ancient Yixing place names and related poems, advocating the local culture in the landscape.