Emei Chito

Emei Chito

"A Mei Qituo" is the original ecological dance name of a group of Yi people. It is translated as "Girl Marriage Dance" in Chinese and originated from Sanbao Yi Township in Qinglong County, Guizhou Province. Sanbao Yi Township is located in the southern part of Qinglong County, Guizhou Province. It has always belonged to the remote minority poverty-stricken mountainous areas in history. Therefore, because the natural environment is in a relatively closed state, its excellent traditional art forms are relatively intact. In 1956, "A Mei Qituo" performed for the central leadership in Huairen Hall after attending the first industrial and agricultural after-art exhibition in Guizhou Province and winning the prize. Since then, due to production, life, economic poverty and other factors, resulting in the disappearance of "A Mei Qi Tuo". After the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, under the condition of the gradual development of the local economy, "A Mei Qi Tuo" was gradually carried forward.

In 2014, it was listed in the national intangible cultural heritage protection list.

Excavation Brief

Sanbao Yi Township is located in the southern part of Qinglong County, Guizhou Province. It has always belonged to the remote minority poverty-stricken mountainous areas in history. Therefore, because the natural environment is in a relatively closed state, its excellent traditional art forms are relatively intact. "A Mei Qituo" has a long history. In 1956, "A Mei Qituo" performed for the central leadership in Huairen Hall after attending the first industrial and agricultural after-art exhibition in Guizhou Province and winning the prize. Since then, due to production, life, economic poverty and other factors, resulting in the disappearance of "A Mei Qi Tuo". The backward economic conditions have annihilated "A Mei Qi Tuo" for more than 20 years. After the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China was held, the Party Committee and the government shifted the focus of their work to economic construction. Under the condition of the gradual development of the local economy, the work of rescuing the national folk cultural heritage was included in the agenda of the propaganda and cultural departments. In 1981, Qinglong County Cultural Museum dispatched mass cultural workers to Sanbao Township to study the Yi culture and art specimen in the process of rescuing "A Mei Qi Tuo". In the autumn of 1986, the office of Qinglong County Local Chronicle was collecting and sorting out the local cultural and artistic materials. Only Mao Taiyu and other people were known to have jumped "A Mei Qi Tuo", so it was rare that "A Mei (or translated rice) Qi Tuo" was intercepted into the local historical document "Qinglong County Chronicle" to make it inherited. The Southwest Guizhou Ethnic Opera Troupe also sent Zheng Gang and others to go deep into the Sanbao Collection Style and put the original ecological "A Mei Qi Tuo" on the stage, which was welcomed by the local audience and inspired the creators, and then carefully processed. In 1992, on the occasion of the 10th anniversary celebration of the founding of the Buyi and Miao Autonomous Prefecture in Southwest Guizhou, Qinglong County Cultural Bureau took "A Mei Qituo" out of the mountains to form a performing team. On May 1, Qinglong's "A Mei Qi Tuo" original ecological dance made its first appearance at Xingyi Stadium, where the state capital is located. In 1995, he participated in the Italian "World Folk Literature and Art Festival". With the deepening of poverty alleviation and development in rural areas and the rapid development of rural economy, "A Mei Qi Tuo" shows its artistic charm freely on the land of her hometown, and gradually develops and flourishes.

Cultural history

The folk culture and art forms of Sanbao Yi nationality mainly include folk songs, folktales and dances. Folk songs are widely expressed, with few stories or legends, and their dances are extremely rare. So far, only "A Mei Qituo" has been found. This is directly related to the ethnic group and its living environment. Tracing back to the ancestors of this ethnic group, it was originally a branch of the ancient Western Ethnic group, called "Xicuan Baiman" in history, and lived in the northwest of Yunnan (another branch is called "Dongcuan Wuman"). Historically, there have been many wars between tribes. Xipu Baiman was defeated. According to the agreement between tribes, the losers became slaves and the winners were masters. In the second year of Tang Dynasty (A.D. 751), Wu Man opposed Tang Dynasty and was known as "Yuyabu". He ruled most of the border areas of Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan provinces. It was not until the Yuan Dynasty to the eighth year of A.D. that Wu Man fell to the centralization of Yuan Dynasty. In the meantime, the appellation of tribal groups gradually evolved into "Baiyi" that is, the original Wuman (the distinction between Baiyi and Black Yi, which ended with the end of the Republic of China, and after the founding of the People's Republic of China, the state took the tripartite Yi as a collective name). Because Baiyi ancestors were unwilling to endure the slavery, oppression and exploitation of Yi and Han rulers, their families migrated, fled their homeland, trekked mountains and rivers into the Beipanjiang River Basin, lived in seclusion in the deep mountains, and depended on mountains and forests for their livelihoods, isolated from the world, forming a semi-closed or even closed pattern. Its production form is slash-and-burn cultivation and hunting, and its culture and art can only be inherited by means of words and deeds in this relatively closed environment. Indeed, from the overall reflection form of the national cultural language, the Yi nationality is a nation that enjoys the use of written language (Yi language). But in the history of this nation, the Yi language was completely mastered and strictly controlled by its rulers. The exploited poor, especially the slaves, could hardly even touch and use it. It can be inferred that the mystery of "A Mei Qi Tuo" without written (written language and graphics) records is not difficult to crack. The so-called word-and-deed teaching is the grandmother, mother-to-daughter, daughter-to-granddaughter, and only passed down from generation to generation in the maternal line. It tells the meaning and main points of its actions by word of mouth, and then teaches its hand-to-hand dance and foot-to-foot dance by hand, so as to make its movements standardized (to meet the requirements of the instructors), so as to maintain its historical and original artistic form.

Artistic connotation

"A Mei Qituo" belongs to the Yi marriage custom dance without music accompaniment. When the newly married girl was getting married, the female companions in Zhai Zhong and its neighboring villages came to see her off one after another.

On the occasion of departure from the bride, express the reluctant mood of the female companions, and warn the bride that after sitting at home, she should be diligent and thrifty in housekeeping, filial piety to her parents, husband and son-in-law, and respect her neighbours; wish the bride and her husband the whole family live in harmony and prosperity. "A Mei Qituo" is a dance gradually formed by the Yi people in the process of their long-term production and work, daily life and the development of their national history and culture. From the unique humanistic landscape of "A Mei Qi Tuo", we can still reflect the ancient historical and cultural information of the nation and its local cultural connotation. "A Mei Qituo" is a group dance of women. It is formed in an even number, either in a straight line or in a circle. Eight or twelve or sixteen people are divided into groups. The number of people increases or decreases by an even number, and they can dance hand in hand. The dance can be divided into twelve sections, namely, the umbrella step in Yi language (Chinese translated as "Goodbye and Marriage"), the non-step mother in West China (diligent and thrifty housekeeping), the hooks (sending sickles), the coaxing (transplanting seedlings), the festival between roots (happiness depends on labor), the lotus seedlings (stuffing), the machine block (cultivation), Ji. Tajimota (Happy Labor), its awakening (wish the bride a lifetime of happiness), the formation of the whole dance body language gene, all from production and life, and the hope for a better future. Its movements mainly depend on the movement changes of hip joint, knee joint and ankle joint to show the beauty of dance. Performers cooperate with each other tacitly, it can be said to achieve the realm of silk, so that its movements are neat, clean and neat, the sound of foot tapping, very crisp, to foot emotional, shocking, to the viewer's visual impact and artistic appeal, amazing. No wonder some people give "A Mei Qi Tuo" the reputation of "Oriental Tap Dance". Qinglong Yi's original ecological marriage dance "A Mei Qituo" handed out a business card to the world in the 2007 "Colorful Guizhou" dance contest. Now it has been declared as "the list of intangible cultural heritage protection in Guizhou Province", and then it has been declared into a higher-level "list of intangible cultural heritage protection". Nowadays, "A-Mei-Qi-Tuo" has entered Sanbao Yi School, which is a compulsory course on campus. It is not difficult to imagine that "A-Mei-Qi-Tuo" will be more brilliant in this folk art.