The Miao's drum dance, a dance to drum beating, has been popular with the Miao ethnic group, inhabitants of Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, in Central China's Hunan Province, since ancient times. In 2006, Xiangxi Miao drum dance was among the first items on China's list of intangible cultural heritage.

Xiangxi Miao drum dance is a dance form that combines dancing and drum beating. The drum dance originated from sacrificial rituals, conducted by the Miao people, before the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD). In ancient times, the Miao believed they could communicate with the gods through dancing. They worshipped and prayed to the gods through their dance movements.

At that time, the drum was a central instrument in sacrificial rituals. The ceremonies began and ended with the drum. It was even the totem of Miao's tribes, revealing their spirit and soul. It has often been said the Miao believe the drums contain the sleeping souls of their ancestors, who are awakened by the drum beating to protect their offspring.

Miao villages are scattered across the mountains in Xiangxi. In the past, the Miao people delivered sudden, important messages through the drum, because they lacked transportation and communication methods in mountainous areas. Whenever they heard the beat of the drum, they would understand its implicit meaning.

The Miao people do not have their own characters. Folk activities are important methods for the Miao to pass on their ethnic culture. The powerful, wild and primitive drum dance expresses the Miao's indomitable will, and their tenacious life force. The unique drumbeat and dance movements reflect the Miao's impressive history and rich culture, especially their life and farming, which are central to Miao culture.

The Miao people perform their drum dance during important occasions, including celebrating festivals (especially Chinese New Year and Miao's New Year), weddings and good harvests, and welcoming guests and worshipping their gods. While wearing their traditional folk costumes and exquisite silver ornaments, they perform dances while they beat the drum.

The connotations of the drum dance movements are divided into four categories — productive labor, lifestyle and customs, martial arts and animal behavior.

The Miao's day-to-day life and work, such as spinning, embroidering, plowing fields, sowing seeds, harvesting crops and personal grooming (like combing hair, washing the face and wearing clothes), are symbolically acted out through dance. In several minutes, daily life and work scenes of the Miao are vividly revealed.

Now, Xiangxi Miao drum dance is mainly popular in Jishou, a city in the prefecture, and the counties of Fenghuang, Luxi, Baojing, Huayuan and Guzhang. 

Shi Jinqi: Promoting Miao Drum Dance to the Outside

Shi Jinqi, born in Dehang, a Miao village in Aizhai Town, in Jishou, is a prefecture-level inheritor of Xiangxi Miao drum dance. Dehang is the hometown of the Miao drum. Shi began to learn how to perform the drum dance when she was about 7. "I grew up with the drumroll. I have a fondness for the drum dance. Our Miao people are optimistic. We can forget (any worries) when playing the drum," Shi says.

In 1994, Shi wed, and she moved to Pinglang, another Miao village in Aizhai. Pinglang has beautiful scenery, and the Miao ethnic culture is well-preserved in the village. However, she was surprised to learn the Miao villagers did not play the drum. She decided to promote the drum dance in Pinglang, and so she taught the Miao drum dance to the locals — for free.

At first, Shi only taught women how to play the Miao drum during the slow seasons. Later, she began teaching left-behind children (whose parents migrated to other areas for work) how to perform the drum dance during their summer and winter vacations.

She eventually began promoting her free drumdance lessons door to door, and that was how she recruited her first students. She transformed the first floor of her house into a classroom, where she let the children practice the drum dance. "I hoped the drum dance would bring happiness to the left-behind children, and they would grow up in an atmosphere filled with love and happiness," says Shi.

At that time, the students had to share one drum. "The cost of an ordinary drum was more than 700 yuan (US $108). A drum of a better quality cost more than 1,000 yuan (US $154). The villagers could not afford a drum for their children. I asked the children to practice drum-beating movements on the wall … Anything could be a drum, and any place could serve as the stage … When I was young, I did not have a drum. So, I improvised with whatever I could find — a wooden bench or the raised path between farmlands," recalls Shi. The children beat many holes into Shi's wall.

As time passed, more and more children were attracted by the Miao drum dance. "Children enjoy happiness through playing the drum. Their achievements in performing the drum dance, and the smiles on their faces, give me the greatest sense of accomplishment," says Shi.

Shi eventually began leading her students' participation in drum-dance competitions and performances in other regions of China. Due to a lack of funding, she used bed sheets, leftover bits and pieces of cloth, discarded by tailors, and also reed leaves to make performance costumes. "It's meaningful for left-behind children to go out of the mountains and see the outside world. I always have the dream of leading these children to perform the drum dance in other areas, and helping broaden their horizons," Shi says, with a smile.

Through the Miao drum dance, Shi has enriched the children's spiritual lives, and she has lit their hopes and dreams. Under Shi's influence, some of the children hope to attend university, outside of their region, and then return after graduation to help build their hometown. Some of the children hope to become inheritors of the Miao drum dance, and to pass it on to future generations.

Throughout the years, Shi has added modern elements, and more dance movements, to the traditional Miao drum dance, so the dance movements are more suitable for the drumbeats of modern music.

Shi has made considerable efforts to promote the Miao drum dance; for example, she has established the village's drum-dance troupe. She considers it her responsibility to promote the beautiful, time-honored art form. Shi to date has taught the drum dance to more than 15,000 people.

Under her influence, the village has attached importance to protecting and promoting the Miao's traditional folk culture. The village has set up publicity boards, to introduce the history of Miao drum, and it runs an academy, where the Miao drum dance and Miao songs are taught to villagers.

Since 2014, Shi has led members of the drum-dance troupe as they have participated in many prefectureand city-level competitions and performances. Now, the team has more than 200 members. It has become the calling card of Pinglang.

In February 2021, Shi and the children were invited to perform the Miao drum dance on the stage of the second season of the reality show, Sisters Riding the Winds and Breaking the Waves. On the show, 30 established women celebrities, aged 30 or older, competed, by singing and/or dancing, for the opportunity to form a five-member girls' group. The "charming drum dance" sparked discussions among netizens.

"I hope more people will love the Miao drum dance, and I hope to become a State-level inheritor of Xiangxi Miao drum dance in the future," Shi says.

Photos Supplied by Interviewee

(Source: Women of China English Monthly February 2022 issue)