Banggu Yangko

Shandong
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Banggu Yangge is a folk dance art form that uses bang and drum as accompaniment, and integrates singing, reciting, and dancing. It originated from Youlanyu Village in Ganggou Town, Licheng District. During the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, there was a blacksmith named Zhang Wenbin in Youlanyu Village. He married Liu Aiyun and had four daughters. Zhang Wenbin not only had a good blacksmithing skill, but also loved reading poetry and books, liked folk slang and minor tunes, and often showed his unique skills when playing in the local area. Zhang Wenbin was kind and generous, and liked to use his personal money to help the lonely and poor people in the village, and was loved by the villagers. His wife Liu Aiyun led her daughters to make tofu, and also liked to sing ditties and dance Yangge. The four daughters were also lively and cheerful, and liked to dance and sing. The family was happy and the villagers envied them. In the 11th year of Jiajing, Zhang Wenbin died at the age of 58. Later, in order to express gratitude and commemorate him, the villagers spontaneously raised money and materials to erect a monument and a tower for him (the current Zhanggong Tower at the foot of the East Mountain of Lanyu is well preserved). After Zhang Wenbin passed away, his wife Liu Aiyun not only inherited Zhang Wenbin's family tradition, being kind and righteous, but also became famous for her tofu. The daughters were grinding paste and making tofu at home, while the mother carried tofu around the village. The four daughters were lively and active by nature. After making tofu, they often beat the rhythm with tofu bangzi in the yard, composed and sang by themselves, and gradually formed tofu yangko. A few years later, Liu Aiyun was too old to carry the burden, so the four daughters took turns to go to the street in groups of two, one beating the bangzi and the other singing and selling, and the lyrics were all "tofu tofu has blessings" and so on. Because the tofu is delicious, the dance is good, and the lyrics contain the word "Fu", people from seven or eight villages within twenty miles are looking forward to hearing their bangzi and seeing their "tofu yangko" to pray for blessings to come to their homes. There is also a He family in Lanyu Village. According to the He family genealogy: the ancestor He Wanli was born in the fourth year of Hongzhi in the Ming Dynasty. Although he and Zhang Wenbin were a little different in age, they had a good relationship. He Wanli likes to "play" (stilt dragon lanterns) and is the "head of the village. During festivals, He Wanli leads the villagers to make dragon lanterns and walk on stilts. Zhang Wenbin not only gives advice and money, but also actively participates. Therefore, Lanyu Village's play is well-known in the local area. In the 13th year of Jiajing, Zhang Wenbin's third daughter Zhang Yulan married He Wanli's eldest son He Laifu (the great-grandfather of the He family). Half a year later, the He family also opened a tofu shop. When selling tofu in the village, Zhang Yulan and her husband still made up some words related to "Fu" while beating the gong and singing. Often when the tofu is sold out, there are still many people around the carrying pole. The tofu shop is getting better and better. On the one hand, He Wanli is thinking about the doorway inside, and on the other hand, he uses his free time to let his four sons play the roles of pushing the mill, kneading the bag, beating the gong, carrying the load, etc., and let the eldest daughter-in-law Zhang Yulan lead the three younger sisters-in-law, holding the dried tofu bags, shaking, dancing and singing. He Wanli had experience in "leading lanterns", so he borrowed some routines from dragon lanterns and land boats to form a relatively complete "Tofu Yangko" with the content of hoping for blessings (tofu), sending blessings (tofu), welcoming blessings (tofu), and blessing (tofu). When He Wanli was alive, after the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month every year, he would spend five days rehearsing the "Tofu (Dufu) Yangko" as the main performance, and would organize more than 60 people in the village to rehearse the team. Before the rehearsal, everyone would go to the tomb of Mr. Zhang and his wife in the east of the village to pay homage (this custom is still used today), that is, "get blessings". From the 8th to the 15th day of the first lunar month, the costumed teams performed Yangko in front, followed by the high-pitched dragon lanterns. On the big red-bordered flags were written the big beige character "Fu". The men "pushed the millstone and carried the load", while the women "beat the bangs and danced with the bao (dyed fine cotton cloth, mostly pink, meaning tofu buns)". They danced and sang impromptu lyrics such as "Bang bang bang, good fortune has arrived, with clothes and fields. The magpie landed on the roof, and another year of joy" as they walked through the streets and villages, which was very festive. Because the performances were all performed with tofu bangzi to beat the rhythm, people later got used to calling it "Bangzi Yangko". Since the 41st year of the Wanli reign, "Bangzi Yangko" has evolved, and by the time of the fifth ancestor He Rui, it had more clear roles and plots. In order to show the effect of "family portrait", the performance team added old people and girls, and had different props and costumes for different roles, that is, the old man wore a black double-breasted jacket (coat) with a white scarf wrapped around his head; the young man wore a casual dress with white on top and green on the bottom; the women wore a red silk jacket and pants with green on the bottom; the girl wore a bellyband, green shoes on her feet, and a vertical braid on her head. In order to increase the atmosphere, the accompaniment (beating the rhythm) was increased from a single bangzi to a homemade small drum. During the performance, the bangzi and drums were crossed, and the performance changed with the different sound rhythms of the bangzi and drums. The props also added buckets and grain bins (each with a big red "Fu" character on it), and the atmosphere of life and festive meaning became stronger. Because there were bangzi and drums in the accompaniment, people called it "banggu yangge" at that time, and this name has been used until now. After that, banggu yangge went through more than 300 years of changes from the late Ming Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China. Due to wars and natural disasters, it was on the verge of extinction several times. After the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee in 1983, Banggu Yangge was rescued and excavated by the local cultural station. According to the recollections of Mr. He Yuhai (who was 76 years old at the time and died in 1986), his nephew He Xiqing followed the old man's oral records and took to the streets again during the Spring Festival in 1985 with the help and guidance of folk dance cadres from the county cultural center. Since 1999, after in-depth excavation and sorting by provincial and municipal dancers, Banggu Yangge has further reflected its original artistic charm. Because it has a good theme and is humane, it uses a healthy and simple dance form to express the people's hopes and blessings for a happy life. It is very popular and has participated in provincial, municipal and national folk dance competitions and tours many times and won many awards. This ancient folk dance art has finally regained its unique artistic charm. (No pictures yet, welcome to provide.) (No pictures yet, welcome to provide.)

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