An Investigation of the Traditional SalangDance of the Qiang in Beichuan

Zhang+Yu

Abstract：

The traditional Salang dance of the Qiang in Beichuan is the most representative cultural heritage of Beichuan Qiang Autonomous County. The songs that accompany the dance are mainly ancient folk songs sung in the Qiang language. The dance steps movements have a close relationship with their productive labor and daily life. With a unique dance posture， simple and comfortable movements， together with a strong rhythm， the Salang dance is not only an important part of the Qiangs traditional cultural life， but it is also a significant bridge for Beichuan people when they engage in cultural exchanges.

Nowadays， the Salang dance is the most popular songdance form in Beichuan and other Qiang communities.The popularization of this songdance form is closely related with the implementation of intangible cultural heritage protection work. However， the current Salang dance that is found in Qiang villages no longer has any Qiang characteristics because it has already become a dance with similar standards or unified movements. As everyone knows， the Qiang villages used to have very pronounced local characteristics. The customs of neighboring villages might differ， or they might not even be able to understand each others Qiang language， i.e. their Qiang dialects might be so different from each other that they usually speak Chinese to communicate with each other， and in addition， they use Chinese as the official language to communicate with the Han and Tibetans that also live in the northwest region of Sichuan. Under such conditions， the Salang dance in different areas or villages used to have special characteristics—both the songs that accompanied the dance and the dance movements used to have their own village characteristics. However， now a relatively unified form of the Salang dance is being passed down which is causing the dance movements and the songs that accompany the dance to become similar. As a result， the villages have lost their unique characteristics.

Starting from a purpose of solving this problem， our team， through fieldwork， decided to restore the original styles and features of Salang dance in different areas， and record the core elements of the songs and dances in Qiang villages. We hoped， through the process of this model of inheritance， to preserve regional ecological features and safeguard， as much as possible， a sustainable development.

Key Words：Beichuan Qiang；Salang dance； ecological inheritance

References：

Cultural Center of Beichuan County collected.beichuanxian minzu minjian wudao minge xuan（Selected Ethnic Folk Songs of Beichuan），unpublished data，1983.

Local Chronicles Compiling Committee of Maowen Qiang Autonomous County. maowen qiangzu zishixian zhi（Chronicles of Maowen Qiang Autonomous County）. Chengdu：sichuan cishu chubanshe，1997.

Lv Ji. zongxu（Preface， 1985）. Ya Xin ed. zhongguo minjian gequ jicheng · sichuan juan（A Collection of Folk Songs in China·Sichuan）. Xinhua Bookstore·Beijing Distribution Agency，1997.

Xiong Yan.qiangzu wudao de tianye kaocha fenxi baogao（A Fieldwork Report of the Qiangs Dance）. In Huangzhong， zhongguo·wuhan yinyue xueyuan xuebao（China·Journal of Wuhan Conservatory of Music）， supplementary issue，2004.