Ancient and enigmatic performances add an air of mystery to life around Fanjing Mountain, Cheng Yuezhu and Yang Jun report.
Tongren, Guizhou province, is home to a diverse number of ethnic groups and one enigmatic cultural element that is shared by many of them — Nuo — imbues the natural sublimity of Fanjing Mountain with a sense of mystery.
Nuo culture encapsulates a range of cultural practices. It can be a form of dance, an opera style, a ritual, or even acrobatic performances, passed down since ancient times by people hoping to invite good fortune into their lives while seeking to ward off evil spirits.
"Relevant activities can be traced back to the Shang Dynasty (c.16th century-11th century BC). After thousands of years, some of these activities developed into the Nuo opera art form, known as a 'living fossil' of traditional Chinese opera," expert Tang Zhizhou says.
Tang is the director of Guizhou Nuo Culture Museum in Tongren, the only museum in China with a focus on the folk cultural phenomenon.
Since 2009, he has been working to preserve Nuo culture, and, in recent years, he has completed a major project to film local Nuo opera performances to be included in the museum's collection.
"Nuo culture is a grand concept, and in Tongren, it actually only refers to Nuotang Opera that exists in the northeastern area of Guizhou, with Fanjing Mountain at the center," Tang says.
"Nuotang Opera is one of Guizhou's four cultural forms related to Nuo. It is ancient and well-preserved, and also includes all three elements — the ritual, the opera and the stunts. Nuotang Opera's comprehensiveness differentiates itself from other Nuo opera styles."
Divine and secular
An Yongbai, 58, is a representative inheritor of Dejiang Nuotang Opera, which was inscribed on the national intangible cultural heritage list in 2006.
Born into a family of Nuotang Opera performers, he was 15 years old when he first started learning the art form from his father.
"I always liked to watch the performances as a child. They are fun to watch. Some of the stories are presented in a humorous way, and the movements of the performers are very expressive," An says.
After a decade of learning from his father, he served as an apprentice to local master performers for seven years, before becoming a qualified performer himself.
The folk genre is called Nuotang Opera because the performances often take place in peoples' homes, and tang refers to the central room of a house. When locals are praying for good fortune, they would invite the local troupe for an elaborate performance that could take days.
A complete Nuotang Opera performance usually begins with a ritual where the performers pray on behalf of the host, such as appealing for longevity of the elderly, or for a child to grow up safe and sound.
Following the ritual, the main part of the opera consists of music and dance pieces that tell stories passed down since ancient times. These are categorized into two main types — the divine and the secular. While the former centers on stories about deities, the latter is closely relevant to people's everyday lives, usually serving to entertain or educate.
The last part of the performance is a show of spine-tingling stunts that require great skill and arduous training. An is among the few people to master some of the most difficult feats.
He explains that it took courage and diligence for him to learn the stunts, and he continues to set high standards for his own apprentices. He currently has 16 apprentices, three of whom are his sons.
The local government also invites him to give courses at schools and cultural institutions, to teach primary school students the basics of the art form, such as some of the dance moves.
"Many primary school kids can learn the dances very quickly, and can give a fairly good Nuo dancing performance. It's all about passing down and carrying forward the art form," he adds.
Facing up to responsibility
Despite the diverse means of artistic expression, one consistent element of Nuo performances is the iconic masks worn by the performers.
Similar to the painted faces found in many Chinese traditional opera styles, the wooden masks in Nuotang Opera correspond to different characters. Usually of bright colors and extravagant expressions, the audience can easily tell whether a character is righteous, terrifying or comedic.
Yang Yunxia, 45, is the seventh-generation inheritor of her family's Nuo mask-making technique, and the only female mask artisan in Tongren.
Her ancestors, living in Tongren's Yanhe Tujia autonomous county, have been making Nuo masks since 1779. However, before Yang, the skills were only passed down to male descendants because of the heavy manual labor involved.
She didn't think she would ever make these masks, but in 2005, her mother's passing came as a crushing blow to her father, who could not continue his work. To finish an incomplete order, Yang started learning the skills and helped her father make the masks.
"The client had already paid a deposit, and we had to keep our word. I thought of returning the deposit, but the client said that I could give it a shot, and he was willing to accept any finished product," Yang says.
Without any artistic background, Yang had her father draw the lines on the masks, so she could carve along them. The intricate procedures and intensive labor weighed heavily on her at first, and she wanted to give up. However, she continued to practice nonstop, from 8 am to 5 pm, every day.
"My father had worked so hard for so many years, and I didn't want the craft to die out in my generation. Traditional handicraft doesn't have a big market, and many people ask me why I keep on doing this. My answer is that this is my responsibility," she says.
Yang's family is now the only one in Yanhe county to produce handmade Nuo masks. She has also been exploring other income streams based on the craft, including miniature masks, car pendants, bracelets and even home decorations that stand more than 1 meter tall.
Old culture, new ideas
Tang says there is still a lot to be done to preserve and pass on Nuo culture, despite all the efforts made by the inheritors and experts.
In 2010, anxious about the cultural form's precarious situation, he applied for a loan from the local government and rebuilt the museum.
Over the years, he has been actively involved in the protection of Nuo culture, increasing the museum's collection from some 500 items to more than 1,700, including paintings, masks, tools, documents and photos, as well as the recently captured video footage of contemporary performances.
Guizhou Nuo Culture Museum now incorporates Nuo culture not only from Tongren, but also the entire Guizhou province, presenting the cultural form's origin, artistic features and influences.
"Nuo culture is a product of ancient China's agricultural civilization. Due to the migration and integration of various ethnic groups over the centuries, Nuo has evolved to incorporate those diverse ethnic cultures and different schools of thought," Tang says.
"It serves as important material in the studies of ethnology, history, anthropology, religion, drama, music and dance, among others. The protection of Nuo culture is the preservation of our historical material, and has great value and significance."
He is also seeking to innovate in the preservation and promotion of Nuo culture. The museum has been working with two cultural companies to develop more than 50 Nuo cultural products and souvenirs.
"We shouldn't lock up traditional culture in museums, but should try to integrate it into modern aesthetics and people's lives. Through innovative development, Nuo culture can also be a part of modern culture, while maintaining its core elements," Tang adds.
Wang Jin contributed to this story.
If you have any problems with this article, please contact us at app@chinadaily.com.cn and we'll immediately get back to you.
