The copper bells dance of the Tujia ethnic group is a sacrificial ceremony to sacrifice money for ancients which is hosted by the Tujia flamen, the ceremony is also called “Jieqian” which means “given money” in Chinese. The ceremony includes twelve steps and each step is accompanied with the copper bells dance.

The copper bells cane is the most important tool of the Tujia flamen during the ceremony and the baton of the dance. The copper bells cane is about 40 centimeters at length and attached with four copper bells at each side. The flamen would dance and sang alone or united with his apprentices when he hosted the ceremony, and spectators could sing together.

The copper bells dance is varied and difficult, and it is always accompanies with the Shenge Song which is passed down during Tujia flamens in all ages. The dance is a wonderful ethnic art which bears rich information about the history of the Tujia ethnic group. It shows the image about nomadism and migration of the Tujia people in ancient age in addition to prayers. The content of the Shenge Song includes the source of the Tujia ethnic group, the history about migration of the Tujia people, the cruelty war, cultivation and production, love and marriage, almost everything in life of the Tujia people. So the copper bells dance and the Shenge Song could be viewed as the encyclopaedia about the Tujia ethnic group which is the important material of the research work about the culture of the Tujia ethnic group.

 The copper bells dance is an important carrier of the traditional culture of the Tujia group, yet it has been impacted by the change of the modern age. Since the rules that the dance must be passed down to sons and the apprenticeship that the inheritance of the copper bells dance is in crisis. With elder flamens passing away, there is rarely flamen who can perform completely the copper bells dance now. According to statistics, there are only 13 registered successors in Town Xuan’en now.

Time: 2017-01-16

Source: www.enshi.cn