Dongying Overlord Whip
Bawangbian is a dance-type exercise, a folk dance that is popular in various parts of China. It is also called Da Lianxiang, Da Huagun, Shenshenxiang, Jinqianbian, etc. Bawangbian has a long history and is widely spread. It is recorded in many works of the Qing Dynasty. For example, Mao Qiling's "Xihe Cihua" records: "Jin made Qingyue, imitating the system of Liao Dynasty's Dayue. There is a famous Lianxiang Ci, with singing and acting, one singing, one pipa, one sheng, and one flute, sitting in a row to sing the lyrics. This person is still called Lianxiang, also known as Da Lianxiang." Li Zhensheng's "Baixi Zhuzhici" during the Kangxi period recorded: "Xu Pei's female dancers used bamboo whips with gold and silver, and beat them to sing." This dance uses the Bawangbian. When doing this exercise, one hand holds a square scarf embroidered with various patterns on the fingers, and the other hand holds the middle end of the whip, a drum or a bamboo piece. There are also people who hold a whip in each hand. When dancing, the whip is used to hit or touch the arms, legs, shoulders, waist, back, soles of feet, knees, hips, elbows, palms and other parts or the ground. When more than two people dance, they often hit each other. With the steps of jumping, these instruments make neat, rhythmic and pleasant sounds. There is no limit to the number of performers. They can play alone, in doubles of men and women, or in groups. Performers swing and hit regularly and rhythmically according to a certain routine, forming a set of continuous movements of jumping, dancing and hitting. The steps include standing, kneeling, squatting, sitting, lying, walking, staying, jumping and other movements. The hitting is divided into twelve, fourteen, sixteen, etc., so that the two ends of the whip alternately hit various parts of the body, and the sticks can also hit each other or the sticks can hit the ground. Men and women fight against each other and fight in groups, with competitive movements and dance formations such as "back to back", "heart to heart", "foot hook", "phoenix through flowers", "five plum blossoms", "double picking flowers", "a street", "dragon spitting water", etc. The Overlord Whip requires a lot of exercise, including jumping, squatting, turning and many dance movements. When dancing, the Overlord Whip is used to hit the main joints of the body, making a sound, which leads to the twisting and swinging of the upper body, the changes of the calves and the jumping of the feet, forming a variety of movements. The tunes of the "Overlord Whip" dance are mostly folk songs with distinct rhythms and cheerful and chic style. Most of the content reflects labor and love. The dance is interspersed with various dance steps and formations. When the performance enters 0, the rhythm speeds up, the range of motion increases, the intersperse is free, the atmosphere is lively, and the interest is warm. It is a traditional song and dance activity in which the hands, feet, waist, body, and head participate in the movement at the same time. The "Ba Wang Whip" dance was originally created by rural farmers to commemorate the Overlord. Folklore is one of its important characteristics. First, the activity is generally played during the Spring Festival to set off the festive atmosphere; second, the opening ceremony of the activity is given a certain folk color of exorcising evil spirits and bringing good luck because it is used for festivals and sacrifices. As a folk art activity, "Ba Wang Whip" has a certain ornamental value. Its activities are very popular. The dance itself must have a certain degree of artistry, whether in terms of costumes, props, performance routines, music production, etc., all of which give people a pleasing feeling. Folk veteran artists have made great contributions to the traditional folk dance of Bawangbian. On the basis of the original, they have continuously adapted, created, and reprocessed it, making the Bawangbian dance more diverse in form, more colorful in content, more ornamental, and deeply loved by the people. As a traditional folk activity, Bawangbian dance has the characteristics of history, regionality, inheritance, change, and dependence in time, space, and activities, showing its rich and profound cultural connotations and artistic However, due to the long history of Bawangbian, it has been replaced by modern song and dance performances in large-scale festivals, resulting in the gradual decline of Bawangbian folk dance and its near extinction. Moreover, there are currently few inheritors and many routines have been lost, making it difficult to gradually restore and establish a relatively stable performance team. Through the census, we learned about the endangered status of Bawangbian. At present, the local government has taken a series of protection measures and carried out a series of processing and sorting on the dance, adapting and improving the costumes and props of the performers, as well as the dance routines and music, so that the dance can regain its artistic charm!