Bagua Drum Dance - Taoist Dance Going to the Folk It originated from the mysterious Taoist rituals, but took root among the people. Bagua deduction, it has the masculinity of drums, it is prosperous, it has the femininity of dance, it is a treasure of Shandong folk dance, and a wonderful flower in Chinese Taoist dance. It has a resounding name Bagua Drum Dance. Bagua Drum Dance originated from Taoism. Qixia, Shandong, is its birthplace. Qixia is a place with beautiful mountains and clear waters, outstanding people and beautiful scenery. During the Jin and Yuan Dynasties, Qiu Chuji, the founder of the Quanzhen Longmen School of Taoism, was born here. He was later named "immortal" by Genghis Khan and led Taoism throughout the country. Qixia has since become a well-known Taoist resort. In order to commemorate his master Wang Chongyang, Qiu Chuji built Chongyang Palace near Linjia Village in Miaohou Town. According to the "Chinese Ancient Culture Series", when Chongyang Palace was at its peak, there were more than a hundred Taoists, with a huge momentum, and the sacrificial activities in the Taoist temple were large-scale and rigorous. Taoism understands the world from the perspective of yin and yang. The Eight Trigrams come from yin and yang, and yin and yang are the core of the Eight Trigrams. When holding religious ceremonies, drums and music are needed, and the Eight Trigrams Drum Dance was born. Its functions are to worship ancestors, pray for blessings, and ward off evil spirits. Because it coincides with the ideal of farmers praying for good weather and good harvests, the Eight Trigrams Drum Dance has come down from the altar and spread among the people. The Linjia Village in Miaohou Town, where Chongyang Palace is located, is close to the water and has the first wind, becoming the birthplace of the folk Eight Trigrams Drum Dance. The folk Eight Trigrams Drum Dance, with the Linjia as the center, radiates to the surrounding areas, spreads eastward to Fushan District of Yantai City, evolves into Fushan Thunder Drum, and spreads westward to the Yashan area. Its shadow can still be found in the Qixia folk songs that have been passed down to this day. In the folk song "Yu Qi's Twelve Months of Anti-Qing" widely circulated in Qixia, it is sung: "Pomegranate flowers bloom in May, and the Bagua war drums beat like thunder." Yu Qi was a Qixia native in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. In 1661, he raised the anti-Qing flag in Yashan. The Bagua drum dance boosted the prestige of the peasant uprising army. It is not difficult to see from here that more than 340 years ago, Bagua drum dance had become a folk dance form in Qixia. The props of Bagua drum dance are mainly drums and umbrellas. The diameter of the Bagua drum is about 50 cm; the double-sided cowhide mask, and the yin-yang fish Bagua diagram is painted on the drum surface; the drum is a black lacquer color-coated mold, and different drums have different patterns. The most typical ones are the eight treasures of the "Eight Immortals": Tieguai Li's gourd, Han Zhongli's banana fan, Lan Caihe's bamboo basket, Zhang Guolao's fishing drum, He Xiangu's lotus, Lu Dongbin's sword, Han Xiangzi's flute, Cao Guojiu's jade plate, etc. There are also peonies, chrysanthemums, water plants, etc., with bright colors and lifelike images. The drumstick of the Bagua drum is made of peach wood and is about 80 cm long. The top of the handle is carved with a dragon head image and tied with red silk. The other end of the drumstick, which is the end for hitting the drum, has a wooden groove about 20 cm long, in which five or six copper coins are inlaid. When hitting the drum, the copper coins hit each other and make a rustling sound. The umbrella used by the actress is about 1.5 meters long, made of wood, with a round, red top and a diameter of about one meter. It is painted with Bagua patterns and the edge of the umbrella is decorated with yellow silk cloth. The actor's costumes are apricot yellow clothes for men, yellow headscarves on their heads, sky blue silk ribbons around their waists, and Bagua patterns embroidered on their backs. The women are yellow clothes with grass green silk ribbons around their waists. "Bagua drum dance" is a dance between men and women. It consists of 8 men and 8 women. The man is a middle-aged man, carrying the "Bagua drum" in front of his left waist, holding the drumstick in his left hand and his right hand on his waist. When hitting the drum, the copper coins on the handle hit each other, making a rustling sound, which interweaves with the thumping drum sound, forming a special and mysterious audio-visual feeling. The female actors are all young people, holding umbrellas in both hands, and dancing is the main part. "Bagua Drum Dance" is a pure dance between men and women, without any irrelevant characters. This has given the formation and development of Bagua Drum Dance a distinction between yin and yang, and between heaven and earth, and laid the foundation for the characters. The use of props also fully reflects the characteristics of masculinity and femininity; the characteristics of "drum" as the main part and umbrella as the secondary part. The basic steps of Bagua Drum Dance are "Yu Steps". "Yu Steps" refers to the steps of Xia Yu, which were performed when Xia Yu offered sacrifices to heaven and earth, mountains and rivers, gods and ancestors, and asked for divination. The steps can be fast or slow, strong or weak, and are commonly known as "stepping on Bagua". There is also a step called "sliding step", which is: when the left foot slides forward one step, the right foot steps back, when the right foot continues to move forward one step, the left foot steps back, when the left foot moves forward one step and stands side by side with the right foot, both knees tremble at the same time, and so on and so forth. "Double Sliding Steps" is based on the "sliding step", with both feet sliding out at the same time. In addition, there is a step called "continuous step", which is a step preparation. When the left foot takes a step forward, the right foot continues to take a step forward, and then the right foot follows the previous step and stands side by side with the left foot, flexing and stretching. The basic characteristics of the "Step on the Eight Diagrams" dance are: light, floating, squatting, and turning. In the dynamic rhythm of the dance, you should master the bounce of the foot, the trembling of the knee, squatting, and turning. During the whole dance process, especially when the dance is hot, the drums and umbrellas must also shout out "ho" and "ke". At this time, the band's sheng, pipes, strings and percussion instruments and the beating of the Eight Diagrams drums are warm and fiery, merging into a deafening sound, giving people a strong artistic influence. The steps of the "Eight Diagrams Drum Dance" are based on the eight "diagram positions" of the Eight Diagrams and the "five directions" of east, west, south, north and center. The "hexagram position" and "orientation" are based on the masculine and feminine, yang solid and yin empty, yang open and yin closed, yang big and yin small, yang strong and yin weak, yang bright and yin dark, etc. in the "Eight Diagrams". The dance is reflected through the contrast of movement and stillness, big and small, left and right, high and low, up and down of human body movements. At the same time, the rhythm changes in the dance are increased, and the various changes in the dance are restricted and displayed in terms of lightness and heaviness, ups and downs, fast and slow, strong and weak, length and height, etc., forming a colorful, enthusiastic and inspiring artistic charm. Therefore, the "Eight Diagrams Drum" dance has been popular until now. The formation changes of the "Eight Diagrams Drum" dance are relatively simple, and the common ones are "Eight Streets", "Double Dragons Spits Beard", "Braided Twist Flower", "Single String Flower", "Double String Flower", "Pressing Wave Flower", etc. In the formation changes, the "circle" must be taken as the center. If you turn left, you must turn right, and then turn into the "circle". The special law of the dance dynamics can be seen in the "circle". This is the extremely distinctive artistic feature of the "Eight Diagrams Drum" dance.