Yi? Art and Culture on Fingertips? Smoke Box Dance

The Smoke Box Dance of the Yi people, also known as the "Jumping String", is a mass folk dance of the Yi people in Yunnan Province. With the change of time, the human environment of the smoke box dance has also slowly developed and changed, and the traditional custom of "eating fireweed smoke" has disappeared. So, do you know anything about the Yi ethnic group's smoke box dance?

Next, let's take a look at it from the perspective of ethnic culture!

The history of the Smoke Box Dance

The Smoke Box Dance is a traditional folk dance. The origin of the dance varies, but the most common theory is that the Yi people, in order to hunt wild beasts, often wear animal skins and mix with the beasts. Gradually, this imitation of wild animals developed into a dance, which led to the formation of the "three-step string". According to another theory, the three-step string is a way of picking seedlings and walking up and down the mountain. All in all, it shows that the "Smoke Box Dance" was born from the labor and struggle of the Yi people. In addition, it is said that the smoke box dance did not have props at the beginning, but because the rhythm is not uniform and jumping is not neat to clap the hands to unify the rhythm, and then some people used to play with the yellow cigarette box, which made a pleasant sound, and then used to play the smoke box instead of clapping hands. After generations, constantly enriching, developed into today's "cigarette box dance".

The distinctive features of the Smoke Box Dance

First, the Yi Smoke Box Dance includes two parts: the chord and miscellaneous chord, forming two styles in the mountainous areas and the dam area, and a variety of schools, with more than 220 sets of dance routines, and at present, only 117 sets have been collected and sorted out, among which, 62 sets of chord and 55 sets of miscellaneous chord are included. Its dance form has a double dance, triple dance and group dance, etc., the dancers hold the old time round wooden tobacco box, in the four strings of the accompaniment, hit the bottom of the box hit the dance, rhythmic and fast, the atmosphere is warm.

Second, the graphic changes in the smoke box dance is also very distinctive, in addition to the general circle dance, there are colorful changes and combinations of graphic wear flowers. There are 6 people wearing flowers, 4 people wearing flowers, 3 people wearing flowers, 2 people wearing flowers, etc. The dance and graphic changes are skillfully and harmoniously coordinated, which has become an important part of the style characteristics of the smoke box dance.

Third, the Smoke Box Dance has a close relationship with the life of the Yi people. In the dance, "Fighting Hoof Shells" is obviously copied from the animal fighting hooves; "Stomping on Grain Seeds" and "Stomping on Mushrooms" are dances reflecting farming; The "Zhengxin" dance is a variation of the movement of picking rice seedlings and walking up and down the mountain. It is said that when the dance started, there was no cigarette case, so people danced with their bare hands or clapped their hands. Later, when people smoked, found that the finger playing the cigarette case, can make "croak, croak" sound, can unify the rhythm of the dance, but also add to the warm atmosphere of the dance. So the dance of playing the cigarette box has been passed down to this day.

Fourth, Shiping Yi smoke box dance personality distinctive, diverse skills, famous skill moves "fairy bridge", "ants moving", "upside down golden hook" and so on. This characteristic folk dance can be both fitness and pleasure, smooth and elegant movements, very rich in artistic infectivity, loved by the masses, spread throughout the urban and rural areas, has developed into a set of song, dance, music, competition in one of the comprehensive dance art.

As one of the most distinctive dances of the Yi ethnic group in southern Yunnan, the Smoke Box Dance shows the history, morality, values, and way of thinking of the Yi culture with its unique dance vocabulary, which has high research value in the fields of ethnology, folklore, and sociology. At the same time, the smoke box dance, like the Yi folk songs, is widely loved by the local ethnic groups with its unique artistic charm, and has become a platform for strengthening the unity and friendship among the ethnic groups. on May 20, 2006, the Yi smoke box dance was approved to be included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage list.