A Study On The Ritual Dance Of “Chao Huang” In Yao Ethnic Village Quannan County Ganzhou City Jiangxi Province

The "Chao Huang" ritual,which is spread in the Yao ethnic village of Pitou Town,Quannan County,Ganzhou City,Jiangxi Province,is a type of votive ceremony held by the local Yao people to give thanks to their ancestors,fulfil their conventions and pray for blessings.It is of the same origin with the ritual activities of the Yao ethnic people in Guangxi,Guangdong,Hunan,Yunnan and Guizhou,such as "Huan Pan Wang Yuan","Tiao the Pan Wang ","Tiao Pan Wang","Ta Ge tang" and "Zou Dang".From the perspective of choreography,the dance performance in "Chao Huang" ritual consists of six types of dances,namely the “Tong Ling” dance,the “Fa Jiao” dance,the “Shen Tou” dance,the “Luo Dai” dance,the “Hua Gun” dance and the “Mu Gu” dance,which have different forms and styles and play different roles in the ritual.The "Chao Huang" ritual dance speaks the history of Yao people’s survival,cultural beliefs,ethnic ethics and values in body language,and is a valuable living heritage that embodies the culture of the Yao people in the southern region of Jiangxi province(Gannan).The research object of this study is the "Chao Huang" ritual dance of the Yao ethnic village in Pitou town,Quannan county,Ganzhou city,Jiangxi province.With the theoretical achievements of cultural anthropology,dance anthropology,dance ecology and other related disciplines;the research methods of documentary analysis,field work,dance ecology feature extraction,dance dynamics entry,and film analysis are used to conduct a holistic investigation and deep cultural interpretation of the "Chao Huang" ritual dance of the Yao ethnic village in Pitou town,Quannan county.The full dissertation consists of an introduction and four chapters: Chapter 1 lays out the background of the "Chao Huang" ritual dance;wherein a detailed description of the village environment,the composition of the ritual staff,the ritual structure and the performance process is illustrated based on the fieldwork in the Yao village of Pitou Town,Quanan County.Chapter 2analyses the style and characteristics of the "Chao Huang" ritual dance;according to the purpose and function of the dances in the performance and the use of props,the dances are classified,depicted and analyzed,and their morphological characteristics are refined.Chapter 3 explores the cultural causes of the "Chao Huang" ritual dance;in the light of the living environment,production methods,cultural history and spiritual beliefs of the Yao people,the cultural causes of the "Chao Huang" ritual dance are explored.Chapter 4 discusses the function and transmutation of the "Chao Huang" ritual dance;it analyses the functional role of the "Chao Huang" ritual dance from two dimensions: ritual and social,and the functional transformation of the "Chao Huang" ritual dance from the triple dynamic perspective of the old generation of Yao people,the new generation of Yao people,and State in Society.This study suggests that the "Chao Huang" ritual dance of the Yao village in Pitou Town,Quanan County,is a microcosm of the Yao culture in the southern Jiangxi(Ganga)area and an integral element of the outstanding Chinese traditional culture,as reflected by the Yao culture in other regions.With its unique vitality,the "Chao Huang" ritual dance has continually served an essential role in the modern society by constantly adapting and developing itself through the empowerment of "National Power" in the changing times.