Investigation Of Yunnan Wenshan Zhuang And Copper Encouraging The Status Quo

Bronze Drum Dance is the cultural cream of Zhuang Nationality. Historically, onother hand, it was dedicated to the dead when a funeral was held or when theactivities of offering sacrifices to ancestors took place; on the other hand, it hassomething to do with the custom of Zhuang people that Bronze drums are playedwhen they are dancing. It reflects those cultural features of Zhuang nationality:Timbal, rice farming and Mo religion. Thirty years ago, only men were entitled tohaving the dance on the occasions of funerals or offering ancestral sacrifices. Thesedays, it, with the support of governmental policies of national culture, is free fromreligious constraints and is increasingly learned by women, and people not belongingto the group of Mo religion. This change is worth study.Why the popularity of Bronze Drum Dance is growing? The answer is thatpeople are charmed by how their thought and feelings can be presented by the dance.Therefore, this thesis focuses on how the change takes place. The bronze drum dancepracticed in Guima Village, Nasa Towhship, Guangnan County, is taken as a studysample. Theories from ethnology, dancology, dancing biology are taken advantage of.The methods of collecting on-site data and referring to related books and documentsare employed. Through comparing the collected data with how the dance is describedin references, this study illustrates the evolving process of moves, forms and elementsof the dance and reveals its cultural intention.Four parts consist of this paper. Part one is introduction. It answers thosequestions: Why the study subject has been chosen? What is the value and aim of thestudy? How the study has been carried out? Part two is Chapter one. It, based on someresearch methods and the theory of dancing biology, presents the natural and socialfactors that have influence on Bronze Drum Dance. Part three is Chapter two. Bymaking use of collected data and references, it gets it clear how the dance was and isperformed. By employing methods adopted from dancolog, it deconstructs themovements of dancers and analyzing the rhythm and styles of the dance. Then thecultural intention of Bronze Drum Dance is revealed in this part. Part four is Chapterthree. It finds out what have made the dance changed, via probing into the differencesbetween the current and the former forms of the dance. In the end of this part, thestudy suggests that Bronze Drum Dance will evolve into countless new forms since ithas lost its original function of serving funerals and the activities of offering ancestralsacrifices.