The horse deer dance

Horse Deer Dance is a unique folk dance that has been passed down for over 100 years in Dongtianping village of Xi’an town, Lianzhou city.

Local people fashion the Horse Deer into a quasi-immortal animal that looks somewhat like deer, horse and ox, to symbolize luck, longevity and auspiciousness. Local people would perform the folk dance at festivals and holidays to express their sincere wishes for exorcising evil spirits and greeting good lucks.

The horse deer dance is a provincial-level intangible cultural heritage and is applying for national intangible cultural heritage.

Half-immortal animal symbolizes harmony

In the eyes’ of those living in Dongtianping village, horse deer is “an animal with a horse head, donkey body, ox legs, and deer horns. The animal is half immortal. It lives in lush forests and could bring blessings and good luck to people.”

According to the old local performers, the horse deer dance is also known as hunting horse deer dance. It has a history of 150 years and illustrates the process of hunting and killing deer. In the late Qing Dynasty and early days of the Republic of China, the hunting horse deer dance was no longer as popular as it was in the past.

In the early 1950s, the hunting horse deer dance was revived as the local government strived to explore folk arts. The dance has gradually developed into the current horse deer dance thanks to the lovely image of deer that comes across as tame and docile, especially when people deem gold deer as symbols of fortune and longevity; deer holding a flower in its mouth means good luck.

Local scholars think that folk artisans have, over a long period of time, integrated features of several animals into the one body. They have cultivated the horse deer into a half-immortal animal that is neither deer, nor horse or ox; and yet, symbolizes good fortune, longevity and auspiciousness. Local people would dance the folk horse deer dance at festivals and holidays to express their fine wishes for ridding evil forces and enjoying a life of ease and comfort.

The dance movements were influenced by the tea-picking dance of Northern Guangdong province. The performances comprise of tracking, catching and taming the deer.

At the opening of the show, four actors play the part of two deer running and leaping in the woods. The deer rests near spring water, rubbing each other’s back and playing. All of a sudden, the horse deer vigilantly faces upward. It is the hunter who comes following the track. The hunter finds the horse deer and casts rope slings. The horse deer evades cannily. The music becomes energetic. The horse deer looks bright, which captivates the hunter. He then picks up lucid ganoderma and fresh flowers and gives them to the horse deer. They become friends and dance merrily together.

Apply for national intangible culture heritage

An official from the Lianzhou Culture Center introduces that “the horse deer dance is an artistic creation by local folk artisans. It has been developed over a long history and has distinct features in both form and content.” He said: “the performance has not only enriched local people’s cultural life, but also enhanced harmony between human and nature. It has also expressed local people’s fine wishes for good weather and harvests, reflecting the rural lifestyle of Lianzhou and the optimistic and humorous mentality of the local people.”

In recent years, under great support of the municipal Party committee and municipal government, the culture center processed and refined the horse deer dance, making it well known domestically and abroad. In 2007, it was approved as an intangible cultural heritage under provincial protection and it is preparing to apply for intangible cultural heritage under state protection.