Meditative Water Drum Rhythm in De’ang Dance

Abstract

The research will explore the protection and inheritance of ethnic culture, taking the De’ang Water Drum dance as an example, to fully showcase the profound traditional cultural heritage and the rich and colorful folk-art characteristics of the Chinese nation. The De’ang ethnic group is one of the unique cross-border ethnic minorities in Yunnan Province, distributed in Dehong, Lincang, and Baoshan. In addition, many clans and tribes of the De’ang ethnic group in history now mostly live in Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia and other countries. Although they live in different countries, they are connected by their common blood, language, customs, as well as art works, beliefs and hearts. Nestled between the extension of the Gaoligong Mountains and the Nushan Mountain Range, and surrounded by the Lancang River, the Nujiang River, and the Daying River, this ancestral land of the De’ang ethnic group traverses the ancient lives of the De’ang people. The De’ang ethnic group has a population of over million in other countries, but in China, they are an extremely small minority residing in western Yunnan, with a population of less than 20,000 in China. They make a living through tea production and farming. The De’ang ethnic group is a people who are skilled in singing and dancing. They have always been inseparable and have been accompanying each other. Whether in the fields or in the mountains and bamboo forests, the De’ang people will dance when they hear the songs. In the continuous development of thousands of years, the De’ang people have accumulated a vast and colorful national folk dance. In these original ecological dances with strong traditional charm, we can not only appreciate the simple beauty of De’ang singing and dancing, but also feel the ancient and wonderful taste of tropical ethnic groups in Southeast Asia. From the first-hand information obtained through long-term field research in Chudonggua Village, the author observed how a nation with a population of less than 20,000 in China maintains its art and traditions amidst changes. When the closed village established its status as an ethnic cultural eco-village, and when traditional art acquired the status of intangible cultural heritage, the new art not only became an important foundation for shaping the villagers’ worldview, but also a unique way for the ethnic group to engage in social exchanges with the outside world and construct social life.