| Festivities, 2nd prize |
| Nuo Opera in Guichi |
| Ren Shaohua(China) |
| Country Nuo is sacrificial ritual held from
ancient times in China during the 12th lunar month to expel evil spirits
and pestilence. An integral part of the ritual is the Nuo dance. The dancers
wear masks and brandish weapons, portraying scenes of chasing and seizing
devils. The Nuo dance has evolved over the centuries, with the content and
technique growing richer so that it has become a type of entertainment.
In some areas, it has developed into a dramatic form. The country Nuo of
Guichi in Anhui Province is a good example. Guichi's Nuo consists or three parts: the ritual, the dance and the drama. It blends worship with recreation. Primitive features survive in the masks, costumes and properties as well as the overall form of the performance. This is the oldest dramatic form in China, regarded as a living fossil of Chinese drama. |
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| 1. In the evening, hundreds of villagers travel dozens of miles to fetch the nuo mask trunk from the temple or another clan and carry it to their own ancestral hall. | ||
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| 2. Every household makes offerings at the hall to honor their ancestors and the gods. | ||
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| 3. Guns are fired to announce the coming of the nuo procession. | ||
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| 4. Each household makes an offering of chicken blood at the ancestral hall to welcome the nuo masks. | ||
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| 5. A specially designated person arranges the sacred nuo masks in a prescribed order. | ||
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| 6. The nuo drama begins around 7 PM and continues until early the following morning. | ||
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| 7. After the performance, the masks are carefully and cautiously counted and placed back into the trunk. | ||
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| 8. The ritual to worship the god of earth is held in the daytime. | ||
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| 9. During the ritual, the villagers do the nuo dance to pray for favorable weather and good health. | ||
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| 10. A scene from the nuo dance. | ||
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| 11. After the ritual, the villagers return to the village and perform dramatic pieces on stilts. | ||
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| 12. At the Yuanxiao Festival on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, all the clans carry the nuo mask trunk to Qingshan Temple to worship the nuo gods. |
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