Mao, protector of ancient performing art of Sa Ye'er Ho

By Tan Maolin, Yichang International Communication Studio

The Tujia Sa Ye'er Ho is a national intangible cultural heritage. As this performing art’s official inheritor, Mao Fangming has devoted himself to protecting and promoting it for years.

The Sa Ye'er Ho is a folk ritual song and dancing performance unique to the Tujia tribe in the middle reaches of the Qing River. It remains popular in most areas of Wufeng and Changyang counties of Yichang.

Its earliest origin was from an ancient mobilizing song, whose theme was about the historical event of King Wu's attack on King Zhou (happened in 1046 B.C.). The Sa Ye'er Ho was first documented in the Barbarian Book, written in 863 by Fan Chuo, which recorded the history of the Nanzhao Kingdom (738-902) in today’s Yunnan Province.

As this book said, the ancestors of the Tujia tribe had the custom of "beating drums to mourn, while others danced.” The Tujia people believe that the death of an old man who has enjoyed his life to the fullest is in accordance with the laws of nature, thus making it worth celebrating. 

The Sa Ye'er Ho is an integration of singing, dancing and musical performance. The song has a structure and style similar to that of the ancient Chinese poetry anthology of Chu Ci (the Songs of Chu), mirroring the ancient sacred music songs of the Ba and Chu cultures.

In May 2006, the Tujia Sa Ye'er Ho was included in the first batch of the National Intangible Cultural Heritage List.

Mao, born in a family of multi-talented folk artists for four generations in Yichang, has mastered a variety of traditional performing arts, including the Tujia Sa Ye'er Ho. To better protect and promote it, he revived more than 10 kinds of its dance routines that were nearly extinct by studying the memories of elderly local Tujia people. Additionally, he recorded more than 600 Sa Ye'er Ho songs with lyrics consisting of five lines of the same length. He also set up an art troupe for teaching this art and cultivating a group of enthusiasts.

In 2018, Mao was recognized as a representative inheritor of the National Intangible Cultural Heritage Project of the Tujia Sa Ye'er Ho.