Blog

Geographical Location: On the border of Lingyuan and Jianping counties, Northeast China's Liaoning Province

The Dongba Art(东巴艺术Dōngbā yìshù) is the primitive religious art special of the Naxi ethnics who live in the frontier area of southwest China and believe in Dongba place. Dongba religion got its name from the fact that the priest of the religion is called "Dongba" by the ethnic people. The religion has exerted very great influence on the material and spiritual lives of the Naxi people since ancient times. It has given birth to the time-honored Dongba culture, among which Dongba Art is the most glaring and beautiful part. The artistic forms include Dongba painting, Dongba literature, music and dance, so on and so forth. So it is a rich and colorful ethnic art treasure.

"Muqam"(穆卡姆Mùkǎmǔ), which is a kind of Islamic music(伊斯兰音乐Yīsīlán yīnyuè) that is distributed in 19 nations and regions of Middle Asia, South Asia, North Africa and West Asia. "Muqam Art of Uygur Minority of Xinjiang in China" is the umbrella name of all the Muqam that is popular in the Uygur residence area in Xinjiang. It is represented by "Twelve Muqam", including twelve classical pieces of music such as Lake, Qiebiyate, Muxiawulaike, Qiaerga, Panjiga, Wuzihale, Aiqie, Wuxiake, Bayati, Nawa, Siga, Yilake.

Called "the ghost opera" or "the ghost dance", the exorcizing dance(驱魔舞qūmówǔ) is a kind of dance originated from the ancient exorcizing culture of China. It is honored as "the living fossil of Chinese dance". The exorcizing dance derived from the totem worship of the clan society in ancient times. Originally, it was a dance believed capable of driving away ghosts performed at sacrificial exorcizing rituals. Later, the dance gradually evolved into a festive sacrificial performance normally staged between the first and 16th day of the first month on the lunar calendar. Today, the exorcizing dance is still performed in rural areas in Jinagxi, Guizhou and Yunnan Province.