Nanpi, Hebei: Intangible Heritage "Laozi" Dancing Through a Millennium

Nanpi Laozi is a folk dance passed down in Nanpi County, Cangzhou City, Hebei Province. It was inscribed on China's national intangible cultural heritage list in 2008 and is a comprehensive art form integrating martial arts, music, and folk customs.

"Laozi" is a category of quyi, a traditional form of Chinese folk performing arts, with roots in the "Sanhua Yue" (Scattered Flowers Melody) sung by Buddhist monks while seeking alms during the Tang and Five Dynasties. It was once an impromptu dance of joy after farm work and a ritual for praying for blessings during festivals and ceremonial observances. Among local people, there has long been a saying: "If the bamboo clappers don't sound, if the gongs and drums don't beat, and if the Laozi dance isn't performed, it's not really the New Year."

Wen Laozi features various dance steps, including the "three-curve posture" and "one-stomp-three-trembles," while its fan movements and distinctive clapper rhythms are considered exceptional. Wu Laozi, on the other hand, gradually evolved and eventually diverged from Wen Laozi, incorporating the essence of traditional Chinese opera and martial arts to develop a distinctive style marked by strength, vigor, and boldness.

Zhang Hongtong, the seventh-generation representative inheritor of Nanpi Laozi, has devoted decades to promoting and passing down the tradition. He has established 14 Nanpi Laozi dance troupes, allowing every ancient dance step to pulse to a modern rhythm. Generations of inheritors have devoted themselves to preserving this cherished tradition and the sense of nostalgia it carries. Innovation has given it a contemporary vitality. It is not only a treasure of China's intangible cultural heritage, but also a cherished symbol of home in the hearts of the people of Nanpi.