She has travelled across the Eurasian continent, the Atlantic and the Americas, but Yang Yiben remains dissatisfied.

"I dearly wished to see authentic folk arts," said the vice-mayor of Lijiang, Southwest China's Yunnan Province.

However she was disappointed during the tour as most shows put up in those 18 months between 1998 and 1999 were too commercial for her liking.

"Culture is the soul of tourism," said Yang, the first Naxi woman representative of the national committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

"A good show should try to preserve the original ethnic culture and give audiences a feel of the ethnic spirit."

And this is what Yang and her colleagues propose to do next Tuesday when they bring their show to Naxis living in Beijing and their friends.

Yang said she hoped the show would eventually be able to tour the world and allow people to sample the unique culture of the Naxis.

Unique festival

Next Tuesday marks the Sanduo Festival of the Naxi people, which falls on the eighth day of the second month on the lunar calendar, and is equivalent to the Spring Festival of the Han people.

On this day, the Naxi people gather at the Beiyue Temple at the foot of the Yulong Snow Mountains in Lijiang Prefecture for the festivities.

The festival centres on Sanduo, a Naxi god of war. The handsome general is featured as wearing silvery armour and riding a pure white stallion at the Beiyue Temple which was founded in AD 770.

The Naxis call on the Sanduo to protect them when faced with hardship.

In the past, Naxis living outside their hometown have held simple gatherings to mark the occasion. But this year, Yang has brought Naxi folk artists to the nation's capital to join the Naxis in Beijing.

The show has a fitting title "Naxi Hua-hua-se." In Naxi language, "hua-hua-se" means many things such as happiness, auspiciousness, energy and vigour.

The show begins with the "Genesis" of the Naxi people as recorded in the Dongba hieroglyphic scriptures.

Chong-ren-li-en, the legendary father of the Naxi people, proudly announced:

"I am the descendant of nine gods who created the sky;

I am the descendant of seven goddesses who created the earth;

I am the descendant of a people who climbed over 99 giant mountains and waded across 77 deep ravines without feeling tired"

The verse, full of the spirit of a hero, has been chanted by the Naxis for generations and helped shape a unique and marvellous culture.

The show, which lasts only an hour, seeks to present the authentic folk arts of the Naxi people passed down the generations, said Yang.

Song, dance, music and poetry are the four chief elements of the show. It reflects the Naxis' daily work, folk customs, their joys and sorrows, as well as their belief in, and passion for, life.

Show highlights

All programmes are presented in the Naxi language with Chinese subtitles; some also involve ancient languages and the Dongba rituals.

All the performers, aged between 7 and 77, are ordinary folk.

Xiao Rulian, the oldest performer, is called "A-li-li-mei" "Queen of Folk Songs" by the Naxi people.

She was born into a family with a tradition of song and dance in a village of the Tacheng Township of the Yulong Naxi Autonomous County. Her songs, sad and penetrating, evoke the spirit of clouds rolling down the mountains of her land.

Every member in her family can dance and sing, and the family has won several awards in China Central Television programmes.

Another programme that Yang recommends is "Marrying off the daughter" (Jia Nu Diao).

"The Naxi people are very sensitive to feelings. When a young girl is to leave her own family and marry into another, it is a very sad occasion. The girl and her friends will weep for three days and nights," said Yang.

A vivid representation of the wedding is set to the lyrics of a song that goes: "Our gold-like flower is to be taken away! The white crane matchmaker has come to our home. When the rooster crows thrice at dawn, our flower will be taken away! For the mother who has reared her daughter, tears fall onto the ground"

An authentic Naxi Dongba, or shaman, He Guohua applies some butter on the forehead of the bride in a ritual "signifying the acceptance of the bride by the ancestors of her husband's family," explained Yang.

The women wear the traditional dress of the Tacheng Township in which the unmarried girls wrap the head with a red cloth and the married ones use black cloth. Both wear long black skirts adorned with red threads. The men wear sheep skin jackets and felt hats.

But not all programmes in the upcoming show are about Naxi history.

Contemporary songs by Xiao Yuguang, a Naxi singer and song writer, have gained much popularity in Lijiang. His album "Naxi: Pure Land" (Naxi Jingtu) has spawned many audio-visual publications on the musical Naxi language.

The young singer will bring audiences his famous "Song of Wine" (Jiuge), which describes brotherly affection in a simple, yet powerful way.

"We will try to present the most authentic folk arts, although we have to consider the distance between the countryside and the stage," said Yang. "We Naxi people want to communicate with others, for only through cultural exchanges can we distinguish ourselves and learn from others."

After performing in Beijing, the show will move on to Tianjin on Wednesday and Kunming on Friday .

Almost all seats for the three performances have been booked, said Yang, adding that depending on audience response and experts' comments, the troupe will revise the show and seek the best way to present it to a wider audience at home and abroad.

Source: China Daily