Yakou Piao-se
yakou piaose simplified chinese 崖口飘色 traditional chinese 崖口飄色 pinyin yákǒu piāosè jyutping ngaaihau piusik traditional festival activity village yakou nanlang zhongshan pearl river delta guangdong province china chinese government added yakou piaose official list china statelevel intangible cultural heritage item several version origin yakou piaose first version one time village yakou suffered frequent flood coastal location low altitude solve problem villager began carry papermade statue bodhisattva walk around village pray good harvest late ming dynasty people began use small child dressed bodhisattva replace papermade effigy another version concern moving story said long time ago probably tang dynasty serious plague hit yakou village kindhearted couple mr mr tan offered free soup medicine villager villager grateful called mr mr tan living buddha unfortunately couple died exhaustion gathering herb making medicine honor memory great sacrifice people yakou village began parading papermade bodhisattva statue around village may lunar calendar tradition gradually developed festival piaose end yuan dynasty many people central plain moved southern area escape war settling yakou village migrant combined art form central plain area indigenous baiyue tradition piaose transformed festival character piao 飘 mean floating chinese character se 色 mean delicate disguise old chinese piaose people push special decorated wheeled cart around village piaose performer small child wearing heavy makeup special costume stand sit iron shelving fixed cart artist sometimes perform gesture help identify figure representing cart actually special wheeled cabinet called se cabinet 色柜 top se cabinet vertical steel bar called se geng meter long specifically designed support child lending stability se cabinet se geng also serf protect young performer falling getting hurt section se geng covered costume part costume disguised spear sword aesthetic yakou consists eight smaller village village one piaose group every year may lunar calendar different village send group perform piaose parade together across street field colorfulness parade green rice field mix create spectacular scene late qing dynasty early republic period many villager yakou went hong kong even southeast asia make living returned home brought back money also many technique custom learned area contribution content piaose enriched one unique form made yakou piaose special swinging se” enables performer swing routine innovation brought villager named tan heyi previously made living southeast asia watching piaose performance visiting relative yakou village thought popular activity swinging southeast asia tan heyi improved piaose form using design swinging thanks creativity unique form swinging se invented early th century villager worked welding worker hong kong also made great contribution innovation piaose technique skill many famous figure performed piaose chinese historical mythological story including goddess change flying moon lady general mu take command goddess guanyin catching nezha prince nezhas triumph dragon king goddess marriage journey west legend white snake ghost story liaozhai well others well piaose performance yakou people also perform dragon dance lion dance kylin dance piaose parade dragon used yakou wooden dragon length meter wooden dragon made many board despite length material dragon move flexibly kylin dance yakou people used kylin two three time bigger people area guangdong use performance lively natural passing dragon mean child squeeze long section dragon dance pray grow healthy