The rice dance came into being as early as the Qing Dynasty. Before it was formed, it was just a way for Li people to transmit wedding signals by tapping. At that time, when the Li people held a wedding, in order to tell the neighboring villagers to come to drink and celebrate, some people found that the sound of knocking on rice barrels could spread far away, so it became a custom to transmit wedding signals in this way. Later, this method was gradually adopted by other villages. In the process of its evolution, this method has also changed constantly. It is also a custom to compare the strength of drumming when holding wedding activities between villages to see which village knocks the loudest and which village has the most drums.
There are many other sayings about the formation history of rice pounding dance. For example, in the harvest season, Li women perform rice pounding happily, or in the busy and arduous rice pounding work, in order to relieve fatigue and improve the efficiency of rice pounding, women add some graceful movements when waving wooden pestles and amuse themselves with the rhythmic sound of the collision between wooden pestles and mortar.
The origin of rice dance
The rice-beating dance originated from the rice-beating work of ancient Li women. This dance is performed by women. With Chu Jiu as a prop, it gives a powerful musical rhythm through Chu Jiu's beating, simulates the working process of rice beating and performs dance movements. Its performance style is simple music and rough dance. It reflects the true portrayal of the simple life of Li, a working woman. At the same time, it also shows the spirit that Li women love life and labor. The rice dance has developed from the initial four-person dance to the six-person dance, and from a single style of play to a variety of styles. By changing the action and beating the rice barrel in different directions, music and dance can achieve a harmonious effect.
Characteristics and value of rice dance
Rice-beating dance is a combination of rice-beating action and dance in life, with light rhythm, complex movements and strong appeal. Percussion in dance provides strong evidence for exploring and studying the origin of ancient percussion art of Li nationality. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the cooking dance was transformed by dancers and put on the stage. As a cultural program with the characteristics of Li nationality in Hainan, it has attracted the attention of the society.