Nuo Is a Phenomenon of Witchcraft Culture

Nuo is a phenomenon of witchcraft culture which has its root in Chinese primitive religion and means to drive away devils. Primitive people thought that all diseases were caused by devils. The ritual activities of Nuo were already in existence as early as early as Shang Dynasty and were recorded in history from Qin Dynasty to Qing Dynasty.
 

The over 3000 years' historical deposit made the variety of Nuo rites: its religion belief gradually became a mixture of Confucianism. Taoism and Buddhism: its performance gradually developed from primitive dance to acrobatics, drama and Qigong (breathing exercises). Based on the data available, we could infer that the embryonic from of Nuo Drama emerged in Tang and Song Dynasties, which is the result of continual development and distillation of Nuo Art. The Nuo performances today in Guizhou Province are the combination of sacrificial rites and various artistic forms.

 

Owing to the factors of history, politics, economy, culture and psychology, the Han, Miao, Yi, Buyi, Tujia, Gelao ethnic groups in Guizhou enjoy varicolored Nuo Drama with their own styles and have the whole nation. Such as Yi people's Nuo play "Zuo Tai Ji" in Weinin, Tujia's and Miao's "Nuo Tan Xi" in Sinan, "Nuo Yuan Xi" in Tongren and "Di Xi" in Anshun, they not only reflect different features and levels, but also reveal their horizontal relationship and the obvious trend from the religious remains to a kind of local drama.

 

The plays of Nuo Drama, except "Zuo Tai Ji" and "Di Xi", can be divided into "Zhen Xi" (Ritual Play) and "Wai Xi" (Entertaining Play). The former mainly serves religious rites and performs godly stories; the latter is rich in contents which can be sorted into the stories of history, legend, myth and earthly. Only a few of these plays have scripts and most of them are so-called "Tiao Gang Xi" which have passed on orally from generation to generation.

 

The masks in Nuo Drama is an important part of Nuo Art. They are used both in Nuo Rites and in Nuo Drama. Some ancient masks such as the "Four Golden Eyes" and "Two Qi Heads" have been lost for ages. The masks employed by folks in Guizhou are generally made of wood with color painted engravings; the style of Yi's Nuo masks are rough and crude; "Di Xi"'s solemn and resplendent; "Nuo Tan Xi"'s meaningful in deep character description. They all are the crystallization of folk artists over the successive dynasties and therefore the gem of China's folk art treasury. Only a few original Nuo masks are in existence today and have much more value to us.

 

The handicraft of folk embroidery, paper cut, painting, pottery have been influenced greatly by Nuo culture, they also have the tempting artistic charm.
 

It is gratifying that Nuo Art has been infiltrating into modern plastic arts in the trend of cultural regressing to nature and the visual revolution. A number of artists have come to fame from assimilating nutriment in Nuo Art. It shows the indomitable vitality and the tempting charm of Nuo Art.

 

The purpose of holding the Exhibition of Nuo Art in Guizhou is to introduce the forms of Nuo Art completely and stereoscopically in order to improve the full comprehension of Nuo Art and encourage a thorough research on Nuo Art. We should inherit the valuable cultural heritage critically and carry forward its essence in our re-creation work for the sake of developing the glorious Chinese national culture and benefiting the civilization of mankind.