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Story 157: The Origin of Nisi Love Dance

The Origin of Nisi Love Dance

Author: Anonymous

In ancient times, there was a Tibetan kingdom. The princess took a porter back to her parents’ home to visit her parents. On the way, the princess rested against a big willow tree and fell asleep snoring. The princess was wearing a skirt, and the porter saw a drop of white liquid hanging from the place where the princess urinated. Seeing this, the porter picked a willow branch, urinated on the willow leaf, and quietly put it where the princess urinated.

After returning to the palace, the princess’ belly was getting bigger and bigger. The king found it very strange. How could the princess’ belly swell so fast after only a few days of returning? The king asked the princess who she had sex with, and the princess herself felt puzzled and wronged. No matter how she was tortured, the princess refused to admit that she had sex with others. But the day of her pregnancy was exactly the day when the princess returned to her parents’ home.

The only person with the princess was the porter. The king tortured the porter again to see if he had sex with the princess. During the torture, the porter remembered the prank he had played on the princess when she was resting on her way back to her parents’ home, so he told the king about it, but he refused to admit that he had sex.

The king was half-believing and half-doubting, and had no choice but to swear to the sky, saying: If the child is born with a willow leaf stuck on his ear, it means that the porter is telling the truth, otherwise it means that the porter is deceiving the king and he should be sentenced to death for deceiving the king. When the child was born, there was indeed a willow leaf stuck on his ear, which fulfilled the curse. The king could not pursue and punish the princess anymore, but the child was exiled by the king when he grew up.

Because the child had willow leaf spots on his body, he was named Zhongger Awu (meaning Brother Willow). Zhongger Awu was homeless and lived a wandering life. People only knew that this man was Zhongger Awu, but did not know where he was from. Zhongger Awu traveled a long distance to Jujia and built a house in Songpingli at the head of Jujia Village and settled there (there are still ruins of the wall).

Zhongger Awu was smart and handsome since he was young. He was also proficient in Tibetan, had rich vocabulary, and could understand the sounds and meanings of various birds. He saw that the people in the mountain village did not understand art and entertainment, and wanted to solve this problem. But he had no music. One spring, he was leaning against a big tree to compose a song, and suddenly a pair of green birds landed on a tree not far away and sang to each other, with melodious and beautiful voices.

Zhongger Awu imitated the singing of the pair of birds and processed and modified it to create Guozhuang and love songs and dances, and named the love songs and dances “Longba Xueli (meaning river valley love dance)”. This bird is called “Azhong Zhuimu (Azhong: singer; Zhuimu: thrush)”, and Azhong Zhuimu only appears in pairs when spring is in full swing. This kind of bird is only found in Jujia.

In ancient times, there were only three families in Jujia Village, which was called “Jujia Three-House Village”, also known as Kerna Jujia (Kerna: means hidden in the forest). One day, Zhongger Awu came down the mountain to Jujia Village. When he saw the village holding a wedding, he stood there without saying anything. When the Jujia people saw him, they greeted him, “Hey, Zhongger Awu, we are holding a wedding, but we just eat and drink. We don’t know cultural entertainment, and we feel it’s boring.

Do you have any solution?” He passed on the Guozhuang music he created to the Jujia people, and also passed on the love dance and love song to the Jujia people. From then on, the Jujia people learned various literary and artistic entertainment activities, and those who were proficient in Guozhuang and love songs and dances passed them down from generation to generation. Not to mention ancient times, let’s talk about modern times.

There was a man named Lurong Nongbu in Jujia Village, who was famous throughout Nixi Township, Benzilan, and the two administrative villages of Luoyu and Duotong in Tuoding Township. His lyrics and voice were the most beautiful. After his death, there was Jujia Baijiao Xiaoba, who not only sang, but also loved to dance. It is said that if he does not dance for a long time, his feet will hurt badly, but once he dances, his feet will not hurt.

In Nixi Township, near Jujia, many families invite Xiaoba to be the master of Guozhuang and love dance for weddings. Love songs include date songs, men and women singing while hugging each other, sleeping in the wild, and sleeping with pillows. When working outside or visiting villages, men and women sing to each other from a distance. Men and women sing the names of the places where they dance first, so they know where the other person is from.

The singing voices are majestic and heroic, and some are gentle and smooth. The words are rich and colorful, too numerous to mention. Love songs and love dances are collectively called Xueli, also called “Zongdan” (Zongdan: means young people get together to talk about love. It also means playful). Therefore, when dancing and singing love songs and dances, one must avoid the elders and leave the village to dance and sing.

Love dance and love song originated from Jujia, but the scope is relatively limited. According to the term “Longba Xueli”, “Longba” means river valley, which means low altitude place. It is popular in Nixi Township, Benzilan Township of Deqin County, and Luoyu Village of Tuoding Township.

The scope of radiation includes Waka Township of Derong County, Sichuan, Zhuolin and Xiaruo Administrative Villages of Xiaruo Township of Deqin County, and Wujing Township of Zhongdian County.

All places for dancing are named after love dances. Love dance places are mainly named according to the topography, landform, geology or special plants of each natural village. There are also a few named after people’s personality traits. Love songs and love dances originated and developed in Jujia Village, so Zhongger Awu gave his name to Jujia Village, called “Zhongger Azhu”, which means willow village or willow lover, and also because of the natural weeping willows that formed a forest by the Jujia River.

Later, with the expansion of love dances, according to the abundant pastures in Jujia, the people are kind, honest and lively, and it was named “Bengger Azhu” (Ben means grassland or heroic, “Ger”: means yak, with a gentle personality. If it is a cow, it produces a lot of milk and the milk quality is good). When the man sings or dances, he should call it “Zhongger Azhu”, and when the woman sings, she should call it “Zhongger Ama.” Zhongger is a place name, “Azhu”, and Ama means the man or the woman.

After the establishment of Jujia, Zhongger Awu compiled his own Guozhuang, love songs and love dances into a book and carried it on horseback to spread everywhere. Wherever it spread, the village was named after the love dance place name, such as Jiangdong Village Jiangdong natural village was named “Qijie” (Qijie: means swimming by the water, also known as: “Xiager” means white rock).

Jiangdong Shengli Village was called “Detong”, which means flag dam; Guoguang Village was called “Xena”, because the rock peaks stood in a forest, like corals; Luota and Xiding villages were named “Si De”, which means there are many cypress trees. This place is famous for its special fragrance of cypress wood.

According to legend, after Geer Awu taught Guozhuang, love songs and love dances to Xidingge, he lost half of the songbooks. Therefore, the two villages of Xidingge and Luota have always loved organizing Guozhuang and love dances, and many people can sing and dance them.

The origin of “Zhongger Awu” is the same as that of Agu Dunba. No one knows where he came from or where he died, but his name, Guozhuang and love dance have been passed down in Jujia and other places for thousands of years.

Jujia people call the guys who sing and dance well the reincarnation of “Zhongger Awu”, which represents the beauty of appearance and language. This beautiful name represents the wisdom star of literature and art. People who are praised as “Zhongger Awu” should be respected and envied.