"Chicken Dance", the humor of Hami Oasis

Dance in Hami Muqam. Photo by Dinar

Among Hami folk, the story of "chicken dance" originates from a beautiful legend. In order to commemorate a couple who lived and died together, people compared the eagle in the "Chicken Dance" to the king and the princes and aristocrats. It is also an interesting idea. The name of the story is "Green Peony".

There is a beautiful place in Hami-Badashi. In summer, the orchards here are fragrant and the trees are shaded. Therefore, during the return of Hami to the king, this place was developed into a summer residence.

It is said that during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, there was a beautiful girl named Sharvanu here. She was able to sing, dance, ride and shoot arrows since childhood. At the age of 16, she grew into eight big stones and a beautiful "snow lotus flower".

One day, the innocent and beautiful Sharwanu was swinging in the orchard of the summer palace. Her laughter and beautiful figure were seen by a tax collector. She returned to the palace and flattered Wang Yusufu, saying: "There is a beautiful Sharwanu in the eight major stones. Her beauty makes the moon and stars shy, and makes the springs of the eight major stones sing for her."

King Hui was very happy, so he ordered the tax collector to lead more than 20 officers and soldiers to take Miss Xia to the Prince Hui's Mansion, ready to accept her as a concubine. Just one day, King Hui invited Hami's official minister to come into the house to drink wine. During the banquet, the official minister proposed: "I heard that King Hui found a peerless beauty. Call her out and let us broaden our horizons. Can you?"

King Hui laughed and waved for someone to call out Sharvanu. The appearance of Sharvanu made the eyes of all the officials at the banquet shine, and they praised that it was really a beautiful peony of the Qing Dynasty. It is worthy of being a national beauty!

From then on, the nickname of Qing Peony spread in the mansion, and people called Sharwanu Qing Peony. Although she was in the palace, Miss Xia was very unhappy and often cried and missed her sweetheart, a handsome young man, Meldan.

Time flew by. After half a year of hard work, the opportunity came. Meldan quietly discussed with Lai Li Khan, the nanny in the palace, to rescue Miss Xia. Lai Li Khan sympathized with the young couple very much.

One night, she helped Sharvanu dress up as a man and escape from the palace through the back door. At this time, Meldan also brought more than a dozen friends outside the door to meet him and took Sharwanu to the Elaeagnus angustifolia forest in Miaoergou.

After the King Hui discovered that Sharvanu had escaped, he immediately sent 30 personal soldiers to pursue Meldan and chased him to the Elaeagnus angustifolia forest in Miaoergou and launched a fierce struggle. In the end, because he was outnumbered, all Meldan's friends died in battle.

Sharvanu and Meldan were also seriously injured, but they would rather die than surrender and sacrificed their precious lives for pure love.

Over the past century, the love story between the Qing Peony Sharwanu and Meldan has been widely circulated among the people. In memory of them, the Uyghurs of Badashi built Mazha in Badashi Orchard, and compiled their deeds into songs to tell their unyielding love story. Later, they were collected into Hami Muqam. It is widely sung: "If I leave the world/Please bury me on the top of a mountain/If the mountain road is too far/Bury me in the orchard/Let me face the west with a smiling face/Put a bunch of flowers on my grave."

The "chicken dance" in Yizhou music and dance used to be a mask dance, but today, masks are no longer worn during performances. Chicken dance in Hami Muqam can be performed together with Muqam or alone.

One person plays the role of the rooster, and the other plays the role of the hen. After the dance begins, the rooster flapped his wings and ran to the hen, waving his wings gallantly, showing his handsome and domineering demeanor, and at the same time making eyes to tease the hen. The hen seemed unreasonable or dismissive, just acting like she was protecting the chicken and feeding the chicken later. Because the chicken dance movements are interesting, witty and free, it is very infectious.

At this time, the rhythm of singing and dancing was also sonorous and powerful, and the drums were dense, allowing the audience to enjoy a feast of singing and dancing while laughing. The main movements of the chicken dance include: crowing the chicken and spreading its wings, flapping its wings with one wing, flapping its wings with two wings, retracting its wings, shaking its chest, digging for food, feeding the chicken, inviting the hen to feed, pecking the soil, waving the crown, etc.

There are also characters such as eagle and chicken in the dance. The movements of the eagle include: soaring, grabbing, biting, pouncing, lifting, flashing, peeping, sneering, fighting claws and wings with the rooster, losing panic, fleeing, etc. This game allows people to relive the carefree childhood.