Drumming up Support for A Legacy

As a young boy, Wang Chengqiang, like all children, played with a drum. But it was more than play. His grandmother, who had learned the art from her elders when she was a child, taught him the Taiping Drum Dance, a lively folk dance in which the dancers use drums as props.

The genre appeared in Beijing during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and grew popular in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). Taiping is associated with peace and tranquility and the drum is also called the Yingnian drum because it is played during Chinese New Year celebrations.

An offshoot of the traditional art is the Shijingshan Taiping Drum Dance, which developed in the capital’s Shijingshan District. A group of people, often in a circle, move back and forth to the beat created by hitting a small drum, which they hold in their left hand, with a stick held in the right, sometimes accompanying it with short, catchy songs. Many of these verses are based on traditional stories or classics. In 2006, the Shijingshan Taiping Drum Dance was listed as a national intangible cultural heritage.

The 61-year-old Wang is an heir of the vanishing art form. Today, he is dedicated to popularizing the drum dance once more. A diabetic with a stent in his heart, Wang nevertheless practices every day, teaching the art to both young and old, so that it is passed down to the future generation and more people know about the cultural tradition. ( Photos by Wei Yao)