Another 4 Pu’er items included in national heritage list

China's State Council released a new group of 325 national intangible cultural heritage items in Beijing on June 10. Out of the 23 included items from Yunnan, Pu’er City has four: the Xuanfu ceremonial music and dance, the white elephant and deer dance of Dai people, the brocade weaving skills of Wa people, and the spinning-top playing.

Xuanfu ceremonial music 

It is a Ritual Music and Dance in the Mansion of Xuanfu Chieftain of Menglian (Dai) in Yunnan, which originated from the folk costume in southwest Yunnan and some parts of Myanmar and Thailand. The tradition remained and developed in Menglian County. The artists combined love, moral, religion, life and other elements with the music and dance.

White elephant and deer dance

The white elephant and deer dance of Dai people is one of the symbolized traditional dances, constituting the important part of existing Dai culture. Not only performed in Buddhist rituals, the dance also regularly appears in water-splashing Day, Close-door Festival, Open-door Festival, Holy fish Festival and so on. For hundreds of years, it is popular among Dai ethnic group.