Gaoshan Ethnic Culture Park

Gaoshan Ethnic Culture Park

Hua’an is a multi-ethnic county, home to many ethnic groups including the Gaoshan and She peoples. It is the mainland Chinese county with the highest concentration of Gaoshan people. The Gaoshan have their own language (but no written script), unique customs, and lifestyle. They are hardworking, brave, good at singing and dancing, and warmly hospitable to guests, showcasing their intelligence, spirit, and philosophy of life, and have created a rich and colorful ethnic culture. The Gaoshan people have a special passion for dance, holding dances during ceremonies and festivals. Their performances are spectacular, diverse in content and style, highly entertaining and participatory, offering great amusement and aesthetic value. To promote minority ethnic culture, strengthen cross-strait kinship, and expand the county’s distinctive tourism offerings, the County Tourism Bureau initiated the construction of the Hua’an Folk Culture Park in 1999. Covering an area of 100 acres, the first phase of the project invested nearly one million yuan to build the Gaoshan ethnic village. The village now includes workshops, living quarters, performance areas, viewing platforms, watchtowers, as well as supporting facilities such as restaurants, tea houses, karaoke lounges, and children's play equipment. Moving forward, the Folk Culture Park plans to invest tens of millions of yuan to develop it into a comprehensive tourism and cultural destination rich in local characteristics, high in cultural content, and integrating sightseeing, entertainment, and participation.

Hua’an is the mainland Chinese county with the highest concentration of Gaoshan people. Here, there is a Gaoshan ethnic song and dance performance troupe spontaneously formed by young Gaoshan people. Their performances are passionate and lively, full of the flavor of daily life, and feature elaborate and beautiful costumes, winning widespread affection. A standout feature of their performances is the combination of song and dance. When you visit Hua’an and come to the Gaoshan Folk Culture Park, the dances performed by the young Gaoshan people—such as the arm-linked stepping dance, hair-swinging dance, pestle dance, and top-and-bamboo-pole dance—will surely captivate you.

Gaoshan dances feature relatively simple movements but have particularly distinct rhythms, showing obvious characteristics of primitive dance. Early dances of Taiwan’s Gaoshan people were often centered around a blazing bonfire, where people gathered to drink. When sufficiently inebriated, they would sing and dance together. Many dancers would join hands in a circle, singing as they danced, demonstrating the strength of community unity and expressing joy. Dance movements typically included rhythmic stomping, jumping, swaying, and hand-waving.

The Gaoshan people pour all their inner joy into their songs and dances, expressing internal rhythms through external body movements. This creates a trembling, dance-like rhythm that is vigorous and powerful, exuding an innocent, passionate, and moving beauty.

Arm-Linked Stepping Dance: Symbolizing unity, the arm-linked stepping dance (also called the hand-holding dance) is the most popular group dance form among Taiwan’s Gaoshan people. Participation ranges from just a few people to dozens or even hundreds, with both men and women welcome. The leg movements in the hand-holding dance are more prominent than the hand movements, including steps forward, steps back, leg lifts, and various rhythmic stomps. Formations include circular movements to the left or right, advancing toward or retreating from the center, spirals, and serpentine patterns that facilitate group circling. The hand-holding dance is led by a skilled singer and dancer who sings loudly while demonstrating the dance moves. The overall form is lively, and the atmosphere is enthusiastic.

Pestle Dance: Also known as the pestle song, pestle music, or pestle sound, this is a form of labor-based entertainment that originated from using pestles and mortars to pound rice in ancient times and later evolved into an independent artistic performance. The pestle dance is accompanied by a type of labor song. When women pounded rice, they would stand in groups of three or four, holding wooden pestles around the mortar, singing softly in rhythm with the pounding. The singing is gentle and distinctive. During the pestle dance, women wear flowers in their hair and colorful ethnic costumes, holding wooden pestles as they sing and dance. They sometimes gather closely, sometimes spread out, performing graceful and lively movements. The singing and the sound of the pestles are crisp and pleasant, and the dance steps are highly varied, making it one of the more distinctive performative dance forms among Taiwan’s Gaoshan people.

Hair-Swinging Dance: By custom, only unmarried girls are allowed to perform this dance, while men sit around and watch without participating. During festivals and celebratory events, girls let down their beautiful long hair and dance gracefully to the music. At the start of the hair-swinging dance, the women link arms, place their hands on their chests, and step back and forth lightly, slowly swaying their bodies and long hair. As the music’s tempo increases, the movement of their bodies and heads grows wider, gradually building up to the climax of the dance. The hair-swinging dance centers around the flowing, swinging black hair, embodying a strong vitality.

In addition, there are other highly folkloric Gaoshan dances such as the shield dance, courtship dance, and jaw harp dance.

Taiwanese Gaoshan dances have a long history. The Gaoshan people use dance to celebrate labor and life, and to express their love for and blessings upon life.