**3. Cultural Connotations behind the Performance of** *Yalu wang*

As shown above, while *Yalu wang* is defined by folkloric scholars as a heroic epic, this fails to make sense of its central presence at traditional Miao funerals. The Miao vernacular refers to the performance of *Yalu wang* as "*ang<sup>t</sup> Yax Lus*" (*zuo Yalu* 做亞魯, literally "doing Yalu"). This cultural context means that *Yalu wang* is not limited to an oral form of folkloric literature. An equally, if not more, important aspect is that the oral performance of *Yalu wang* has to be understood as an entire ritual practice manifesting local knowledge. What, then, is the function of *Yalu wang*, and in what way is this function realized from the emic point of view?

*Yalu wang* contains two related cultural connotations which are located at different layers of Miao cognition. Drawing on Erving Goffman's (1959, pp. 106–40) theory of interaction ritual, discourses on the cultural function of *Yalu wang* often stand out on the "front stage", while *wugu* sorcery, as the schemata of Miao belief, hides in the "back stage". As Mary Douglas (2001, p. 65) puts it, "Ritual focusses attention by framing, it enlivens the memory", while Bronislaw Malinowski (1948a, p. 64) suggests that ritual "unchain[s] the powers of the past and cast[s] them into the present". The mortuary routine performed by *dongb langf* creates a liminality that juxtaposes the existence of Yalu (the past) and mourners (the present). Just like Confucian rites that draw on emotive criteria to influence reality (Kertzer 1988, pp. 13–14), the oral performance of *dongb langf* forms and reinforces a shared cultural memory at the funeral scene, on the basis of the Miao's common identity as Yalu's offspring. Therefore, the history of Yalu is never a dead one. On the contrary, it represents the Miao's cognition of the external world and forms an ethnic spirit of the group which is, in Malinowski's (1948b, pp. 102–3) designation, "a statement of a bigger reality still partially alive", and which "rule[s] the social life".

In this way, *Yalu wang* interweaves a "commonwealth" in the Miao ethnic group by "keeping up the memory of its kinship by means of common ceremonies in common places

of worship" (Tönnies 2001, p. 240). How, then, does *Yalu wang* successfully convey and sustain this collective memory of the group? Key to this function are the interactions between *dongb langf* and mourners based on the oral performance in funerary services as a means of ritualizing memory and kinship. By means of specific and repeated oral performances of *Yalu wang* at funeral scenes, this ritual practice is what Paul Connerton (1989, p. 14ff.) refers to as a form of "historical reconstruction", a mnemonic means of performativity that serves to confirm and reinforce the Miao's collective memory of what is believed to have taken place in history. In this sense, the reminiscent reiteration of Yalu as a deified ancestor and cultural hero at funeral scenes unites the Miao community as an ethnic group and maintains this identity by interweaving emotional interaction and cultural consensus among all the individuals as Yalu's offspring. This emotive agitation is preeminently important for the legitimacy of an ethnic group or cultural community that may be being hollowed out or threatened by decline. As a representation of Miao ethnic culture, *Yalu wang*, as an oral textual artifact, is likely to have become a condensed manifestation of that culture. This caters to the necessity to articulate the Miao's "otherness" in terms of both geographical and geopolitical issues, as a means to maintain their distinctiveness since the time they dwelled in the barren lands of Mashan during the Ming and Qing eras.

"Public *mise en scène*" or "collectiveness of performance" are central to the ritual of *Yalu wang* (Malinowski 1948a, pp. 48–49). In funeral scenes, *dongb langf* and relatives of the deceased are not in a one-sided "performer–audience" matrix. Drawing on what Erika Fischer-Lichte (2008, p. 43) defines as "the transformative power of performance", all those present at the funeral are emotionally engaged in a "chain reaction". The Miao funeral is thus a field of performativity, where relatives of the deceased cry out of grief to the oral performance of *dongb langf*, who, in return, feel moved and sometimes become tearful due to the mourning of relatives that adds to the solemnity of the ritual practice. Yang Guangwen 楊 光 文 (b. 1958) and Chen Xinghua 陳 興 華 (b. 1945) both have experienced crying while chanting due to the influence of relatives, and Chen even exhorts them not to cry, as he would be too sorrowful to perform the ritual (Cao et al. 2012, p. 399; Tang and Ma 2015, p. 72). Therefore, the mutual affect of all parties in the performance plays a central role to the advent of Yalu in the secular realm, and funeral participation thus reinforces the ties in the clan and the ethnic group.

In particular, the historical construction of *Yalu wang* enhances the cohesiveness of the Miao ethnic group in two dimensions. On the one hand, the cult of the heroic ancestor Yalu is bound up with the unity of the ethnic group. Part 6, Yalu's exodus, delineates the migration of Yalu after he is defeated by his older brothers Saem Yangd and Saem Nblam in the Battle of Salt Wells, and this part is formed from the repetition of one passage (CFLAA 2011, lines 5175–5178):

*Yax Lus jex meinl hah doud* (Yalu rides on horseback) *Yax Lus zod kom hah hlongb* (Yalu wears black iron footwear) *Yax Lus deib buf dongb nyid lid lok nid lid lok* (Yalu's children cry, boo-hoo boo-hoo) *Yax Lus deib buf waf nyid lid lul nid lid lul* (Yalu's babies cry, waah-waah waah-waah)

Part 6 repeats this formulaic passage 30 times, each consisting of 78–80 lines of lyrics, with only the names of places differing (for example, Had Rongl Raen Nogh, and Had Rongl Raen Lim). It takes up a total of 2911 lines—over a quarter of the entire text. The circular structure of this passage generates a sense of vastness and vicissitude, and as such the shared history of encountering and overcoming adversity and suffering interweaves a type of unity among the Miao as Yalu's offspring. Furthermore, the cohesiveness is achieved by the clan's sense of shared history. Part 11 of *Yalu wang*, the family lineage of the deceased, is a one-hour element in which a *dongb langf* chants the Miao names of the clan ancestors for as many as 30 generations (Yang 2011, p. 249; Tang 2012, p. 50; Yang 2015, p. 77). As a Miao custom, the son inherits the last character of his father's name as the first character of his own name. In this way, *Yalu wang* locates an individual in the blood network of his clan. As the *dongb langf* Liang Darong 梁 大 榮 (b. 1952) claims, *Yalu wang* functions to "help his clansmen to find their origins" (Xu 2011b, p. 263).

In extensive interviews, *dongb langf*'s belief in *wugu* sorcery frequently comes to the fore. This deviates from the argumen<sup>t</sup> advanced by Malinowski (1948a, p. 43) of the cultural expectation of funerary rites to maintain "the bond of union between the recently dead and the survivors", which is "of immense importance for the continuity of culture and for the safe keeping of tradition". In fact, *Yalu wang* is directed precisely at the Miao's fears and doubts in the face of death. In short, it expresses the hope of salvation and immortality (ibid., p. 42). The oral performance of *Yalu wang* is therefore understood as a way that *dongb langf* exert their communicable supernatural power to direct the deceased to take a journey back to their lost home, as is well reflected in the name of the ritual *jangz ghad*, which means "paving the way". Therefore, before the funeral takes place, relatives of the deceased must prepare "straw shoes, food and drink, bow and arrows, and a rattan helmet" (Ding 2014, p. 25), which are obviously necessities for a voyager. These can only be sent to the deceased via *dongb langf*'s divine power as the agents between the Miao ancestors and the living.

*Dongb langf* often believe that their supernatural power comes from enacting *Yalu wang*. While there is no shamanic trance for the possession of Yalu's spirit, *dongb langf* temporarily assume the identity of Yalu during the *jangz ghad* ritual, where they must wear formal blue clothing and a broad-brimmed straw hat to stand in front of the coffin, while holding a long saber. This costume represents the historic attire of Yalu during war campaigns—the formal dress imitates his coat of armor, and the straw hat represents his helmet (Xu 2011a, p. 143; Yang 2014, p. 245). In Miao terms, death is either referred to as *lwf bjied* (*huijia* 回 家, literally "returning to the homeland") or *jinb xiangb* (*jinxiang* 晉 相, literally "assuming the position of prime minister") (Ma 2014, p. 94). These two terms are somewhat intertextual in that they echo the closing sections of *Yalu wang*, where Yalu dispatches his sons to seize their lost home—Naf Njinb, Pel Jinx, Nax Buf, and Mix Gux. As the oral performance goes (CFLAA 2011, lines 9499–9510):

*Yax Lus lul jongx qws juf box nyab hoh* (Yalu leads his 70 spouses) *Yax Lus lul jongx qws juf box nyab lud* (Yalu leads his 70 consorts) *Jongx wes lwf paed nongx* (Leading them to burn millet)

*Jongx wes lwf paed nbaex* (Leading them to burn bran)

*Jongx wes lwf paed qws bat nboh njux* (Leading them to burn 700 *nboh njux*) 7

*Jongx wes lwf paed qws juf meid dwd* (Leading them to burn 70 straw shoes)

*Yax Lus blaeb mud qws bat lwf qws nongh diah* (Yalu throws 700 spears in the direction where the sun rises)

*Yax Lus blaeb neind qws juf lwf qws nongh mos* (Yalu shoots 70 arrows in the direction where the sun sets)

*Yax Lus buf pef qws juf nblah nzal rangx lwf qws nongh diah* (Soldiers of Yalu beat bronze drums 70 times in the direction where the sun rises)

*Ndangd ndongx ndangd daeb ndangd dwf hlah* (Shaking Heaven and Earth, *taratatat*, *taratatat*) *Yax Lus jangk plod guf baeb rah gongb dwf hlwb lwf qws nongh mos* (Generals of Yalu blow white horns in the direction where the sun sets)

*Ndangd ndongx ndangd nzwl ndangd dwf wom* (Shaking Heaven and Earth, *tarantara*, *tarantara*)

Burning these items is similar to offering sacrifices at funerals, while beating drums and blowing horns are similar to playing solemn funeral music for fallen soldiers. Therefore, in the context of *Yalu wang*, funerals and campaigns are one and the same. Each funeral restores the scene of a campaign where *dongb langf*, now in the role of Yalu, promote the deceased as the prime minister and order them to return to their ancestral wonderland.

While most *dongb langf*'s front stage narratives sugges<sup>t</sup> that their costume is an imitation of Yalu, to highlight their function of maintaining Miao identity and uniting the community as an ethnic group, the back stage expressions of some *dongb langf* present a powerful affirmation of the belief in witchcraft during funeral rites. According to Tang Na's 唐 娜 (Tang 2012, p. 51) fieldwork report, *dongb langf*'s costume is one in which they

arm themselves with "instruments that help separate this world from the world after, such as holding a long sabre, and wearing a straw hat (commonly with an ear of rice on top of it) and iron shoes. Before chanting *Yalu wang*, the *dongb langf* flourishes the sabre around himself as a means to avoid following the deceased to the world after". Another case is the iron shoes. *Dongb langf* often wear them back to front, and this connotes that they can come "back" afterwards.<sup>8</sup> Chen Xinghua has said that most *dongb langf* are afraid to perform the closing session of a *jangz ghad* ritual where the deceased is sent off on a journey, as they believe if not properly maneuvered the ritual will lead the performer to madness. To separate themselves from the spirit, *dongb langf* must declare a departure from the deceased, returning to the world of the living from the liminal space of *jangz ghad*:

I am getting farther away from you. You can hear me but can't see me. I have to tell you this across mountains and rivers: now you have to go to the place you are bound for, but I can't go any farther. Your shoes are made of cloth and straw and can lead to all the places, but mine are made of iron so I can't cross the river. (Tang and Ma 2015, p. 72).<sup>9</sup>

Some *dongb langf*'s narratives of their costumes also question the validity of functionalist front stage arguments of "imitation of Yalu's equipment during war time", and sugges<sup>t</sup> instead the Miao's *wugu* belief in ancestral spirits. Drawing on the statements of "old-timers", the *dongb langf* Wei Zhengrong 韋 正 榮 (b. 1952) declared that "*dongb langf* did not wear a sabre at *jangz ghad* ritual". The reason is that:

once, a *dongb langf* was chanting *Yalu wang* while the watchmen were slumbering. As he chanted on, the dead suddenly jumped up and chased him ... into the field. He had no place to hide, so had to use straw to cover his head. ... As a result, now *dongb langf* all wear a straw hat. Later, for fear that this might happen again, *dongb langf* began to wear a sabre to protect themselves. (Wang 2011b, p. 296)

However, the discrepancy between the varying, or even conflicting, accounts from *dongb langf* cannot be simplified to a matter of either correct or incorrect; honest or dishonest. Their narratives reflect different levels of cultural connotation in *Yalu wang*: while most *dongb langf* sugges<sup>t</sup> that *Yalu wang* is a condensed ritual central to the ethnic identity of the Miao, few are aware of the historical construction behind this master narrative at the front stage. As part of the Miao's perceptions of the external world, elements of *wugu* sorcery normally concealed at the back stage may sometimes come to the fore in an unconscious way, hence the "inharmonious voices" that deviate from the master narrative. Furthermore, the narrative of *Yalu wang* evolves around a fixed main narrative, and details of the chanting are sustained by some formulaic sentences or passages, just like the improvisation of a *canovaccio* theater form, due to the flexibility of oral performance. However, while the *dongb langf* Chen Xinghua argues that "[You should] grasp the main body in the first place, and then add content in accordance with the situation" (Tang and Ma 2015, p. 71), others are keen to stress the stability in their oral performance (Cao et al. 2012, p. 144). This "duplicity", where *dongb langf* delineate *Yalu wang* as "absolutely inalterable and inviolable", shows their strategy of convincing, the covert reason of which is to maintain the authority of this oral convention and the authenticity of the cultural construction behind it (cf. Malinowski 1948a, p. 49). This is certainly somewhat a result of *dongb langf*'s desire to maintain their mastery as ritual professionals in local communities but also as spiritual agents in Miao culture. However, they are not necessarily aware of the historical construction that is internalized in *Yalu wang* as a cultural set.

### **4. Increased State Presence and the Status of** *Yalu wang*

Resulting from the successive social and political movements after the foundation of the PRC in 1949, an increased state presence has led to the more aggressive engagement of external forces in the ritual practice of *Yalu wang*. In the process, where Mashan, once a closed area, was incorporated as an integral part of the Chinese nation-state, the

traditional cultural apparatus has been progressively disenfranchised by pervasive state power. Not only were the cultural resources that *dongb langf* once held overshadowed by political power, the cultural connotations of *Yalu wang* also faced the predicament of appropriation. Specifically, *Yalu wang* has been denuded of its structural function as a foundational element of cultural memory that had, in the past, secured the identity of the Miao as an ethnic group. It has been engulfed by the transforming sociocultural projects of the state due to the politicization of social life after 1949. From its decline, since the 1950s to its return as "cultural heritage" in the new millennium, *Yalu wang* has become a dynamic signifier that is constantly narrated and renarrated by the urgen<sup>t</sup> requirements of the state.

As an embodiment of its determination to depart from the maladies of what it perceived as China's morbid, moribund past, the CCP called for "eliminating all ghosts and spirits in feudal superstition", including *Yalu wang* and Miao funerals. The *dongb langf* Yang Guangxiang 楊光祥 (b. 1936) claims that, during the Great Leap Forward in 1958, "the leaders in the [People's] Commune did not allow us to perform *jangz ghad* ritual for the deceased elderly, declaring that leftovers of the old society were not allowed in the new society" (Li 2011b, pp. 277–78). Later, in 1966, the onset of the Cultural Revolution witnessed the intensification of this practice, and the *jangz ghad* ritual was forbidden: "[Any *dongb langf* who] violated this was to be denounced in a struggle session (*pidou* 批鬥)" (Tang and Ma 2015, p. 69). For example, Liao Changhua 廖長華 and Liao Yousheng 廖 友生 were sent to the city to attend a "learning class" (*xuexi ban* 學習班) of Mao Zedong thought and were only allowed to return home six months later (Gao 2014, p. 371). Tang Na (Tang 2012, p. 56) describes this tension as "the apex of the conflict between folk belief and state ideology", in which "*dongb langf* were forced to choose between *Yalu wang* and Chairman Mao". However, these two choices were not as straightforwardly exclusive as Tang suggests. In fact, folk belief showed a strong sense of malleability and adaptability in the face of state ideology. Secret practices of traditional funerals were frequently performed. Not only would *dongb langf* venture a performance of *Yalu wang*, some local party cadres also chose a laissez-faire attitude toward folk belief and considered inspections of ritual practices a mere formality.

The end of the Cultural Revolution did not mean a return to *Yalu wang*'s prior status. Quite the contrary, for rather different structural reasons, it underwent a more serious decline after the launching of the reform and opening by Deng Xiaoping 鄧小平 (1904–1997) in 1978. Due to China's modernizing program, featuring a distinctively Chinese variant of the market economy, the state partially withdrew from people's private lives, while the vigorous pursuit of profits and personal wealth became a new challenge to folk beliefs in local society. In the cultural domain, the homogenizing tendencies of modernity also threatened to remove all differences, ethnic differences included. Since the mid-1990s, young people have left Mashan to become laborers in Guangdong and Guangxi for better pay. According to the *dongb langf* Yang Baoan 楊保安 (b. 1952), "Very few people come to see us chanting [*Yalu wang*] now, primarily because there are fewer people in the village. Many young people work outside. Often, at *jangz ghad* rituals just a few of us—*dongb langf*—accompany the host family at the wake" (Li 2011a, p. 183).

Before *Yalu wang* was "discovered" by Yu Weiren in 2009, it had never been interwoven in a more intricate nexus of wider social forces, which would have accelerated its acculturation. The dubious and one-dimensional discourse that presented *Yalu wang* as an ethnically particular historical epic was in fact a projection on the part of the state to renarrate its core meaning. As noted above, at least five decades before Yu Weiren declared her discovery of the "heroic epic", *jangz ghad* performed by *dongb langf* at Miao funerals had already been identified by the CCP and "forbidden", as it was deemed a manifestation of outmoded superstition. The only difference is that, while in the 1950s, *jangz ghad* was considered a ritual, the central content of *jangz ghad*, *Yalu wang*, is now extricated from its integrated ritual practice and is bestowed with a brand-new and more palatable cultural-political label as an "epic" in the corpus of ethnic literature. In 2011, the state added *Yalu wang* to the "List of National Intangible Cultural Heritage" (DMCNICH 2011, I–118). While

this approbation secured protection and promotion from the state, this close engagemen<sup>t</sup> and indeed oversight of the state turned *Yalu wang* into a more secularized emblem of the state's cultural confidence. As various official discourses suggest, the state has renewed the historical narrative that the Miao ethnic group does indeed possess an epic genealogy, a noted addition to the treasury of world literature. At the same time, however, this officially sanctioned endorsement deliberately disconnects *Yalu wang* from its cultural context as a funerary ritual practice that is central to Miao identity formation and maintenance.

This process of silencing is even more evident in the case of the local governments of Ziyun and Anshun, the agencies directly responsible for *Yalu wang*'s protection and promotion. Their foremost concern is *Yalu wang*'s value as a tourist attraction and as a means for generic cultural promotion, ultimately with the instrumental aim of securing economic benefits. After 2011, *Yalu wang* became a cultural trump card of Anshun, and the official account of the Publicity Department of the CCP Ziyun Committee on WeChat is named "Yalu Ziyun". The form and discourse officially promoting *Yalu wang* is, in every substantive meaning, a form of disenfranchisement—it was deliberately removed from its traditional context of funerary rites while catering to an outsider audience's voyeuristic curiosity to peep into the lifestyle of so-called "ethnic minorities" (*shaoshu minzu* 少 數 民 族).

Taking advantage of the "discovery" of the epic, the Ziyun authorities have been focusing on the construction of the Getu River Scenic Area, hidden in the mountains south of Anshun, as its economic engine and cultural showcase. The strategy of the local governmen<sup>t</sup> clearly shows a desire to rely on *Yalu wang* as a means of tourist advertising. In May 2018, Ziyun launched a 560 million CNY project called "Yalu Wang City" (*Yalu wang cheng* 亞 魯 王 城) in Getu, aiming to use *Yalu wang* to develop its cultural attraction as a form of "ethnic tourism". Yalu Wang City is located at the foot of a mountain, and includes a royal court, a sacred city, and a living area. In October 2018, a burlesque performance of *Millennium of Yalu Wang* (*Qiannian Yalu wang* 千 年 亞 魯 王) was presented in Yalu Wang City as a tourist attraction three times a day. One other very obvious, and slightly bizarre, manifestation of this "reinvention of tradition" illustrates the primacy of the pursuit of tourist income. Huang Xiaobao 小寶 (b. 1962), a *dongb langf* and expert in free climbing, has performed at the 108-meter cliff face in Getu since the 2000s (Cao et al. 2012, pp. 337–38). Moreover, in October 2010, the local governmen<sup>t</sup> of Ziyun first created a connection between Getu and *Yalu wang* through the "*Yalu Wang* cultural tourism festival and Getu River rock climbing challenge". As the advertisement suggests, "welcome to the hometown of *Yalu wang*", Getu now receives official empowerment as the representation of *Yalu wang*.

What should be clear is that these activities in the name of *Yalu wang* are merely scattered cultural fragments removed completely from their traditional cultural context of Miao funerals. *Yalu wang* is historicized, that is, it is bereft of all its deep-seated functions as a historical construction that maintains a distinctive ethnic identity. In 2011, Ziyun county performed a tailor-made program, "Yalu Wang Crosses the Mountain of the Knife and the Sea of Fire" (*Yalu wang zhi daoshan huohai* 亞 魯 王 之 刀 山 火 海), at the ninth National Traditional Games of Ethnic Minorities. As its name suggests, performers climbed a bamboo ladder barefoot, with each rung made of blades. Another group of performers walked across a burning iron plate, also barefoot. While presented in the name of *Yalu wang*, this performance was not Miao in any shape or form. Technically, the program comes from the Knife-ladder Climbing Festival (*Daoganjie* 刀 杆 節) of the Lisu ethnic group (DMCNICH 2006, X–27). The *Yalu wang* elements were added arbitrarily to the program, which is more of a dazzling acrobatic performance chosen as an emblem for Guizhou in the national pageant.

Even more egregiously, some local performance agencies have distilled the funeral chanting into stage performances which synthetically embrace instrumental music—drum, *suona* 嗩 吶 (double-reeded horn), and *lusheng*—oral/vocal performance, and choreography. With different forms of programs, various agencies are competing for the cultural resources of *Yalu wang*. Currently, there are two established programs: one is *Millennium of Yalu wang* and the other is a "choral theater" production titled *Yalu wang*, which debuted in

December 2018. These two performances show the different perceptions of two groups— Miao scholars and the (Han Chinese) cultural elite—on what elements in *Yalu wang* can stand in for the Miao ethnic group.

Elements of traditional resources and tourist attractions coexist in *Millennium of Yalu wang*. Performed on a temporary stage at the central square of Yalu Wang City, this program is directed by Yang Zhengjiang, who is a *dongb langf* contributor to the 2011 version of *Yalu wang*, and currently a cultural cadre of Ziyun. The performance area is divided into three major parts: three *dongb langf* upstage, six percussionists downstage, and several groups of dancers take turns to perform center stage. Starting from a series of queries into "who am I, where am I from, where are my ancestors, and where is my hometown?" the 20-min program evolves around the main narrative of the *Yalu wang* stories, from the creation of the world to Yalu's success, love, defeat, exodus, reconstruction, and renaissance of the Miao regime. In each section, *dongb langf* chant an excerpt from *Yalu wang* in Miao vernacular, with a narrator summarizing the story in Mandarin Chinese. Generally, this program seizes the cultural context of *Yalu wang*, following its main narrative to show the Miao ethnic group's remembrance of their hometown. Moreover, while not clarified, in the second scene, "Ritual", a screen behind the *dongb langf* plays a video of a traditional Miao funeral ceremony, which, to some extent, suggests the original funeral scene of *Yalu wang*. However, this program is more a theatrical performance than a ritual practice, so it adds showbusiness elements to the chanting of *Yalu wang*. While it resorts to the acrobatics of knife mountain climbing and fire-eating to attract tourists, other performances are choreographed with reference to Miao dances. For instance, in the scene "Exodus", a performer and a *lusheng* musician would stand on their heads while performing. This is a fragment absorbed from the Small Flowery Miao (*Xiaohua miao* 小花苗) ethnic subgroup and their "Little Dance of Migration" (*Xiao qianxi wu* 小遷徙舞), a dance that also derives from the retreat of Yalu during a battle. Hence, the past is accumulated in the performers' bodies.

In deep contrast to *Millennium of Yalu wang*, the choral theater production *Yalu wang* is performed by a chorus of 400 vocalists at Guiyang Grand Theater, after half a decade of collaboration with more than 30 well-known artists. As a project fully funded by the CCP Publicity Department of Guiyang, this choral theater reflects the cultural elite's desire to dominate the discourse of ethnic culture. This theater piece has hardly any melody derived from the chanting of *Yalu wang*. As the music director Xiao Bai 肖白 and the conductor Fang Ling 方玲 declared, the reason is that folk music (the chanting of *Yalu wang*) in Ziyun is not representative of the Miao ethnic group, so they used a series of modes and scales distilled from Miao music to create a new melody (Yue 2019). While they argue that the melody is "undoubtedly Miao", it is absurd (and arrogant) to think that a reinvention is more Miao than the Miao culture embodied in *Yalu wang*. In fact, the vocal performance of this theater piece basically follows the principles of the bel canto lyrical style used in operatic arias and accompanied by an orchestra and chorus. The *yu* mode of *gongche* solfège that features sentimental and sorrowful emotions is removed, and in its place now is an epic scene recreated via the timbre of bel canto. The panegyric of "the first music theater of the Miao's epic in China" (ibid.) shows an official endorsement of the cultural elite vying for *Yalu wang*'s cultural resources, which are finally and fundamentally turned into a disconnected, disembodied "heroic epic" in official discourses.

This juxtaposition of the practices of various actors clearly shows a tension between an ethnic legacy as an *organic* form of local knowledge and the *reinvented* ethnic heritage by the cultural elite. As the title of a report, "What Can Represent the Miao Ethnic Group?" (ibid.) suggests, the cultural elite believe that they are representatives of ethnic cultures. In this sense, if performance agencies only take fragments of music and theater out of the ritual practice of *Yalu wang*, the cultural elite's brand-new creation dislodges *Yalu wang* from an ethnic culture embedded in folk belief and sorcery, relocating it within an acceptable and commercialized framework of state-sanctioned cultural heritage.
