海鹽滾燈：千旋萬轉不停息

文/孫 倩

屠堯璋輔導部隊官兵跳滾燈舞。吳曉青/攝Tu Yaozhang teaches military personnel to perform the Haiyan Rolling Lamp dance. Photo by Wu Xiaoqing.

燈舞，是中國傳統舞蹈中一個非常重要的類別。流傳于浙江民間的傳統燈舞有魚燈、龍燈、蝦燈、花燈等數十種之多。其中，活躍于嘉興市海鹽縣的滾燈舞（俗稱“海鹽滾燈”）因一改江浙舞蹈柔美溫婉的“小家碧玉”氣質，呈現出一種錢塘江潮水般排山倒海、大氣磅礴的英雄氣概而分外引人矚目，2008年被列入國家級非物質文化遺產名錄。

海鹽滾燈，又稱“英雄燈”，海鹽先民們的尚武之風，創造和培育了這朵民間藝術奇葩。據《海鹽縣志》記載，滾燈源于南宋時期，八百余年傳承不絕，曾與古代軍隊練兵，抗擊倭寇、海盜和固壩筑塘等有著千絲萬縷的聯系，后在民間廣泛流傳，一般在元宵節燈會上表演，現存九套二十七個動作。傳統滾燈道具由12根毛竹條編織而成，在大燈之內套一小燈，小燈之內按照陀螺儀原理裝上蠟燭底座，無論如何舞動，蠟燭始終朝上。

成年男子舞的滾燈直徑一般90～120厘米，重量30公斤左右。要把如此重的滾燈舞得虎虎生風，沒有強健的體魄、不經過一定的訓練是幾乎不可能的。在幾百年的歷史變遷中，海鹽滾燈一直保持著勇猛雄壯、彰顯力量、技巧性強的獨特風格。然而，從新中國成立到20世紀80年代的30 年間，海鹽滾燈曾一度銷聲匿跡，直到90年代才又逐漸生龍活虎地走進人們的視野。這“起死回生”的背后，離不開一位古稀老人半生的努力和堅守。他就是海鹽滾燈的省級非遺傳承人—屠堯璋。

海鹽滾燈演出照。海鹽縣非遺中心/供圖Performing the Haiyan Rolling Lamp dance. Photo credit: Haiyan County Intangible Cultural Heritage Center.

今年七十四歲的屠堯璋，從小熱愛文體活動,有體操和武術功底。1983年從海鹽越劇團轉業到縣文化館，從事群眾文藝的輔導工作。1984年底，館領導把收集民間舞蹈的任務交給了他，從此，他便與海鹽滾燈結下了近40年的不解之緣。區別于大多數非遺傳承人的家族傳承，屠堯璋是因為工作原因與海鹽滾燈結緣，拜師學藝，師徒傳承。更難能可貴的是，他能文能舞，既能跳又能寫。無論在編導排練、教學培訓,抑或是收集編寫、理論研究等，都為海鹽滾燈的保護和傳承作出了卓越的貢獻。彈指一揮間的近大半人生中，有歡笑，也有淚水；有艱辛和執著的努力，也有成功與幸福的收獲。

深入挖掘 潛心鉆研

20世紀70年代末，曾經活躍在海鹽縣的一二十支滾燈隊消失得無影無蹤，會跳滾燈舞的人已是鳳毛麟角。1984年底，為了完成上級下達的收集海鹽滾燈資料的任務，經多方打聽，屠堯璋終于找到了五十多歲的滾燈傳人萬文觀。當他看到融舞蹈、武術、雜技于一體的海鹽滾燈，其動作難度非一般人所能表演時，敬畏之心油然而生。為了把動作全部準確地記錄下來，他拜萬文觀為師，將萬師父尚能表演的動作一絲不差地全部學會，并就一些動作要領虛心請教、認真領悟。對萬師父已無法完成的技巧動作，他憑借多年的武功積累，將它們還原成一個個直觀的具體動作，再請萬師父審定、糾正。最后，把每個動作進行分解，請攝影師記錄下完成該動作的全過程。至今說起這段經歷，屠堯璋難掩興奮：“終于，我把瀕臨失傳的海鹽滾燈的九套二十七個動作全部整理出來，為以后繪制圖片等留下了一套寶貴的原始資料。”

此后，他又克服困難，解決了滾燈道具內萬向蠟燭臺的制作和安裝問題。然而，要把民間滾燈舞轉化成文字、在文章中清晰描述時，對于并非科班出身的屠堯璋來說，卻是個不小的考驗。為了攻克這一難關，他專程赴上海購買舞蹈、武術書籍，還把館里所有的舞蹈雜志翻了個遍，把相關動作的描述摘錄下來。功夫不負有心人，經過反復修改，他編寫的《滾燈》不僅得到了《中國民族民間舞蹈集成》浙江卷編輯部的好評，還被作為范本直送北京總編輯部審定。為此，屠堯璋受到了浙江省文化廳的表彰。

受到鼓舞，更出于對這一古老傳統舞蹈的熱愛，1987年，屠堯璋撰寫了論文《海鹽民間“滾燈”舞初探》，并在省民族民間舞蹈研究會上宣讀，后發表于當年的《浙江舞蹈》雜志，第一次從美學的角度，對滾燈的形成、精神實質、動律特點等較為詳細地進行論述與分析，從此，滾燈舞也如鳳凰涅槃般獲得了重生。

2008年5月屠堯璋退休,但非遺傳承之路卻從未停止。一種責任感和使命感始終在他心中呼喚：一定要把老祖宗留下來的優秀傳統舞蹈保護好、傳承好。為了能給后人留下一些可借鑒的經驗教訓，屠堯璋忍著心臟支架手術后的病痛，堅持撰寫了8000多字的論文《海鹽滾燈六十年傳承發展的反思》，并參加了長三角滾燈藝術研討會。其后，又參加了浙江非物質文化遺產代表作叢書《海鹽滾燈》的編寫。2017年9月,在身體又植入第三枚心臟支架的時候，他依然筆耕不輟，與時間賽跑，針對滾燈舞在傳承中存在的新問題、新現象，從社會學和民俗學角度對如何傳承發展、如何守正創新進行深入剖析,提出自己的思考和建議。2021年，他的海鹽滾燈文化基因解碼成果在浙江省“文化基因解碼工程”解碼成果評審中被評為優秀解碼項目。

守正創新 發揚光大

20世紀80年代，在民舞集成編寫時期，屠堯璋就清楚地意識到，盡管《滾燈》已經被收入《中國民族民間舞蹈集成》浙江卷和《中國群眾文化辭典》，但只有將它搬上舞臺，才會有真正的生命力。于是，當1986年嘉興市舞蹈創作會議召開時，他就提出了滾燈舞的構思，得到了各級領導的肯定，并在當年被定為嘉興市參加省首屆音樂舞蹈節的重點節目。屠堯璋與市群藝館的舞蹈干部合作擔任滾燈舞的編導。最終，該舞獲得了編導三等獎、表演二等獎，并引發了人們的廣泛關注。

海鹽滾燈演出照。陳家龍/攝Performing the Haiyan Rolling Lamp dance. Photo by Chen Jialong.

屠堯璋做海鹽滾燈分解動作。海鹽縣非遺中心/供圖Tu Yaozhang performs the breakdown movements of the Haiyan Rolling Lamp dance. Photo credit: Haiyan County Intangible Cultural Heritage Center.

1997年以來，海鹽滾燈進入了快速發展期。屠堯璋再次披掛上陣，由他指導的64名男性青年學生組成的滾燈隊在嘉興、海鹽多次進行國慶表演，場面震撼。那陽剛灑脫的舞姿、雄健博大的氣勢驚艷了沿途數萬觀眾。人們從此記住了海鹽有一種叫做“滾燈”的傳統舞蹈。

海鹽滾燈“火”了，屠堯璋也更忙碌了。2000年，重要文化遺產和優秀民間藝術被納入扶持和保護，加上全國廣場文化節的興起，為群眾文化繁榮創造了前所未有的發展契機。海鹽滾燈作為具有鮮明地方特色的優秀文化遺產，在一次次演出歷練中得以迅速發展壯大：各種形式的演出比賽活動，讓上千群眾（老、中、青、少、幼）直接加入到滾燈的行列中來，讓這一原本來自民間的藝術，又重新回歸民間，融入老百姓的生活中。在全縣舉辦的滾燈培訓班上，他應邀親自講解和教授滾燈舞。培訓結束，因此而誕生的滾燈隊一下子發展到十多支，演員隊伍也擴展到了數百人。

2004年5月，縣里把滾燈創意大賽總導演的擔子交給了屠堯璋。面對信任，他勇挑重擔、大膽創新，將傳統與現代的理念融入到整臺節目的策劃中。職業中學的傳統滾燈、武警戰士的滾燈龍、實驗小學的摩幻滾燈等不同形式、不同風格的滾燈隊同時登臺亮相，尤其是由他創編的《滾燈龍》，一上場就以強烈的視覺沖擊力征服了觀眾。《滾燈龍》的嘗試，對海鹽滾燈登上國家級的舞臺具有極其重要的意義。2020年10月,巳經七十三歲的屠堯章身體狀況欠佳，但為了讓滾燈舞在浙江省春晚得以展示，他毫不猶豫地受命重新編排《滾燈龍》。為了把陽光、健美的一面留在排練場上，他忍受病痛而付出的辛苦可想而知。

匠心堅守 薪火相傳

時光荏苒，一晃38年過去了。屠堯璋不忘初心，與時俱進，潛心創作，共編導、參編了11個版本的海鹽滾燈舞，先后獲全國、省、市等不同獎項，其中2004年的兩個版本分獲第十三屆“群星獎”廣場舞蹈優秀作品獎、第七屆中國藝術節開幕式《風從東海來》金獎。

“莫道桑榆晚，為霞尚滿天。”2020年，屠堯璋第四次在全縣滾燈培訓班上授課。他將自己的全部所學傾囊相授，“中栓腰”“一炷香”“王祥臥冰”……他悉數認真教習、親身示范。多年來，他直接輔導的學員超過600人次。為了更好地傳承海鹽滾燈，屠堯璋在積極做好傳、幫、帶的同時，還有意識地給徒弟留下了傳統版本和創新版本的滾燈舞。目前，他帶的徒弟中有市級傳承人一人、縣級傳承人3人。無論是在非遺傳承基地和村文化禮堂、縣圖書館的滾燈講座上,還是在擔任《海鹽滾燈》專題片的藝術指導、參與中國舞協的影像采集和央視科教頻道影像方志欄目組采訪拍攝的現場,他都不遺余力地宣傳海鹽滾燈。

2022年，在嘉興市最美“銀尚達人”全網投票活動中，年逾古稀的屠堯璋高票當選。談及海鹽滾燈的未來，他信心滿滿。

Haiyan Rolling Lamp Dance: Rotating and Shining

By Sun Qian

2008年，屠堯璋在海鹽縣非遺辦整理滾燈材料。顧建中/攝Tu Yaozhang works on compiling materials on the Haiyan Rolling Lamp dance in his of fice in 2008. Photo by Gu Jianzhong.

Lamp dance is a major folk dance among the myriad traditional Chinese dance, which is further divided into dozens of different kinds of performances in Zhejiang province, such as fish lamp dance, dragon lamp dance, lobster lamp dance, flower lamp and so on. Among them, the rolling lamp dance (commonly known as the Haiyan Rolling Lamp), popular in Haiyan county of Jiaxing city as its name suggests, has been on the National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage since 2008, thanks to its grand and majestic style, in stark contrast to the generally gentle style of Zhejiang’s dance performances.

According to the local gazetteer, the Haiyan Rolling Lamp originated in the Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279), and has a history of more than 800 years. As a group dance with strong acrobatic and competitive characteristics, the dance, graceful and heroic, requires a lot of skills and many complicated movements in different sequences. Indeed, it was intimately connected with the military in ancient China and is said to be introduced to the public through the troops. Generally performed at the Lantern Festival, the dance comprises twenty-seven movements in nine sets.Traditionally, the lamps are made of 12 bamboo strips, with a bigger lamp containing a smaller lamp, inside which is mounted a candle base according to the principle of gyroscope. Therefore, however the performers move the lamps, the candles inside are always up.

For an adult man, a rolling lamp used in the dance usually has a diameter of 90-120 cm and weighs about 30 kilograms. It is almost impossible to handle such a heavy object and play it handsomely without a strong body and proper training. Over the centuries, the Haiyan Rolling Lamp had maintained its unique style of strength and skill. However, in the 30 years after the founding of People’s Republic of China, the traditional dance fell into obscurity, and it was not until the 1990s that people began to learn more about it. Behind this “return to life” lie the efforts and persistence of Tu Yaozhang, Zhejiang’s provincial inheritor of the Haiyan Rolling Lamp.

Tu, who is 74 years old, has been in love with all sorts of sports activities since childhood, which has helped lay a good foundation for his gymnastics and martial arts skills. In 1983,he began to work at the Haiyan County Cultural Center after quitting his role from the Haiyan Yueju Opera Troupe. As the year 1984 came to a close, he was entrusted with the task of collecting folk dances, and since then, he has been inseparable from Haiyan Rolling Lamp. Unlike most inheritors of intangible cultural heritage, which has been passed down through family lines, Tu’s love story with the Haiyan Rolling Lamp started with his work. What’s more notable is that he can both perform and put his performance to words, which have made outstanding contributions to the protection and inheritance of the Haiyan Rolling Lamp in the past four decades.

為海鹽滾燈傳承基地天寧小學的學生做培訓講座。林益平/攝Tu Yaozhang shows a move of the Haiyan Rolling Lamp dance during a lecture to a group of students at Tianning Primary School in Haiyan county, Jiaxing city.Photo by Lin Yiping.

2019年，屠堯璋接受中國舞協影像采集組采訪。金韋玉/攝Tu Yaozhang receives an interview from the China Dancers Association in 2019.Photo by Jin Weiyu.

By the late 1970s, one or two roller-lanterns, some 20 Haiyan Rolling Lamp troupes once active in the county gradually disappeared without hardly a trace, and it was extremely rare to find people who could perform the dance. At the end of 1984,in order to complete the task of collecting the materials of the Haiyan Rolling Lamp, Tu was eventually able to track down Wan Wenguan, an inheritor of the dance who was in his fifties at the time. When Tu saw the dance movements, which combine martial arts and acrobatics as well, he was awe-struck as it was undoubtedly difficult for any ordinary people to achieve.The record all the movements accurately, he decided to learn the techniques and skills from Master Wan. For those actions that Master Wan could no longer complete, Tu tried to restore them according to Wan’s descriptions and ask him to point out any inaccuracies. In the end, Tu dissected each movement and broke down different components before asking a photographer to record the whole process. Tu still cannot hide his excitement when speaking of the episode: “Finally, I sorted out all the twenty-seven movements in nine sets of the Haiyan Rolling Lamp, leaving behind invaluable materials for later efforts to restore the glory of the dance."

He then painstakingly solved the problem of the manufacturing and installation of the candle tables in the rolling lamps. However, it was quite a test for Tu to turn the folk lantern dance into words and describe it on paper. For this, he went to Shanghai and bought books on dance and martial arts. He read through all the dance magazines in the Haiyan County Cultural Center and made copious notes. After repeated revisions, “Rolling Lamps”, the part he wrote for the Zhejiang volume of “Series of Chinese Folk Dance”, was highly praised.

Encouraged by the success and more importantly by the love for this ancient traditional dance, in 1987, Tu wrote and published a paper on the Haiyan Rolling Lamp,for the first time analyzing from the aesthetic point of view the origins of the rolling lamp,its spiritual essence and rhythmic characteristics. It signified the rebirth of the dance as well.

Since 1997, the Haiyan Rolling Lamp has witnessed rapid development. In that year, under the guidance of Tu Yaozhang,a team of 64 young students performed the rolling lamp dance during the National Day celebrations in Haiyan county and Jiaxing city. The magnificent dancing took the breath of tens of thousands of spectators away and the public started to talk of a traditional dance called “rolling lamp”.

The popularity of the dance made Tu much busier. In 2000, Tu was tasked by the local authorities to develop it into a square dance, which would attract people of all ages and truly be integrated into their everyday life.

Although officially retired in May 2008,Tu has never wavered in his efforts to pass on the dance traditions. He authored an 8,000-word paper, exploring the development of the Haiyan Rolling Lamp in the past 60 years, while still recovering from a stent replacement surgery. Later, he continued contributing to various publications despite undergoing a third stent replacement.In the 38 years since his first encounter with Haiyan Rolling Lamp dance, Tu has won numerous awards at the national,provincial and city levels. Over the years, he has taught over 600 students, which has greatly aided the inheritance of the traditional craft.

In 2022, Tu Yaozhang was voted the most beautiful “Elderly People” in Jiaxing city. Speaking of the future of the Haiyan Rolling Lamp,Tu is full of confidence.