The first story of Lahua performance is about "La Huang (fleeing the famine)". In ancient times, Jingxing was the fifth of the eight fortresses along Taihang Moutain, and because of the large mountainous area, natural disasters happened almost every year. Even worse were the frequent wars. Peace was unimaginable for Jingxing people at that time, as they spent over half of their time fleeing on the road or in the forest. However, they had to find a way to feed themselves. It was against such circumstances that Lahua performance came into being. On their strenuous way of fleeing, Jingxing people walked and swayed their body, living by begging. That explains why the dancing steps of Lahua performance resemble climbing a mountain.

Traditionally, sixpeople perfomed Lahua dance: two elderly people, a husbandand wife, and two children, vividly representing the scene of a family fleeing a calamity. This explains why all the Lahua performances take on a sad and heavy tone. In fact, the  special dance movements of Lahua performance, such as turning the shoulder and hip, were not intentionally created, but rather a product of long travel over land and water.

The story of "La Huang", while showing the heavy tone of Lahua performance, also depicts the Jingxing people's strong life force, which is also represented through the continuity of the performance over the centuries.

Apart from fleeing famine and war, the most common theme of Lahua performance is love. Legend has it that a clever and deft girl named La Hua from the Stone Village fell in love with a lad of the same village. However, the Mountain King living in the mountain nearby, took a fancy to La Hua and forced her to be his wife. In order to help La Hua, the villagers worked out a dance. Pretending to celebrate the Mountain King's marriage, they killed him and rescued the girl. The dance has since been passed down with the name "Lahua". Traces of the legend can still be found in the Cherry Orchid Village of Jingxing County even today.

The legend may not be true, but the words of Lahua ballad nowadays focus more on love than on fleeing famine and war, while Lahua dance of today, rather than expressing the sadness and heaviness involved in fleeing famine and war, has become a good way to express the affection between men and women. In leisure, the elderly men will gather together and sing the traditional Lahua tunes which express passionate affection. Though the men have passed their passionate years, singing these tunes can remind them of the past beautiful times.

Page:

1

2

3