“Blue Sea Cultures”
Hainan is a tropicalparadise with fertile land and abundant rainfall. The island is very similar toHawaii in itsview of blue seawater, palm trees and silver beaches. Li and Miao people arethe ethnic minority groups living in Hainan.They are diligent and resourceful. In about 1280 AD, the Li people invented thecotton fluffer, a pedal spinning wheel, and looms, which were the most advancedin the world at the time. This advanced loom technology was eventuallyintroduced to the rest of China.(Figure 8 is a picture in the ethnic dance “Dadase” showing the Li womenweaving).
Numerous stories about the Li people of HainanIsland link the Li to the Island'scentral mountains, identifying the Li Mother Mountainas the home of their ancestor, the Li Mother Spirit. Such legends about Liorigins obscure the historical fact that the Li were composed of many groupsand lived on coastal lowlands before the Han settlers pushed them into themountains or assimilated them. The Li Mother Spirit and lesser mountain spiritsinhabiting rocks, high peaks and trees were portrayed as protectors of the Liagainst Han encroachment. One such story transforms the early Qing general WuQijue, a ruthless military victor and proponent of increased state presence inLi highland areas, into a merciful man reciprocating a long-standing debt tothe Li Mother Spirit, who in the guise of an old woman had often helped him inhis childhood.
Bamboo pole dances can be seen in several ethnic groups inand out of China.Basically it is a kind of dance which requires some of the peformers to holdbamboo poles, and usually to hit the poles on the floor, then raise them, andthen hit them together. Other dancers in the middle hop over and outside thepoles before they come together. The bamboo pole dances (Figure 9) developed bythe Li people in Hainan island are much moresophisticated and elegant than I have ever seen in dances by other ethnicgroups. This might be due to the fact that the Li people rely on bambooproducts in almost all major aspects of their life. For example, they use bambooleaves for hats and raincoats. They eat bamboo shoots and fill cut bamboo poleswith rice and water for cooking. They build bamboo houses and transport cargowith the bamboo poles.
