WEN–WU DUALITY AND EMBODIED PERFORMANCE IN CANGZHOU LUOZI DANCE

Authors: Shuting Li & Nurulakmal Binti Abdul Wahid*

ABSTRACT

Cangzhou Luozi Dance is a representative folk dance tradition from Hebei Province, China, in which the paired forms of Wen Luozi and Wu Luozi embody a distinctive civil–martial cultural logic. Existing studies have mainly focused on historical documentation, regional classification, and heritage preservation, while less attention has been paid to how Wen–Wu meanings are constructed through embodied performance. Drawing on ethnographic observation, semi-structured interviews, audio-visual documentation, and archival materials, this study examines how Wen Luozi and Wu Luozi are symbolically and performatively constructed within Cangzhou Luozi Dance. The findings show that Wen Luozi communicates civility, refinement, restraint, and composure through moderated tempo, curved pathways, fan manipulation, eye–hand coordination, and controlled movement. By contrast, Wu Luozi expresses martial courage, vitality, discipline, and collective force through acrobatic movement, forceful stepping, weapon handling, intensified percussion, and expanded spatial projection. The study argues that Wen and Wu are not fixed oppositional categories, but relational and complementary performance structures. Through movement, rhythm, props, costume, and space, Cangzhou Luozi Dance transforms civil and martial values into an embodied symbolic system.

Keywords: Cangzhou Luozi Dance; Wen–Wu duality; embodied performance; Chinese folk dance; cultural semiotics; performance studies

REFERENCES

  1. Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa
  2. Chandler, D. (2022). Semiotics: The basics (4th ed.). Routledge.
  3. Creswell, J. W. (2013). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches (3rd ed.). Sage.
  4. Csordas, T. J. (1990). Embodiment as a paradigm for anthropology. Ethos, 18(1), 5–47.
  5. Denzin, N. K., & Lincoln, Y. S. (Eds.). (2018). The SAGE handbook of qualitative research (5th ed.). Sage.
  6. Farnell, B. (1999). Moving bodies, acting selves. Annual Review of Anthropology, 28, 341–373.
  7. Geertz, C. (1973). The interpretation of cultures. Basic Books.
  8. Hanna, J. L. (1987). To dance is human: A theory of nonverbal communication. University of Chicago Press.
  9. Kaeppler, A. L. (1978). Dance in anthropological perspective. Annual Review of Anthropology, 7, 31–49.
  10. Li, S., & Abdul Wahid, N. (2025). A study on the formation mechanism of Cangzhou Luozi dance from the perspective of regional culture. Journal of Integrated Social Sciences and Humanities, 2(2), 109–116. https://doi.org/10.62836/jissh.v2i2.542
  11. Ness, S. A. (1996). Body, movement, and culture: Kinesthetic and visual symbolism in a Philippine community. University of Pennsylvania Press.
  12. Peirce, C. S. (1958). Collected papers of Charles Sanders Peirce. Harvard University Press.
  13. Royce, A. P. (2002). The anthropology of dance (2nd ed.). Dance Books.
  14. Sklar, D. (2001). Five premises for a culturally sensitive approach to dance. In A. Dils & A. Cooper Albright (Eds.), Moving history/dancing cultures: A dance history reader (pp. 30–32). Wesleyan University Press.