The origin of Andai dance

It is the Andai dance

The Andai dance, known as the living fossil of Mongolian dance, is an original dance popular in the surrounding areas of Tongliao City, Inner Mongolia. Andai dance originated from Kulun Banner, and according to research, it was formed in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. At that time, the Kulun system was "the integration of politics and religion", with many temples and many monks. In the middle of the Qing Dynasty, immigrants from all over the Guandong region poured into the grasslands in large numbers. The cultural customs of different tribes and different regions blended together to create the Kuron Mongolian culture, and gave birth to the Andai dance with broad mass appeal.

Andai is usually performed during festivals or leisure time. One person leads the singing and everyone else responds. Hundreds of men, women, old and young sing and dance. Andai dance has strong self-entertainment, distinctive national characteristics and a strong flavor of life. It is relaxed and joyful, simple and easy to learn, and the lyrics can be sung along with the arrangement, and it is full of appeal. Men, women, old and young can enter and dance, there are no time or location restrictions. Just follow the rhythm of the music and move in harmony with the lead singer.

Historical origins

There are more than thirty theories about the origin of Andai dance. The most representative theory is that Andai was originally a religious dance used to treat women's lovesickness. It also contains It means praying for the gods to bless you and eliminate disasters and diseases. At that time, there were 12 kinds of Andai popular in Kulun and other places, including "Ada Andai" and "Wuriga Andai".

As for the origin, birthplace and formation age of "Andai", there is a lack of historical data to test. "Secret History of Mongolia" describes the record of Temujin and Jamuha forming "Anda" in the form of giving each other bones and exchanging belts: After they became "Anda", their subordinates immediately "wrapped around the fluffy" "Dancing among the lush trees", "Stepping out of the footpath up to the elbows and the dust up to the knees".

As for the origin of Andai, some scholars also explore it from folklore. In the vast Horqin grassland, especially in the Kulun Banner of the Zhelim League, which is known as the "Hometown of Andai", a large number of folklore about "Andai" has indeed spread, providing a lot of precious information for studying the origin of "Andai".

It is said that a long time ago, there was a very "ancient" place in the northeast, and the king of this place was Harisu Khan. Harisuhan had a beautiful queen named Hangehara. Queen Hangehara has three more princesses. The eldest is Zhalandugui, the second is Wusenhailor, and the youngest is Elegesila. These three princesses are extraordinary, they are the frightening white doves! These three dove princesses all have great supernatural powers and boundless magic. They often spread their magical wings to travel around the world. As they soared in the sky, their shadows passed across the ground. Once their shadows shine on the girls and wives on the ground, a terrible disease will occur on the girls and wives. No one has a name for this disease, it cannot be cured by taking medicine, and the lama cannot cure it. The patient can only suffer in pain. The terrifying shadow scares people all day long. The eldest girl and the young daughter-in-law hide in the house all day long and dare not go out for fear of being killed by the three doves. In order to save this suffering in the world, the merciful and compassionate Sakyamuni Buddha turned into Master Babrun and asked the clever singer Gada Su Hefei was taught how to treat this disease by "Bo" Su Hui, and "Bo" Su Hai came to preside over the treatment. The method is to let the patient sit while playing drums and cymbals, while "Bo" Suhai and singer Gadasu sing around the patient. Then there is the ancient procedure of singing "Andai", so some people call it "Singing Jiu" when singing "Andai", which is where it comes from.

There are many legends about Andai dance. Another widely circulated legend is this: It is said that a long time ago, a father and a daughter lived in Horqin grassland. The girl suddenly got a strange disease and became delirious. , behaved abnormally, and showed no improvement after several treatments. The old father had no choice but to take his daughter in an ox cart and go to another country to seek medical treatment. During the trip, the axle of the car broke, and the daughter's condition worsened and she was dying. The old father was so anxious that he ran around the car and sang instead of crying. The singing attracted the people nearby, who all burst into tears when they saw this. They all followed the old father behind him, throwing their arms and stamping their feet, and walked around in mourning. Unexpectedly, the girl quietly got off the bullock cart and followed the crowd to dance vigorously. By the time they discovered her, she was sweating profusely from dancing and was recovering from her illness. The news spread like wildfire. From then on, people imitated this singing and dancing method to treat young women with similar diseases and named them "Andai". It was also used in mass gatherings such as praying for rain, offering sacrifices to Aobao, and the Naadam Conference, and was widely spread. It gradually developed into a collective dance that freely expresses thoughts, feelings, and life.