Traditional dance makes new moves

In a short video, rain falls over Dianchi Lake, softening the outline of the Western Hills in the distance. On the Danxia Bridge, a group of dancers dressed in black suits stands motionless for a moment before raising their long swords.

Then the drums beat. With sharp turns, powerful steps and sweeping sword movements, the dancers transform a traditional Jingpo sword dance into a performance that feels both ancient and contemporary.

The rhythm of Munao Zongge, one of the most important traditional festivals and art forms of the Jingpo ethnic group in Southwest China's Yunnan province, echoes across the water.

The video, filmed in Kunming, the provincial capital of Yunnan, in late July, quickly spread across Chinese social media platforms, drawing millions of views and sparking waves of imitations.

Many viewers are captivated by the contrast: traditional swords paired with modern suits, ethnic heritage presented through a visual language familiar to younger audiences. At the center is Yuan Zhiping, a principal dancer of Yunnan Provincial Song and Dance Ensemble.

For Yuan, the popularity is not simply the result of a striking image. It reflects years of exploration into how traditional culture can find new forms of expression.

Most of the movements come from authentic Jingpo sword techniques, Yuan says. The turns, spins and sword gestures are adapted from traditional elements, while the presentation is redesigned to create a stronger connection with contemporary audiences.

Injecting fresh appeal

The performance's appeal comes from a careful balance between inheritance and innovation. The choreography retains key elements of Jingpo sword techniques, including powerful movements that highlight strength, courage and discipline, Yuan explains.

Traditionally, the long sword has held deep symbolic meaning in Jingpo culture, representing identity and resilience.

Yuan decided to update the visual language. Instead of wearing elaborate traditional costumes, the dancers appear in simple black suits. The modern silhouette gives the performance a sharper stage presence while keeping important cultural symbols, including the traditional Jingpo ornament known as tongpa.

The music helps bridge past and present. The song Munao Zongge, which carries the same name as the Jingpo festival, combines traditional rhythms with contemporary arrangements, telling a story of cultural convergence. Its melody dates back to 1991, when Jingpo artist Shi Legan distilled ancient musical forms — Dongba and Wenbeng — into a composition he titled Munao Zongge March. For decades, it was a regional treasure, little known beyond the hills of western Yunnan.

That changed early this year when Beijing-based music producer Zhen Zhen (known online as Banxia Shuiyu) wrote new Mandarin lyrics that spoke not just to Jingpo identity but to a broader Chinese experience — evoking the family hearth, the ancient Tea Horse Road, and the majestic Gaoligong Mountains. He then used AI to weave the traditional melody with modern electronic arrangements. The result was a track that felt neither antique nor artificial, but powerfully alive.

The response was immediate. By May, the song had surpassed 3 billion streams. Its percussive, martial rhythm proved irresistible to short-video creators, who used it as the soundtrack for everything from Jingpo festival footage to dorm room dance-offs. The song stopped being a piece of music and became a call to move, gather and participate.

But the dance itself carries meaning that transcends any single remix.

Munao Zongge means "gathering together to dance", reflecting the festival's central message of collective celebration. It is the grandest traditional festival of the Jingpo people, who mainly live in Dehong Dai and Jingpo autonomous prefecture in Yunnan.

According to Jingpo oral tradition, the dance traces its origins to the sky. Long ago, only the children of the Sun God could perform it. When the Sun God invited all earthly beings to a celestial dance, the birds — led by the hornbill and the peacock — flew to the heavens to join. On their return, they re-created the dance beneath a wild fig tree. The Jingpo ancestors witnessed this bird dance, carved its patterns into stone, and held the first human Munao Zongge.

This origin story explains the festival's ritual regalia, in which the lead dancers, or naoshuang, wear headdresses made from hornbill beaks, peacock feathers and wild boar tusks — symbols that honor the birds who first brought the dance to earth.

At the center of the dance ground stands a sacred structure of four pillars. The two taller middle pillars bear the sun and spiral fern patterns; the two outer pillars bear the moon. Crossed swords at the center symbolize the community's strength and resilience. Horizontal beams display crops, tools and livestock — the community's hopes for prosperity and continuity, according to Zhao Baozhong, a national-level intangible cultural heritage inheritor from Longchuan county of Dehong, who has spent decades studying and performing Munao Zongge.

"For the Jingpo people, the dance carries memories of history, belief and social life. It is a living archive," Zhao says.

Zhao, in his 60s, began learning the dance in the 1980s after witnessing large-scale festival performances and becoming fascinated by the discipline required to lead thousands of dancers. He eventually became a naoshuang, a role he has held for decades.

"A lead dancer must remember all the dance routes, all the patterns," Zhao says. "They have to be in your mind, in your memory — you can't look at a book while you're leading thousands of people."

He notes that the dance has undergone major social changes.

Historically, large-scale Munao Zongge ceremonies were closely connected with community leaders and traditional rituals. Over time, the celebration became increasingly open to the wider community, allowing more people to participate.

In 2006, Munao Zongge was included in the first batch of China's national intangible cultural heritage representative items. In 2012, an international Munao Zongge festival in Mangshi of Dehong set a Guinness World Record for the largest Munao Zongge dance, with more than 18,600 participants moving in unison.

Today, the festival has evolved into a platform for broader cultural exchange.

Passing the baton

For younger inheritors, the challenge is how to keep the tradition alive in a changing world.

Cun Daijin, a young inheritor, began learning the dance after being inspired by older performers leading large festival gatherings.

"I saw the elders in their ceremonial robes, leading thousands of people," he says. "They're still doing this at their age. Why shouldn't I?"

He later became a naoshuang, while continuing his work as a macadamia grower. For him, the dance is not just a profession but a calling.

"Remembering every movement, understanding the cultural meaning behind the dance and guiding others require years of practice," he says.

Cun has also turned to short videos and public performances to introduce Munao Zongge to new audiences.

"Intangible cultural heritage is not something placed behind glass. It needs to be experienced and passed on," he says.

Cun believes that Yuan's reinterpretation has created a new entry point for people unfamiliar with Jingpo culture.

"The more people who understand it, participate in it, and fall in love with it, the more likely it is to continue," he says.