YANTAI, China, Aug. 24, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Haiyang sits on the southern tip of the Jiaodong Peninsula, under the administration of Yantai city, Shandong province. Endowed with majestic mountains and a scenic coastline, the city derives its name from its location north of the Yellow Sea. In 1398, the Ming government established Dasong Garrison in present-day Haiyang, Shandong. In 1425, to celebrate Commander Zhao Tong, who concurrently served as Zhenfu (Military Supervisor), having five generations living under one roof, Dasong Garrison integrated elegant classical music with local folk dance traditions to create the Big Yangko Dance dance. The performance debuted officially on the day an imperial gold plaque inscribed with Qiye Yanxiang (Seven Leaves Spreading Auspiciousness) was unveiled. From then on, Haiyang Big Yangko Dance began to thrive.
Over six centuries, Haiyang Big Yangko Dance has taken root amid the city’s mountains, coastline and local customs. It has gradually evolved into a well-established dance system, embodying a folk art style that is powerful and uninhibited, robust and dynamic, and yet equally festive, lively, and vibrant.
Haiyang Big Yangko Dance brings the DNA of this intangible cultural heritage to life through its vivid Nine Major Roles. These nine characters act as living folk symbols and grassroots cultural envoys, embodying the honest local ethos through their physical performances. Apart from the nine leading roles, supporting performers, known as miscellaneous players in Haiyang Big Yangko Dance, portray figures such as donkeys, land boats, opera characters and mythical figures. Their improvisational acts add richer narrative layers to Big Yangko Dance performances.
“No Big Yangko Dance, no Spring Festival.” This local saying epitomizes the cultural identity of Haiyang people. “Big Yangko Dance fills the first lunar month celebrations with play, the second with bustle, and lingers playfully into the third.” “Big Yangko Dance ushers in spring” has become a vital way for locals to express festive joy and strengthen community bonds during Chinese New Year. This is far more than a simple folk performance; it embodies the community’s gratitude and reverence for the ocean—a belief deeply ingrained in the lifeblood of Jiaodong fishing communities.
Haiyang is renowned as the Home of Chinese Folk Art. Haiyang Big Yangko Dance enjoys national acclaim and is recognized as one of the three major Big Yangko Dance styles in Shandong. In 2006, it was inscribed on the first batch of the National Intangible Cultural Heritage List, evolving into a cultural tourism attraction and a hallmark of Haiyang’s external promotion. The year 2024 marked another milestone for Haiyang Big Yangko Dance: It clinched the Shanhua Award, the highest honor in Chinese folk art.
Like a brilliant cultural pearl, Haiyang Big Yangko Dance radiates the civilizational brilliance of generations of Haiyang people, heralding their aspirations for an even better life.
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