Huteng

{{Short description|Chinese term for a type of dance}} [[File:Huteng dancer.jpg|thumb|Sogdian ''Huteng'' dancer, Xiuding temple pagoda, Anyang, Henan, China, Tang dynasty, 7th century.]] '''Huteng''' ({{lang-zh|s=胡腾|t=胡騰|p=Húténg|l=Nomadic leap}}, also 胡腾舞, ''Húténgwǔ'', "Dance of the Nomadic leap") was the Chinese term for a type of dance that originated in Central Asia, especially among the Sogdians and the region of Tashkent (石國, Shíguó).<ref name="SRE"/> The dance was well known during the Tang dynasty, and there are numerous depictions of it in works of art. The dance was characterized by spinning, leaps and backflips.<ref name="SRE">{{cite book |title=The Silk Road Encyclopedia |date=2016 |publisher=Seoul Selection |isbn=9781624120763 |page=778 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UgOwDAAAQBAJ&pg=PT778 |language=en}}</ref> The dancers would particularly make somersaults, first planting their feet firmly on the carpet, tilting their face upward and arching their body, then lift their arms and jump backward to the sound of flutes and the pipa.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Trombert |first1=Éric |last2=Vaissière |first2=Étienne de La |title=Les sogdiens en Chine |date=2005 |publisher=École française d'Extrême-Orient |isbn=9782855396538 |page=96 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O44MAQAAMAAJ |language=en}}</ref>

Another famous dance from Central Asia was the Sogdian Whirl (胡旋, ''Húxuăn'', "Whirling Nomads", also 胡旋舞, ''Húxuănwǔ'', "Dance of the Whirling Nomads", sometimes rendered as "Whirling Nomads"<ref name="qiang">{{cite book|author= Ning, Qiang|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o62gkAg8WX0C|editor=|title=Art, Religion, and Politics in Medieval China The Dunhuang Cave of the Zhai Family|page=126|publisher=University of Hawaiʻi Press|year=2004|isbn=9780824827038}}</ref><ref name="jeong">{{cite book|author=Jeong, Su-il |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UgOwDAAAQBAJ|editor=|title=The Silk Road Encyclopedia|page=|publisher=Seoul Selection|year=2016|isbn=9781624120763}}</ref> but known as "Sogdian Whirl dance" or simply "Sogdian whirl" to Western scholars<ref name="furniss">{{cite web|title=Retracing the Sounds of Sogdiana|last=Furniss|first=Ingrid|url=https://sogdians.si.edu/sidebars/retracing-the-sounds-of-sogdiana-sogdian-music-and-musical-instruments-in-central-asia-and-china/|work=Freer, Sackler - Smithsonian|access-date=11 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210911180505/https://sogdians.si.edu/sidebars/retracing-the-sounds-of-sogdiana-sogdian-music-and-musical-instruments-in-central-asia-and-china/|archive-date=11 September 2021}}</ref>), in which a young woman was spinning inside a circle.<ref name="SRE"/> Also another one was the "Dance of the thorn branch" (柘枝舞, ''Zhèzhīwŭ'').

These dances, part of the "Nomadic dances" (胡舞, ''Húwŭ'') from Central Asia, Serindia and the Persian Empire, were extremely popular in China during the Tang dynasty, especially in the area of Chang'an and Luoyang.<ref name="SRE"/><ref>{{cite book |title=China Archaeology and Art Digest |date=1997 |publisher=Art Text (HK) Limited |page=3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9fEUAQAAIAAJ |language=en}}</ref>

The representations of foreigners would turn more negative after the 8th century CE, following the revolt of An Lushan, a Turco-Iranian rebel.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cosmo |first1=Henry Luce Foundation Professor of East Asian Studies Nicola Di |last2=Cosmo |first2=Nicola Di |last3=Wyatt |first3=Don J. |title=Political Frontiers, Ethnic Boundaries and Human Geographies in Chinese History |date=2005 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781135790950 |page=135 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y1mQAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA135 |language=en}}</ref>

==Gallery== <gallery class="center"> File:Buner_reliefs_Scythian_bacchanalian_cropped.jpg|Indo-Scythian dancers, Buner reliefs, Gandhara, 1st-2nd century CE. File:Painted Panel of the Sarcophagus of Yü Hung (detail 1).jpg|Left: a man holding a plate of fruits; right: a bearded man is performing the {{Transliteration|zh|Huteng}} dance. Both figures have haloes. Tomb of Yu Hong, 6th century CE. File:Dunhuang Mogao Caves Dancer.jpg|Cave 220 “Hu xuan” dancer in mural from Mogao. File:Xiuding Temple - Dancer.jpg|Dancer. Pagoda of Syudin temple </gallery>

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== * [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7iSKMbjPz4 Huxuan dance (video)]

Category:Sui dynasty Category:Tang dynasty Category:Sogdians Category:Asian dances