英歌舞：潮汕街头的战鼓与脸谱 | Yingge Dance: War Drums and Painted Faces on Chaoshan Streets

那天我在普宁街头，被一阵鼓声拦住了去路 / The Day I Was Stopped by Drums on a Puning Street

我是在正月初三的下午撞见英歌舞的。

I stumbled upon Yingge Dance on the afternoon of the third day of Chinese New Year.

不是在剧场，不是在电视上，而是在普宁南山村一条窄得只能过两辆摩托的巷子里。鼓声先到，震得胸腔发麻，然后是木槌敲击的脆响——"咔咔咔咔"——像一百把刀同时出鞘。我还没反应过来，一队画着脸谱的汉子已经从巷口涌了进来。

Not in a theater, not on TV, but in a narrow alley in Puning's Nanshan Village — barely wide enough for two motorbikes. The drums hit first, vibrating through my chest, followed by the sharp crack of wooden sticks — "ka-ka-ka-ka" — like a hundred blades unsheathing at once. Before I could process what was happening, a troupe of face-painted men surged through the alley entrance.

那一刻我才明白，为什么有人把英歌舞叫做"中国的战舞"。

That moment, I understood why some call Yingge Dance "China's war dance."

三百年前的水浒好汉，今天还在潮汕街头"打架" / Water Margin Heroes Still "Fighting" on Chaoshan Streets, 300 Years Later

英歌舞的故事要从《水浒传》说起。

The story of Yingge Dance begins with Water Margin.

相传明代年间，潮汕民间艺人把梁山好汉攻打大名府的桥段编成了舞蹈。一百零八将化作脸谱——李逵的黑脸凶悍，关胜的红脸忠烈，时迁的猴脸灵动——每个角色都有自己的颜色和性格。三百多年过去了，这些好汉的脸谱一笔没改，倒是跳舞的人换了一茬又一茬。

Legend has it that during the Ming Dynasty, folk artists in Chaoshan choreographed the raid on Daming Prefecture from the novel into a dance. The 108 outlaws became painted faces — Li Kui's black face fierce and wild, Guan Sheng's red face loyal and righteous, Shi Qian's monkey face nimble and sly — each character with its own color and personality. Over 300 years have passed. The face paint hasn't changed a single stroke, though the dancers have been replaced generation after generation.

2006年，英歌舞入选了中国首批国家级非物质文化遗产。2024年底，它又被提交申报联合国教科文组织人类非遗代表作名录。一支村里的舞蹈，走到了世界的评审席前。

In 2006, Yingge Dance was inscribed on China's first National Intangible Cultural Heritage list. By late 2024, it was submitted for UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. A village dance, standing before the world's judges.

快板、慢板、中板——同一支舞，三种脾气 / Fast, Slow, Medium — One Dance, Three Temperaments

"看英歌，先分快慢。快的像打仗，慢的像唱戏。"——普宁南山村一位老师傅这样跟我说。

"To watch Yingge, first tell fast from slow. Fast is like going to war; slow is like performing opera." — An old master in Puning's Nanshan Village told me this.

快英歌是普宁的招牌。节奏急促，鼓点密集，三十六人或七十二人排成双龙阵，木槌上下翻飞，脚步刚猛有力。看快英歌你会不自觉地攥紧拳头——它有一种原始的、让人血脉偾张的力量。

Fast Yingge is Puning's signature. Rapid tempo, dense drumbeats, thirty-six or seventy-two performers in double-dragon formation, wooden sticks flying up and down, footwork fierce and powerful. Watching fast Yingge, you'll clench your fists without realizing it — there's a primal, blood-pumping force to it.

慢英歌属于潮阳。动作舒展，身段讲究，更像是在演一出武戏。潮阳西门村和贵屿镇的慢英歌队，一招一式都带着戏曲的韵味，连转身都有讲究。

Slow Yingge belongs to Chaoyang. Movements are expansive, postures refined — more like performing a martial opera. The slow Yingge troupes of Chaoyang's Ximen Village and Guiyu Town carry the flavor of traditional theater in every gesture; even a turn has its own grammar.

还有一种中板英歌，取两者之长，不急不缓。但说实话，大多数人第一次看，都会被快英歌震住。

There's also medium Yingge, blending the best of both — neither rushed nor languid. But honestly, most people watching for the first time are stunned by the fast style.

2024：英歌舞怎么突然就火了？ / 2024: How Did Yingge Dance Suddenly Go Viral?

2024年春节，英歌舞的短视频在抖音上炸了。

During the 2024 Spring Festival, Yingge Dance videos exploded on Douyin (Chinese TikTok).

普宁南山英歌队的表演视频播放量过亿，"英歌舞"话题累计播放超过数十亿次。紧接着，一支普宁英歌队飞到伦敦唐人街，在异国街头敲响了战鼓。围观的英国人目瞪口呆——他们大概从没见过这种阵仗：几十个画着脸谱的年轻人，在伦敦的雨里挥舞木槌，鼓声震得查令十字路的鸽子都飞了。

The Puning Nanshan Yingge Troupe's performance videos racked up over 100 million views; the #YinggeDance hashtag accumulated billions of plays. Then a Puning troupe flew to London's Chinatown and struck up their war drums on foreign streets. Stunned British onlookers watched — they'd probably never seen anything like it: dozens of face-painted young men wielding wooden sticks in London rain, drums so loud the pigeons on Charing Cross Road scattered.

后来英歌舞又去了曼谷、吉隆坡、新加坡。2025年春晚也给了它镜头。但最让我意外的，是女子英歌队的出现——打破了几百年来"只有男人跳英歌"的传统，姑娘们画上脸谱、抡起木槌，一样凶猛，一样好看。

Later, Yingge troupes toured Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, and Singapore. The 2025 CCTV Spring Festival Gala featured it too. But what surprised me most was the emergence of all-female Yingge troupes — breaking centuries of "only men dance Yingge" tradition. The women painted their faces, swung their sticks, and were every bit as fierce and captivating.

去哪儿看？什么时候去？ / Where to See It? When to Go?

最正宗的英歌舞，要去潮汕。

For the most authentic Yingge Dance, go to Chaoshan.

春节期间（正月初一到十五） 是黄金时段。普宁的南山村、果陇村，潮阳的西门村、贵屿镇——这些村子在春节期间几乎天天有英歌队巡游。不需要买票，不需要预约，你只要站在路边，鼓声会自己找到你。

Chinese New Year (1st to 15th of the Lunar New Year) is prime time. Puning's Nanshan and Guolong villages, Chaoyang's Ximen Village and Guiyu Town — these villages have Yingge troupes parading almost daily during Spring Festival. No tickets needed, no reservations required — just stand by the roadside, and the drums will find you.

元宵节那天最热闹。各村的英歌队倾巢出动，有时候几支队伍在同一条街上"狭路相逢"，互相较劲，鼓声一浪高过一浪。当地人管这叫"斗英歌"，比任何舞台表演都精彩。

The Lantern Festival is the liveliest day. Every village sends out their troupe; sometimes several troupes meet on the same street, competing against each other, drums rising wave after wave. Locals call this "dueling Yingge" — more thrilling than any stage performance.

如果你赶不上春节，也别灰心。庙会、中元节、甚至一些神明诞辰日，都可能碰到英歌舞。2024年以后，广州、深圳等大城市在节假日也开始邀请英歌队表演——虽然氛围不如村里，但至少不用跑到粤东。

If you miss Spring Festival, don't lose heart. Temple fairs, the Hungry Ghost Festival, even local deity birthday celebrations might feature Yingge. Since 2024, big cities like Guangzhou and Shenzhen have started inviting troupes to perform during holidays — the atmosphere isn't quite like the villages, but at least you won't have to trek to eastern Guangdong.

站在鼓声里，你会忘记自己是个游客 / Standing in the Drums, You Forget You're a Tourist

苏轼写过"大江东去，浪淘尽，千古风流人物"。英歌舞里的那些水浒好汉，也是被时间淘洗了三百年的风流人物——只不过他们没有被淘尽，反而越跳越烈。

Su Shi once wrote, "The great river flows east, its waves washing away the heroes of a thousand ages." The Water Margin outlaws in Yingge Dance are heroes washed by three hundred years of time — except they haven't been washed away. They dance fiercer with each generation.

我在南山村看完那场英歌舞之后，耳朵嗡了整整一个下午。但那种嗡鸣不让人烦躁，反而像是身体在回味刚才的震动。旁边一个潮汕阿伯看我一脸懵，笑着用普通话说："后生仔，明年再来，初一到十五，天天有。"

After watching that Yingge performance in Nanshan Village, my ears rang for an entire afternoon. But the ringing wasn't annoying — it felt like my body was savoring the vibrations. An old Chaoshan uncle next to me saw my dazed expression and said with a smile in Mandarin: "Young man, come back next year. First to fifteenth, every day."

我想我会的。

I think I will.