He discovered that the Shibi shamans were masters of the Qiang culture. Without a written language, the Shibi followed all sorts of rituals that were a record of Qiang history.
The Shibi wear monkey-head caps and beat sheepskin drums when dancing. The white drums are used in dances that are meant as a tribute to heaven; yellow drums to drive away evil, and black drums for safety.
"We dance with sheepskin drums with a pious heart and communicate with the gods," a Shibi told Wang.
"Wang is a 'dance-maniac'," says Tang Hongmei, vice-director of the Beichuan Cultural and Tourism Bureau, who headed Beichuan's cultural center. "He doesn't mind anything as long as you ask him to dance."
Every year, the cultural center would ask Wang to gather hundreds of people to perform the sheepskin drum dance. "Wang would shout himself hoarse under the scorching sun, but still persisted. It was so touching," says Tang, who is working with Wang and other experts to preserve and pass on Qiang culture.
Wang says the dance he enjoyed most was when Beichuan became the nation's only Qiang autonomous county in 2003. All the people gathered at the county's central square, gulping down strong liquor and dancing through the night.
Wang continues to wear his traditional Qiang robe everyday at the resettlement, even though it is clearly not very convenient.
He proudly invites visitors to his temporary home. Behind a curtain that separates the 30-sq-m room, are kept his robes that have a freshly-laundered look.
At lunch, Wang and his wife surprise visitors with duck, bean jelly, vegetable soup and sweet potato steamed with rice. The Qiang people won't say how happy they are to see the guests, but bring the best delicacies that they've saved to the table, says Tang.
The same attitude can be seen in the way a Qiang man treats his wife: Instead of saying how much he loves her, he cooks for her. "I'm a certified high-level chef," Wang announces happily. "I've only two hobbies: cooking and dancing."
But tears well up when he talks about his old friends who didn't survive the killer quake. Wang was playing cards at home and ran out just before his house collapsed. He and his wife spent the night sitting on a cardboard box. The next day, they heard that all the other members of the cultural center had died.
The center and library lie buried in the debris along with some 400 priceless cultural relics that the center has been gathering since 2003. These included a huge bow with ivy string made in the Qing Dynasty, and ancient embroidery patterns seldom found today.
The earthquake brought unprecedented attention to Qiang culture. Wang was invited to Beijing last summer to introduce the ethnic group's songs and dances to urban audiences. When his small troupe of about 10 people put up a show in a residential community, it attracted a big crowd.
"Beijing people are kind-hearted. They all asked if we needed any help," Wang says. But he doesn't like to be pitied. When Xi Shuyou, head of Shengli village, invited him to teach dancing at the resettlement, he was very happy.
"When you work outside, you are earning money for yourself. Here, I'm passing on my cultural heritage," he says.
The story first appeared in Sanlian Life Weekly.
By Ma Rongrong
Editor: Shi Liwei
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