Frontiers of Theatre Studies
FTS, Vol. 1, No. 1, 2026, pp.146-153.
Print ISSN: 3106-8073; Online ISSN: 3106-8081
Journal homepage: https://www.ftsjournal.com
DOI: https://doi.org/10.64058/fts260117eccvn
Evaluating the Contemporary Cultural Value of Nuo Rituals in Zhanjiang through Bodily Language: A Review of Entering the Realm of Intangible Cultural Heritage: Decoding the Bodily Language of Nuo Rituals in Lingnan region
Weng Yuanyuan
Abstract: In Entering the Realm of Intangible Cultural Heritage: Decoding the Bodily Language of Rituals in Lingnan region, Zeng Huamei adopts bodily language as the central analytical lens to examine the cultural meanings embedded in Nuo rituals. The author argues that, in terms of operational mechanisms, Nuo rituals construct a multilayered spatial system, including material, symbolic, imagistic, and interactive spaces. Within this framework, participants’ bodily movements, together with ritual implements and costumes as symbolic media, collectively produce and enact communal systems of belief. From the perspective of cultural origins, Nuo culture is interpreted as the result of a long-term syncretic process involving Confucian, Daoist, Buddhist, and shamanistic traditions. As for its essential meaning, Nuo rituals are understood as an early human response to fundamental existential concerns, particularly how to survive and how to live a better life in a dangerous and uncertain world. With its interdisciplinary methodology, innovative bodily perspective, detailed cultural analysis, and open scholarly attitude, this monograph makes an important contribution to the study of culture, especially in the context of Zhanjiang, Guangdong. It not only enriches the academic understanding of ritual performance and embodied belief, but also offers valuable insights into the interpretation and preservation of intangible cultural heritage in contemporary society.
Keywords: Nuo rituals in Zhanjiang; bodily language; cultural value
Author Biography: Weng Yuanyuan, master’s student of English Language and Literature in Shanghai International Studies University. Research interests: contemporary American literature. E-mail: 0253100196@shisu.edu.cn.
题目：以身体语言评估湛江傩仪的现代文化价值——评《走进非遗：解读岭南傩舞文化的身体密码》
摘要：曾华美《走进非遗：解读岭南傩舞文化的身体密码》一书傩舞为研究对象，以身体语言作为切入视角，探讨傩舞仪式中的文化内涵，旨在探求湛江傩仪的身体语言特色以及文化根源。作者研究发现，在运作机制方面，通过构建物质空间、象征空间、意象空间、互动空间，傩仪通过仪式参与者的身体语言以及器具、服饰等符号共同塑造、表演人们的信仰；在文化根源方面，傩文化是儒、道、佛文化和巫术相融合演变的产物；在傩文化本质方面，通过举行傩仪来驱鬼、祈福，这是原始时代的先民们对于如何“活着”以及更好地“活着”问题的回答。该著作凭借跨学科的研究方法、创新的研究角度、详细的文化分析、开放包容的研究态度对傩文化研究，尤其是广东湛江傩文化研究做出了重要贡献。
关键词：广东湛江傩文化；身体语言；文化价值
作者简介：翁园园，上海外国语大学英语语言文学硕士研究生。研究方向：当代美国文学。电子邮箱：0253100196@shisu.edu.cn。
Received: 21 Apr 2026 / Revised: 29 Apr 2026 / Accepted: 04 Jun 2026 / Published online: 30 May 2026 / Print published: 30 Jun 2026.
