Dragon-boat Racing

Name of China's national intangible cultural heritage: Dragon Boat Race

Applicant: Yuanling County, Hunan Province

Project No.: 1148

Project No.: VI - 65

Time of publication: 2011 (the third batch)

Category: traditional sports, recreation and acrobatics

Region: Hunan Province

Type: new item

Applicant: Yuanling County, Hunan Province

Protection unit: Yuanling County Cultural Center

Introduction to Dragon Boat Race:

Applicant: Yuanling County, Hunan Province

Yuanling dragon boat race is a traditional recreational sport integrating Xiangxi Folk Custom and competition. Yuanling is known as the "gateway of Western Hunan". It is located in the west of Hunan Province, with Wuling in the north and Xuefeng in the south. It is located in the hinterland of the two mountains and has many rivers. It provides a unique natural environment for dragon boat racing. Yuanling traditional dragon boat race is developed on the basis of the farming economy of taking mountains as camp and water as road. It is the combination of Wuxi culture and Yangtze River culture, foreign culture and regional culture.

The basic shape of Yuanling traditional dragon boat race is: each boat has 48 people, including one front pilot, one rear boatman, one head flag, one second flag, one Gonger and one drummer. The schedule of the competition depends on the rise and fall of the river. The competition is divided into upper and lower water formation and competition across the river. Dragon boat rowing skills are various, including kneeling rowing, sitting rowing, sitting upright rowing, single hammer beating drum, double hammer urging boat, single boat steering, double boat riding and so on.

The main characteristics of Yuanling traditional dragon boat race are long race schedule, more boat races, more rowers, more spectators and more patterns. It includes "stealing materials", "juncture", "around the river", "around the temple", "enjoying the red", "grabbing the red" and "flushing the beach". It is based on the tradition of Yuanling and absorbs the advantages of the surrounding counties, forming a unique style of dragon boat racing in Hunan with Yuanling as the core and multi schools as one.