Lantern Festival (SHANGBAN Guan Gong lantern)

Name of China's national intangible cultural heritage: Lantern Festival

Applicant: Wanli District, Nanchang City, Jiangxi Province

Item No.: 978

Project No.: Ⅹ - 71

Time of publication: 2011 (the third batch)

Category: folk customs

Region: Jiangxi Province

Type: Extension Project

Applicant: Wanli District, Nanchang City, Jiangxi Province

Protected by: Wanli District Cultural Center, Nanchang (Wanli District intangible cultural heritage research and Protection Center)

Lantern Festival (SHANGBAN Guangong lantern)

Applicant: Wanli District, Nanchang City, Jiangxi Province

SHANGBAN Guangong lamp decoration is popular in SHANGBAN village, Luoting Town, Wanli District, Nanchang City, Jiangxi Province. It is a traditional folk custom activity with "bench dragon" to make Lantern Festival.

"Bench dragon", also known as "board lamp", is a kind of lamp made on the board. The boards are connected to form a long light. According to the annals of Nanchang County written by Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty, "in the countryside, there are many boards and lanterns. Its system consists of a dragon head and a dragon tail, which runs through a board. On the board, there are a number of lanterns and cages, which are connected by each other In the romance of the Three Kingdoms, the descendants of Cao's family attached to Guan Yu's story of letting Cao Cao go in Huarong Road. They tied up a board lamp to express their gratitude and named it "Guan Gong Deng", also known as "Guan Gong long".

Every year during the Lantern Festival, the Cao family makes benches and dragons with exquisite workmanship and unique shapes. The lamp head is shaped like "Feng", and three multi angle lantern tails are inserted on each board. Local people call a bench a bridge. The more bridges there are, the longer the dragon's body is. Each bridge is in the charge of itself, while the village is responsible for the dragon head and dragon tail. When the lantern is put out, the dragon head and dragon tail are supported by the village elders or the villagers with prestige. There are strong young people around to protect the lantern. There are a large number of performers, accompanied by drumming, and the scene is warm. "Guan Gong long" will take turns to visit every family in the village to pray for the new year, adding a happy and peaceful atmosphere for the community to celebrate the festival.