Dragon Dance (Pujiang bench dragon)

Name of China's national intangible cultural heritage: Dragon Dance (Pujiang bench dragon)

Applicant: Pujiang County, Zhejiang Province

Item No.: 107

Project No.: Ⅲ - 4

Time of publication: 2006 (the first batch)

Category: traditional dance

Region: Zhejiang Province

Type: new item

Applicant: Pujiang County, Zhejiang Province

Protected by: Pujiang Cultural Center

Introduction to Dragon Dance (Pujiang bench dragon)

Applicant: Pujiang County, Zhejiang Province

Dragon dance, also known as "Dragon Dance", is also called "Dragon Dance", "dragon lantern dance" or "dragon lantern dance" among the people. It is widely distributed in all parts of the country and among all ethnic groups. Its variety of forms is incomparable to any other folk dance. As early as the Shang Dynasty, oracle bone inscriptions have been used to offer sacrifices to the dragon and pray for rain by several people; the records of Dong Zhongshu's Chunqiu Fanlu in the Han Dynasty have clearly recorded all kinds of dragon dances to pray for rain; since then, it has been common to record the palace or folk dragon dances in the poems of all dynasties. Until now, dragon dance is still one of the popular dance forms in folk festivals. The basic performance means of dragon dance are its props modeling, composition changes and action routines. According to the different materials of dragon shaped props, they are divided into cloth dragon, yarn dragon, paper dragon, grass dragon, Qian dragon, bamboo dragon, brown dragon, bench dragon, shutter dragon, lotus dragon, fire dragon, chicken feather dragon, meat dragon and so on; the northern dragon dance is generally tall and thick, with simple and vigorous style; the southern dragon dance is exquisite and delicate, lively and agile. Dragon dance can be divided into yellow, white, green, red, black and so on in color, and Huanglong is the most noble. The composition and action of dragon dance generally have the characteristics of "round song", "tumbling", "entanglement", "interpenetration" and "jumping". The traditional performance procedures of dragon dance are generally: "invite the dragon", "give the dragon", "dance the dragon" and "send the dragon". There is a folk saying that "seven or eight years old play grass dragon, fifteen or sixteen play little dragon, young adults dance big dragon". When the number of dragon dancers is small, one person will dance two dragons, and when the number of dragon dancers is large, one hundred people will dance one dragon.

Dragon is the totem and ancestor of the Chinese nation; dragon dance is the symbol of the Chinese spirit, which embodies the spirit of unity and development of the Chinese nation, and contains the cultural connotation of harmony between man and nature and the benefit of mankind. It is the most common way of entertainment for the Chinese people in auspicious and blessing seasons. The atmosphere is warm and inspiring. It is a very precious cultural heritage of the Chinese nation.

Pujiang County is located in the west of central Zhejiang and the north of Jinhua City. According to the genealogy of the surname Zhang in Xiazhang village, Baima Town, Pujiang, since the Tang Dynasty, "dragon lantern dance" has become a folk custom in Pujiang, which is called "Lantern Festival" in Pujiang County annals. Pujiang bench dragon is popular in the countryside of Pujiang County and is widely spread in the coastal areas of the south of the Yangtze River. Looking at the inheritance and development of Pujiang benchelong, we can see that Tang Dynasty is its gestation period, song and Yuan Dynasty is its mature period, Ming and Qing Dynasty is its heyday; after the founding of the people's Republic of China, especially after the reform and opening up, it is its inheritance period.

In terms of structure, Pujiang bench dragon consists of three parts: dragon head, dragon body (Zi Deng) and dragon tail, commonly known as long lamps. According to the shape of the dragon head, it can be divided into three categories, such as yangtianlong, xiadilong, etc. Due to the different shapes of the stool (dragon body), there are eleven different shapes, such as square lamp, wine jar lamp and character lamp. During festivals or major celebrations, the main performances are wheat cake Group, scissors hoop and tail flick.

Pujiang bench dragon, as the name suggests, is a series of swimming dragon lanterns connected by a single bench. It makes people fully feel the magnificent, strong and soft features of square folk dance. In the atmosphere of gongs, horns, blunders and cheers, it accepts and understands the life custom of entertaining oneself and others and the public belief of respecting Tianshun people. A Pujiang bench dragon is almost an art complex. It integrates calligraphy, painting, paper cutting, engraving, sculpture and binding and pasting technology, and integrates sports, acrobatics and dance. The swimming dragon dance has a rough, delicate, unrestrained and strict style. Through this dance of passion, philosophy, entertainment and education, people get the dual satisfaction of sense and soul. Pujiang benchelong is a typical culture of common people. Its main characteristics are square, extensive and breathtaking. Its large number of participants and large venues are rare in similar forms.

Pujiang bench dragon retains the folk cultural tradition of "dragon belief" in China, especially in the coastal areas of central Zhejiang and the south of the Yangtze River, integrates the folk forms of calligraphy, painting, paper cutting and other folk arts, inherits the art forms of mass sports and square dance, and has folk custom, historical research value and folk craft inheritance function. It has had a far-reaching and extensive impact in Pujiang, central Zhejiang and the coastal areas of the south of the Yangtze River Ring. However, the impact caused by the changes of the times inevitably falls on Pujiang benchelong, which makes its inheritance in a dilemma and calls for urgent rescue and protection.