Dragon Dance (dragon lantern in Yi County)

Name of China's national intangible cultural heritage: Dragon Dance

Applicant: Yi County, Hebei Province

Item No.: 107

Project No.: Ⅲ - 4

Time of publication: 2008 (second batch)

Category: traditional dance

Region: Hebei Province

Type: Extension Project

Applicant: Yi County, Hebei Province

Protection unit: Yixian Cultural Center

Introduction to Dragon Dance

Applicant: Yi County, Hebei Province

Dragon dance, also known as "Dragon Dance", is the most widely distributed and far-reaching folk dance in China. This kind of dance has various forms of expression, and the styles of dragon dance in different nationalities and regions are quite different.

According to the shape of the dragon, there are many forms of dragon dance, such as 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. Different forms of dragon have different dance styles and techniques. The traditional performance procedure of Chinese dragon dance is generally composed of "invite the dragon", "leave the dragon", "dance the dragon" and "send the dragon". Dragon dance is an important part of the spirit and cultural heritage of the Chinese nation.

Zhongyi village, Xiling Town, Yixian County, Hebei Province, is located in the Xiling of Qing Dynasty. It was built in 1723, the first year of Yongzheng reign of Qing Dynasty. It was originally the Yamen of the internal affairs department for the construction of the imperial concubine's mausoleum. After the revolution of 1911, it was renamed "Zhongyi village", where the dragon lantern was spread for a long time. Yixian Paizi dragon lantern is named for its built-in lantern and its various shapes. It also has the nicknames of "Jielong" and "duanlong" because of its segmentation. It is said that it was originally brought by Chengde summer resort when the Yamen of imperial concubine mausoleum was established in Qianlong period, and has a history of more than 280 years.

The dragon lantern is composed of 13 dragon bodies and one hydrangea. Dragon body, also known as "Dragon Festival", is covered with dragon clothes painted with dragon scales and claws. Each dragon is 1.2 meters long and about 0.5 meters in diameter. There is a fixed handle in the center of the dragon. There are three moon shaped candle sticks in the dragon. This kind of candle stick is exquisitely set, and the candle always faces up when dancing, and will not go out. The dragon lantern was performed by 14 people, with the Dragon leader "spider" leading the dance, and the other 13 people holding the dragon head, dragon body and dragon tail respectively. The performance usually takes place in the evening. At that time, all the light around will be dimmed. Then, accompanied by gongs, drums, cymbals and cymbals, a fire dragon will start to dance. The dragon dancers will constantly change their formation and put out Chinese characters to form auspicious blessing phrases such as "peace in the world", "live and work in peace", "stand (benefit) to see adults" and "be fair and bright". The formation of dragon lantern is varied, including dragon swinging tail, ground crouching dragon, sky crouching fish, Dragon Tower stack, running eight characters and so on. In the whole performance, the dragon tail can act alone, and the last stroke of each word is completed by the dragon tail. Every time a word is placed, the dragon tail has to walk around the field, and then reach the position it should be, showing the characteristics of light humor, flexibility and liveliness.

The dragon lantern in Yi county plays an important role in promoting Manchu cultural tradition, protecting and developing folk art. At present, the inheritors of the dragon lantern in Yixian County are old, and the local people's awareness of cultural protection is not strong. This ancient folk dragon dance is difficult to inherit and is on the verge of being lost, so it is urgent to rescue and protect.