Dragon Dance (Luoshan dragon)

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

Applicant: Lishui District, Jiangsu Province

Item No.: 107

Project No.: Ⅲ - 4

Time of publication: 2008 (second batch)

Category: traditional dance

Region:

Type: Extension Project

Applicant: Lishui District, Jiangsu Province

Protected by: Lishui cultural center, Nanjing

Introduction to Dragon Dance (Luoshan dragon)

Applicant: Lishui District, Jiangsu 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.

Luoshan dragon has a history of more than 400 years. Its rise is said to be related to Yang Peian, a Jinshi of Ming Dynasty in Luoshan village, Lishui Town, Jiangsu Province. It is said that in the rain shelter Temple of Yang Peian, a little white dragon was punished. Seeing that the dragon's tail was broken, he felt pity and took it back to his hometown. From then on, Luoshan village had the custom of dragon dancing. Luoshan dragon imitates the small white dragon, so the tail of the dragon is bald and different.

Luoshan dragon has a broad mass base in the local area. At the end of the year, every family makes embroidered clothes for their children, and every family pays for dragon dance. The whole village, like a festival, is busy with dragon drawing, lantern pasting, embroidery and rehearsal. The atmosphere is warm and the mood is high. Dragon dance activities generally begin on the 24th of December of the first year and end on the 18th of the first month of the next year. Luoshan village is close to Shijiu lake. Winter is the dry season. The broad beach becomes the best place for dragon dance.

Luoshan dragon is mainly composed of three parts: first, tiaozhu, with Zhangzhu person leading the dragon head forward; second, tiaolong, with Zhangzhu person holding fiery red Longzhu to tease and entice, with the guidance of Zhangzhu person, the Dragon jumps up and down, with dragon tail swinging, long snake formation and circling formation; third, tiaoyun, with 66 boys aged 8 to 12 wearing colorful clothes, colorful hats and embroidered shoes People hold two cloud plates painted with clouds and perform in the empty space surrounded by the dragon body. The performance is divided into "figure array" and "character array".

The special geographical environment makes Luoshan different from other areas in dragon dance. First, the dragon is huge, nearly 100 meters long, 2.2 meters wide head, 2.3 meters high, each section of the dragon is 2.8 meters long, a total of 24 sections, known as "the first dragon in Jiangnan.". The difference is that there is no dragon tail. There are many stages in the performance, and the division of labor is clear. The dance is winding and ups and downs. No matter in the daytime or at night, we have to light candles in the dragon body. Nine people are responsible for changing the wax, six people play horseshoe guns, 18 people play gongs and drums, and eight people play suona. Second, there are many participants. The number of performers of Luoshan dragon dance is up to 500, who undertake the tasks of holding the flag, holding the lamp, blowing the trumpet, dragon dance, bead dance, cloud dance, etc.

Due to historical reasons, Luoshan dragon activities are often interrupted, resulting in a situation of dancing once in several decades. Zhalong skills are lost, which brings great difficulties to inheritance. Fortunately, dance patterns are still preserved. It is said that in the 20th century, it only performed some performances during the victory of the Anti Japanese War and in the 1980s, and was cut off for a long time. After 2005, Luoshan dragon has recovered, but it is still in an endangered state, which needs to be rescued and protected.