Dragon Dance

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

Applicant: Datian County, Fujian Province

Item No.: 107

Project No.: Ⅲ - 4

Time of publication: 2008 (second batch)

Category: traditional dance

Region: Fujian Province

Type: Extension Project

Applicant: Datian County, Fujian Province

Protected by: cultural center of Datian County, Fujian Province

Introduction to Dragon Dance (Da Tian ban Deng long)

Applicant: Datian County, Fujian 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.

Datian County is located in the middle of Fujian Province, referred to as "rock city". The board lantern dragon was introduced here in the late Tang Dynasty, and has been popular for a long time. Every year on the Lantern Festival, people in Datian dance board lantern dragon in the countryside or streets, commonly known as "welcome dragon".

Dadianban lantern dragon is made of bamboo, lamp board and dragon paper, which is divided into dragon ball, dragon head, dragon body and dragon tail. The dragon's head is nearly three meters high. The dragon's body is hundreds of knots short and more than 1000 knots long. The longest is more than 3000 meters. Each lamp board is about two meters long, on which two or three lampholders mounted with transparent dragon paper are nailed. The dragon paper is painted with scales, flowers and plants or written with prayers. Each lampholder is equipped with a thick dragon candle. The lamp board of dragon's tail is a little longer, with colorful tail fins. There is a round hole about the size of a hoe at the front and back ends of the lamp board, and a long hardwood dragon shaft with a ruler passes through the hole, connecting all links into a long dragon. During the activity, the performers hold the hardwood dragon axis, or hold it high, or hold it low, or hold it side by side, winding forward.

Datian board lantern dragon is a specific manifestation of the dragon totem worship of the Chinese people. Its production integrates painting, paper cutting, calligraphy, carving and weaving paste technology, and its performance integrates sports, acrobatics and dance. It has endless charm and has research value in folk art, history and culture. At present, the Da Tian board lantern dragon has fallen into a critical situation, which is in urgent need of excavation, protection and support.