Dragon Dance (Gaolong)

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

Applicant: Hanyang District, Wuhan City, Hubei Province

Item No.: 107

Project No.: Ⅲ - 4

Time of publication: 2008 (second batch)

Category: traditional dance

Region: Hubei Province

Type: Extension Project

Applicant: Hanyang District, Wuhan City, Hubei Province

Protection unit: cultural center of Hanyang District, Wuhan City

Introduction to Dragon Dance (Gaolong)

Applicant: Hanyang District, Wuhan City, Hubei 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.

Hanyang high dragon is a unique dragon lantern art in Hubei Province, which is popular in Jiangdi Township, Yongfeng Township and some areas of Caidian in Hanyang District of Wuhan City, Hubei Province. It originated in Zhenguan period of Tang Dynasty and has a history of more than 1400 years.

Hanyang high dragon adopts the vertical dance method, which is different from other kinds of dragon lanterns. Its weaving, lighting and related burning activities are also quite characteristic. Gaolong's dragon head is more than 4 meters high and weighs 40 kg. It is very tall and powerful, and it is even more powerful to dance. The performance of Gaolong dance is grand and magnificent. Among them, the action routines of the dance leader include kowtowing, sweeping, lifting and shaking. The performers hold their teeth in their mouths to make the tens of kilograms of Gaolong dance lively.

In December 1999, Hanyang Gaolong was invited to Jinjing to participate in the Chinese dragon dance competition, and won the first gold medal of "Guoan Cup" and the first national folk art highest award of "Shanhua Award". As an outstanding representative of Chinese dragon dance, Gaolong shows the distinctive characteristics of dragon dance in Central China in the aspects of paper binding process, structure and modeling. Since the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, Hanyang Gaolong has made great progress through the inheritance of Zhou, Li and other generations of folk Zhalong and dragon dance artists. At present, there is no successor in Zhalong skill, which is in a state of self survival and on the verge of extinction and in urgent need of rescue.