Kylin dance

Chinese national intangible cultural heritage Name: Qilin dance

Applicant: Haifeng County, Guangdong Province

Project No.: 640

Project No.: Ⅲ - 43

Time of publication: 2008 (second batch)

Category: traditional dance

Region: Guangdong Province

Type: new item

Applicant: Haifeng County, Guangdong Province

Protection unit: Haifeng County Cultural Center (Haifeng County Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Center)

Introduction to Kirin dance

Applicant: Haifeng County, Guangdong Province

Qilin dance is a kind of traditional folk dance which is popular all over the country. It has a history of more than 500 years. It is a symbol of auspiciousness and peace, good weather and peace of the country and the people. When performing, it is usually accompanied by gongs and drums and suona, which integrates song, dance and music.

Kirin dance is usually performed in the evening during the leisure season, festivals or auspicious days. At that time, wooden piles and lanterns should be planted around the performance site for lighting. The two dancers, known as "Lin tou" and "Lin Wei", hide in the props' Lin Pi and dress up as unicorns. They perform such highly skilled movements as gnawing itching, shaking hair, setting tables, setting benches, setting lanterns, climbing, falling, and looking at the moon. At the same time, they are accompanied by percussion instruments. Qilin dance is rough, lively, fierce and full of prestige. Set off by the grand momentum and strong sense of rhythm of percussion music, it gives people a grand feeling and inspires the spirit of the audience.

The Qilin dance in Huanghua city of Hebei Province conquers the audience with its extraordinary tall artistic forms and high difficulty acrobatic movements, which bring people a strong artistic shock and show the impassioned local characteristics of Yanzhao. The Qilin dance in Lankao County of Henan Province retains the traditional performance form, content and artistic style, and has distinctive Central Plains cultural characteristics. During the Qilin dance performance in Haifeng County, Guangdong Province, one person dances the head of the Qilin, and the other moves the tail of the Qilin. Accompanied by gongs, drums and suona, the performance shows the movements of the Qilin, such as rolling, licking feet, washing beard, biting Sao, and the emotions of happiness, anger and sadness. Following the Kirin dance, the martial arts performance is the essence of Kirin dance in Haifeng, mainly including boxing, playing sticks, moving knives, dancing sharp strings, sharp strings, iron scales, rolling cane, and collective moving sticks.

Qilin dance is a valuable cultural heritage left by Chinese ancestors to future generations. It has not only high artistic appreciation value, but also research value in religion, folklore and history. Due to the complicated materials, high cost, time-consuming and difficult performance, the scale of Kirin dance performance is shrinking, and it is in danger of being lost.