Information on the Dragon Lantern Dance

Information: traditional Lantern Festival activities - Dragon Dance

The legend has it that in the Tang Dynasty, there was a year of drought, the Dragon King wrong cloud and rain, drowning a lot of people in Chang'an, the Jade Emperor sent down a decree ordering Wei Zheng to supervise the beheading of the King of the Dragon, after the King of the Dragon's spirit is not dispersed, night and night disturbing the Imperial Palace, terrified of the Tang Dynasty King Li Shimin, and then asked his ministers to ask for advice, and the ministers thought that they should be superceded by the King of the Dragon, and so there is a folk habit of Lantern Dance. The Dragon Lanterns are usually made of bamboo, wood, and wood, and the lanterns are made of wood, wood, and wood. Dragon lanterns are generally made of bamboo and wood, colored paper, cloth, etc., the number of sections for the singular, up to several feet long, the section can be burned within the candle is called "dragon lanterns" can not be burned candle is called "cloth dragons", the dragon dance, the leader of the dancers holding a dragon head, dozens of people lifted up the dragon body of the stick, followed by the whole dragon in the sound of the music along the prescribed routes and queues running. The dragon is like a living thing, and the people use it to pray for good weather and good harvests.

The origin of the Lantern Dance and the Spring Festival

There are many kinds of lanterns in the Lantern Festival, such as flowers, insects, birds and beasts, all kinds of animals, but one of the most special and huge, is the number of "dragon lanterns".

The customary New Year's "dragon lantern" play. The Dragon Lantern is "off the Dragon Lantern", because the Dragon Lantern long giant and heavy, the sound of drums and gongs in the head and tail, meandering away, not dozens of strong men, lifting the pole back and forth, not enough to maneuver. The "fall" is swinging, as a verb, that is, "dance dragon".

The dragon dance "dragon", usually placed in the local Dragon King Temple, the day of the dragon dance, with flags, drums and gongs, horns as a guide, the dragon body from the temple to come out, connected to the dragon's head and tail, the eye-dotting ceremony. The body of the dragon is made of bamboo in the shape of a round dragon, connected to the section, covered with a huge red cloth painted with dragon scales, every five or six feet there is a person in charge of the pole, the head and the tail are about a dozen zhang long from each other. The dragon is led by a person holding a pole, and a huge ball is erected at the top of the pole as a guide. During the dance, the ball swings back and forth, around and around, and the dragon's head snatches the ball, causing the dragon's body to wander and fly.

The Dragon Dance is a big festival, and the dragon will be entertained wherever it goes. The dragon dance team can sometimes have five or six feasts a day, which is called "dragon for wine".

When the dragon dance is over, the head and tail are burned and the body is returned to the temple to be used again next year.

The Festival of Lights began in the early Han Dynasty and flourished in the Tang and Song dynasties, but the custom of the Dragon Dance is believed to be the inheritance of the legacy of the Yin and Zhou dynasties.

The dragon appeared very early in the historical records, and the "dragon dance" contains the "wind and rain, the country and the people in peace", the original "pray for the New Year" meaning.

The ancients were not open to the people's wisdom, probably because the dragon in the myth is the master of the sea, the power is infinite, and the sea is the main water, the dragon is also very natural to do the crops of the rain god. People to food for heaven, grain is the fundamental life-sustaining, indirectly also manipulated the human life. According to this meaning, the importance of the dragon is even more important than the ancestors ---- of Emperor Shun, Qi and Hou Ji. In this way, the dragon is the ancient people as "auspicious" in the celebration of sacrifice, natural is not surprising.

"Rites of kings system" said: "temple sacrifices, spring is key, summer is [衤帝], autumn is tasted, winter is baked"

It can be seen that the Spring Festival "light", that is, on behalf of the "spring festival! ". Therefore, the "dragon dance" should initially be a kind of sacrifice, rather than entertainment, to become a celebration of entertainment should be after the Han and Tang Dynasty. Here is a legend, can also show that the dragon dance is pure commemoration, contains a sacrificial component ----

Legends of a long time ago, camas creek bank there is a lotus village, in front of the village there is a lotus pond, the pond is full of lotus flowers. Every summer, the turquoise lotus leaves spread over the water surface, countless out of the water lotus flowers, curling, bright and colorful.

The lotus pond lived in a pair of hard-working and kind-hearted young couple, the man called Baibei, the woman called Lotus, husband and wife, male farming and weaving, respect and love each other. This year, lotus pregnant, after ten months, the child was not born. After ten months, the child was not born. After another year, the child was still not born, and it was not until nine hundred and ninety-nine days that a boy was born. Hundred leaves to see the child was born upright and strong, heart good like. And then a closer look, but was stunned: the child's chest and spine with fine dragon scales, golden light, dazzling. Counting, there are nine hundred and ninety-nine pieces. When the midwife next to her saw it, she was shocked and yelled, "Oh, no wonder, your family has given birth to a dragon god!"

The news spread throughout the village, and everyone came to congratulate them. The news alarmed the village's old patriarch, whose son was an official at the imperial court and who kept a rampant and ugly grandson by his side. As soon as this grandson and grandson heard that a dragon's seed had been born in Baiba's family, they immediately came to slash and kill with steel swords in their hands. The townspeople got the news and immediately reported it to Baiye. They discussed it carefully and came up with a solution: put the child in a foot basin and quietly hide him in the lotus pond in front of the door.

The old patriarch and his grandson rushed through the door with their men, and the child was gone. Seeing that he could not find the dragon's seed, the old patriarch seized Baiye and forced him to hand it over. When his grandson saw how beautiful Lotus was, he had a plan and raised his steel sword to kill Baiba and snatched Lotus into his home. The old patriarch thought to himself: without parents, the dragon seed will surely starve to death even if it lives. The old patriarch thought, "If you don't have a father and mother, you will be starving.

However, when Lotus was taken to the old patriarch's house, she missed her husband and children and was very sad. The patriarch of the old man forced her to go to panning rice, lotus dragged the panning bucket to the edge of the pool, gently rippling the water, suddenly a cool wind blew, the depth of the lotus pond, the flowers and leaves have fallen to the sides to make way for the water, only to see their son sitting in a foot basin, drifting toward her. Lotus was surprised and happy, and quickly took her son into her arms, fed him milk, and still put him back in the foot basin. With a cool breeze, the foot basin floated back to the lotus bush. The lotus knew that her son had not starved to death, and she was very happy.

Since then, she went to the pool three times a day to pan the rice, and fed her son three times with milk. After nine hundred and ninety-nine days of feeding, her son grew up, and his dragon scales shone brightly. At night, the lotus pond shone brightly. The village people were secretly happy to know that the dragon's seed had not been extinguished. When the old patriarch learned that the dragon's seed was in the lotus pond, he had another poisonous plan.

One evening, the lotus to the pond panning rice, the two grandchildren hiding in the poplar bushes to watch the movement, only to see the blue ripples, flowers and leaves floating, a cool wind blowing, the depths of the lotus pond Xu Xu floated to a foot basin, the basin is sitting in a full of golden children, joyfully raised his hands to the panning of the lotus pounced over. Lotus full of joy, was about to reach out to embrace, poplar bush flashed out of a person, raised a brightly shining steel knife straight to the child cut. In a flash, only to see the child from the foot basin abruptly jumped up, transformed into a golden dragon, to the pool to leap. But it was too late, the knife cut the little dragon's tail. A big, beautiful butterfly that was resting in the lotus bush suddenly flew over and articulated itself on the little dragon's tail with its body, and with a pair of beautiful wings it became the little dragon's tail.

The little dragon let out a long cry, and all of a sudden, the wind was fierce, the clouds rolled over, and the petals of the pond full of lotus flowers flew up and swirled. In the midst of the thunder and lightning, the little dragon's body gradually grew bigger and bigger, transforming into a huge dragon tens of feet long, tumbling and leaping over the lotus pond. At this time, a tornado rolled over, the little dragon rose up in the air, riding the wind straight up, flying into the clouds. The tornado was so powerful that the man who cut the dragon's tail was swept up into the air and thrown away without a trace. When he saw his grandson being swept away by the wind, the patriarch's old man fell into the lotus pond and drowned with a sound of "plop".

When Lotus saw her son transformed into a dragon and fly up into the sky, she cried out, but the dragon had already flown away without a trace.

Since then, whenever there was a drought on both sides of Campsis Creek, the little dragon came to spread clouds and spread rain.

The local people thanked it by picking seven hundred and seventy-nine lotus blossoms from this pond and used nine hundred and ninety-nine leaves of petals to make a flower dragon. Because there were less than a thousand leaves, it was named the Hundred Leaf Dragon.

Every year in the Spring Festival, the common people have to beat gongs and drums to dance the dragon.

Dehua dance dragon lanterns origin - to commemorate the kiln Gong burned into an innovative event

Song Dynasty, the beginning of the porcelain capital of Fujian Dehua County porcelain industry, with the products are exported overseas more and more developed. With the development of production, the porcelain industry is in urgent need of expanding the kiln, double the effort. At that time presided over the kiln of yao tai kiln master Lin Bing, still lack of building arch kiln technology, in accordance with the method of arching small kiln engaged in groping, but several times the arch of the kiln by the fire will be collapsed after a rush of the top. After several arches and several collapses, never discouraged, tired as if the bones of Lin Bing to fall apart, sitting in front of the failed kiln to contemplate the reasons for the failure. Do not realize that sleep. In a haze, a floating fairy now in the blue sky, leaning down to him to reveal his breasts, see he did not care and lean down some, pointing to the breasts coyly smiling, shyly gasping. Lin Bing felt different, sat up straight, stood up to meet the front, the fairy will disappear. He was puzzled. Fairy frequently pointing to the breasts, unlike frivolous, what is the meaning? This woman is really mysterious!

The clever Lin Bing, finally realized the true meaning: breasts are round ...... fairy must be for pointing. Well, according to the shape of the breast arch, round chamber wall, round arch, round dome. Round, the most full of vitality. After firing, the kiln no longer collapses the roof, the firing rate is high. Finally, it's a success. In order to thank Dai fairy finger Jinliang, it is molded Xuanwu statue, built Xuanwu Palace for worship.

After the death of Lin Bing Xian. Later generations in order to celebrate its virtues, his statue placed in the Xuan female statue of the right, *** sacrifice incense, and then Xuan female Palace after several repairs and expansion, renamed Zulong Palace. Honor Lin Bing for the kiln workshop Gong, that is, the porcelain industry to protect God, compared to him as a dragon in the people.

With the porcelain Xing people prosperous, people in order to commemorate the porcelain firing technology innovation pioneer, every Spring Festival will dance up the dragon lamp tour, from the second day of the first month of the Lunar New Year tour to the Lantern Festival. At that time, there were fourteen kilns, each kiln master swim a night. Dragon lamp full length of fifty-three meters, between the section and section left one and a half meters of empty section framed with silk, light section and empty section connected to facilitate the dance. Each section of the dragon body on the candle seat, insert candle flame more than one, supported by two people, ready for two people to replace. Fighting dragons were holding fireballs, knives, guns, swords, halberds, and with large and small drums, gongs, cymbals, bells, locks, etc., the dancers step according to the drums, jumping, leaping, squatting, up, making the whole dragon lanterns come to life. At that time, there was an old saying: "Baomei welcomes the dragon and Xu Chu is the life of the people." It is said that the ground of Xu Chu has been planted with tobacco for generations, and when welcoming the dragon, there are a lot of people, and the ancient road is narrow, so when the dragon swims, the sightseeing crowd gives way to the side of the road. When the dragon came, the crowd of sightseeing people gave way and retreated to the side of the road, stepping on the tobacco and losing the harvest. You can imagine the pomp and circumstance of welcoming the dragon at that time.

This big dragon lamp in 1951 and 1959 National Day also appeared, after hiding. The well-trained dragon dancers were old and not many of them are still alive. They are replaced by short cloth dragons.

(Selected from the fourth issue of "Window on Fujian Mass Culture" in 1986)