Brief introduction to the custom of dancing fire dogs

Fire dog dance originated from the traditional folk custom of Lantian Yao nationality in Longmen County, Guangdong Province. According to legend, the ancestors were raised with dog milk, and asked the Yao people to remember the kindness of dogs as the "mother of rebirth", and stipulated that the fire dog dance would be held on the night of the reunion festival (Mid-Autumn Festival) on the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month every year. Every girl has to take part in the "fire dog dance" two or three times before she can declare to the Chinese that she has reached adulthood and enter the ranks of talking about marriage. As a result, on the specific "Reunion Festival", social group activities with girls as the main body were formed, thus forming the unique folk dance "dancing fire dogs" of Lantian Yao people.

Dancing the fire dog is a dance activity in which the Yao people in Lantian worship the dog totem. Unmarried girls tied turmeric leaves on their arms and waist with rattan, put on bamboo hats and inserted incense to play the role of "fire dog". While dancing, the girls worshipped and sang old folk songs repeatedly. Finally, the fire dog team swam to the river outside the village, threw all the turmeric leaves, bamboo hats and incense into the river, and then washed their hands and feet with the river, symbolizing bathing the whole body and eliminating evil spirits. Throughout the fire dog dance, the boys kept setting off firecrackers. Every Yao girl has to take part in the fire dog dance for 2-3 times before she can enter adulthood and enter the ranks of talking about marriage. Every year on the evening of the 15th day of the eighth lunar month, the "Fire Dog Dance" is held in Yao Village, Lantian. Unmarried young women dressed as fire dogs, put on this kind of clothes made of turmeric leaves, inserted incense, sang and danced, and traveled around the village for fun. Young men and women sing to each other to find their sweetheart. Speaking of it, the dancing fire dog has another beautiful and touching legend.

A long time ago, foreigners invaded, and the emperor sent troops to fight many times and was defeated. One day, the emperor discussed with his ministers and decided to recruit talents to guard against the enemy. He announced that whoever could retreat from the enemy could choose one of the three princesses as his wife.

A day or two passed, and no one dared to disclose the list. On the third day, most of the day passed, and the imperial list was still posted on the wall, which made the emperor extremely anxious. At night, a dog, Mi, whose fur was floating and his back was bent, came to the imperial list and saw it barking at the sky, and then tore it off with a "shout". All the soldiers were frightened to disgrace and quickly led him to the emperor. The emperor suffered from no retreat, and because of his dignity, he was busy collecting dogs. The base asked, "Can you really beat back the enemy soldiers?" The dog nodded quietly. At this time, there was news of enemy soldiers harassing in front, and the emperor even ordered the dog to lead the troops into battle.

The team came to a small river and saw the enemy's military strength. At this time, the fire dog barked at the sky a few times, glittering all over, emitting countless sparks, straight at the enemy soldiers' heads and tearing them to pieces. The enemy soldiers were in chaos, and their troops could not be poured out. Soldiers on the other side of the river rushed to kill them, wiped out the enemy soldiers in one fell swoop, and returned with great victory. When the enemy soldiers retreated, the emperor was overjoyed. He immediately named Bumbu as the general of the divine dog, but never mentioned marrying the princess.

Many days passed, but there was still no sign of the emperor. The dog was deeply dissatisfied with the emperor's treachery. One day, it questioned the emperor in front of Manchu civil servants. Embarrassed, the emperor argued irrationally and said, "No matter who is on my list, you can choose a princess as your wife. How can you marry someone if you are not human? " If you can become a person, you will never break your word. "God dog for seven days, the emperor agreed.

It turns out that this dog is a god dog. Just rest for seven days and transform yourself into a human being.

Moreover, among the three princesses of the emperor, the little princess is the most beautiful, honest and kind. She has great respect for this god dog general who bravely retired enemy soldiers and defended the country. One day, she told her two sisters that her father wanted to betroth them to the God Dog General, and the two sisters unanimously opposed it. The little princess was very sad and decided to marry General Dog.

When the puppy is resting, the little princess counts the days with her fingers every day. By the fourth night, she couldn't help it. She was afraid that the dog would starve to death and couldn't wait to peek at its room. Who knows that this glance has seen through the cat, and the evolution of the god dog is invalid, and it has only become a personal dog.

The emperor refused to marry his daughter when he saw that the dog was still not a real person. The little princess regretted it very much and hated her father for being heartless, so she tried her best to persuade him. She said, "Father, as the king of a country, how can you convince everyone if you don't keep your word?" Whether it is accurate or not, I have been rolling with dogs all my life. " Put the emperor in a dilemma.

At this moment, the foreign invasion came again, and the dog took the initiative to lead the troops out and returned with great victory. The emperor had to betroth the little princess to the god dog general.

On the night of the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month, the moonlight is round. The emperor held a grand wedding for the dog and the princess. People came to congratulate, singing and dancing until dawn.

After marriage, they lived a sweet and happy life. A year later, the princess gave birth to four sons in one breath. Because there are too many children and there is not enough milk, the dog and princess milk the dog to feed the children. All four sons grew up safely and survived for generations. It is said that this god dog is the ancestor of Yao nationality in Lantian. Dogs have become the gods worshipped by Yao people. In order to commemorate our ancestors and not forget the kindness of the dog god, every year on the evening of the 15th day of the eighth lunar month, Yao people in Yaoxiang, Lantian hold a celebration, which is called the dancing fire dog. This activity has been passed down to this day. With the passage of time and historical changes, the Yao people who settled in Lantian have been assimilating and merging with the local aborigines and Hakka Han people, living and reproducing together. It has been radiated and infiltrated by many national cultures to varying degrees. Especially in the process of modern civilization, the lifestyle of the Yao people is becoming more and more China, and the traditional Yao costumes are hard to find. Under the impact of the new ideological trend, many Yao villagers have lost their traditional concept of ancestor worship. At the same time, the old way of expressing feelings through songs is gradually abandoned by young people.

The unique folk art of dancing fire dogs is in danger of being lost. According to Lin Hedi, the inheritor, today's Yao girls often only know the ceremony of "dancing fire dogs" and don't understand the cultural connotation. Nowadays, young people are also ashamed to flirt with songs in public. Young people's indifference to tradition and the successive deaths of folk artists in recent years have made the dancing fire dogs in an endangered state and fewer and fewer singers. In June 2006, "Dancing Fire Dog" became the first batch of intangible cultural heritage in Guangdong Province. Longmen county has intensified the propaganda of "dancing fire dogs" and specially set up a folk dance training class for "dancing fire dogs".

In 2008, the government also trained 30 girls in Lantian Middle School in the basic movements of "dancing fire dogs" and sang ceremony songs. Now, the dancing fire dog of Yao nationality is not only a festival celebrated by Yao people, but also attracts thousands of tourists from surrounding cities such as Shenzhen and Guangzhou to pay tribute to the uniqueness and sacredness of Yao culture. The costume props of the dancing fire dog are mainly string incense, bamboo hat, turmeric leaves and vines. Dioscorea zingiberensis leaves are the costumes of Yao ancestors, and the performance with Dioscorea zingiberensis leaves is to commemorate the hardships of ancestors' lives. Every year during the day of the 15th day of the eighth lunar month, women from all villages go up the mountain to pick the leaves of Dioscorea zingiberensis to prepare for the fire dog dance in the evening. These girls are underage girls in the village. They have to tie up their clothes with the help of their elders in order to complete the role of "fire dog woman"