Lin Huixuan

01 · Lineage & Regional School

Lin Huixuan, Male, Han, from Foshan, Guangdong, is a sixth-batch national representative bearer of Dragon Dance (Ⅲ-4). The tradition is documented in Foshan, Guangdong. Within the regional tradition and school record of Dragon Dance in Foshan, Guangdong: Dragon dance, also called 'dragon performance', is known among the people as 'playing the dragon', 'playing the dragon lantern' or 'dragon lantern dance'; it is the most widely distributed and most far-reaching folk dance in China. This dance takes varied forms in its performance, and dragon dances among different ethnic groups and different regions differ markedly in style. The whole human dragon consists of two parts, the dragon base, that is the underside of the dragon, and the dragon surface, that is the dragon body; those who serve as the dragon base must be of robust build and able to support the dragon body with their shoulders and waists. By the middle of the Qing dynasty, the human-dragon dance had already risen in Guanghua Village.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

The bearer record for Lin Huixuan is anchored in the documented technical standards of Dragon Dance in Foshan, Guangdong. Within the documented technical tradition of Dragon Dance in Foshan, Guangdong: Classified by the form the dragon takes, dragon dance includes cloth dragon, gauze dragon, paper dragon, straw dragon, coin dragon, bamboo dragon, palm-fibre dragon, bench dragon, hundred-leaf dragon, lotus-flower dragon, fire dragon, chicken-feather dragon, flesh dragon and many other types; because the forms differ, their dance postures and dancing techniques also differ in their own ways. The traditional performance procedure of Chinese dragon dance generally consists of such segments as 'inviting the dragon', 'sending the dragon out', 'performing the dragon dance' and 'seeing the dragon off'. Dragon dance embodies cultural meanings of pioneering effort and of the unity of humanity and nature, and is an important part of the spirit and cultural heritage of the Chinese nation. The human-dragon dance is a traditional folk square dance transmitted in Guanghua Village, Xingtan Town, Shunde District, Foshan City, Guangdong Province. Guanghua Village in the Lingnan water town is a famous home of southern-style martial arts, with a profound traditional cultural foundation. In the tenth year of the Daoguang reign (1830), Liang Yaoshu of Guanghua Village passed the metropolitan examination as zhuangyuan; martial masters in the village spontaneously launched a 180-person performance of the human-dragon dance to welcome the zhuangyuan home in triumph, and for a time the whole village was stirred. Since then, at every festive occasion Guanghua Village has performed the human-dragon dance as an entertainment, handed down through generations and transmitted to the present day. In the human-dragon dance performance, from several dozen to more than a hundred people form a dragon shape tens of metres long. Those who serve as the dragon body sit astride the shoulders of the dragon base, leaning their bodies back and lying on the shoulders of the base behind, and wave red silk ribbons with both hands as dragon claws. The dragon head is made up of three people: one holds the dragon horns in both hands while sitting astride the shoulders of the dragon base, and another clamps the waist of the base with both feet and leans forward with the upper body suspended in the air as the dragon's tongue. The dragon tail is also made up of three people: one raises joined palms high as the dragon tail, or rides astride the shoulders of the base in front holding a dragon tail prop and leaning back, with the last base supporting his back with his head. The human-dragon dance team's costume is uniform; rising to the beat of gongs and drums, it displays a vigorous and expansive bearing. The human-dragon dance preserves the legacy of the ancient Baiyue people's dragon totem belief and reveals the essence of dragon culture in the water towns of southern China. It integrates folk dance elements into southern-style martial arts and has been hailed by the media as 'the sole wonder of China, no other dragon to compare'. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Dragon bearers and dragon surface": The human dragon divides into bearers and surface; bearers must be strong enough to support the body on shoulder and waist, while the surface riders recline on the bearers behind, waving red silk as claws. "The three-man dragon head": The head consists of three men: one riding a bearer's shoulders holding the horns, another gripping the bearer's waist with his legs and extending forward as the tongue. "The three-man dragon tail": The tail also uses three men: one raising clasped hands as the tail tip, or holding a tail prop and leaning back on a bearer's shoulders with the last bearer's head against his back. "Welcoming the top scholar Liang Yaoshu": In 1830 the Guanghua villager Liang Yaoshu took first place in the imperial examination and local martial artists raised a 180-man human dragon to welcome him home, a custom kept ever since.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

In 2025, Lin Huixuan was announced in the sixth batch of national representative bearers for Dragon Dance, with Foshan, Guangdong as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Dragon Dance in Foshan, Guangdong: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2008 (batch 2), with Foshan, Guangdong as its declared area, and Foshan Shunde District Xingtan Town Cultural Station as its safeguarding unit. Since the project was inscribed in the national inventory, its declared area and safeguarding unit have carried out documentation, transmission and presentation within the national safeguarding framework. Together, the inventory record and the project archive form the public documentary basis for the bearer’s transmission practice.

04 · Associated Heritage Item Dossier

05 · Fellow National Bearers Lineage

National representative bearers recorded under the same item code, ordered from the first to the sixth batch. Batch order is not a teacher–student relationship.

06 · Archival Sources & Bibliography

1. Linhuixuan (Foshan, Guangdong) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Linhuixuan · China ICH Official Archive