Tan Xianjun

01 · Lineage & Regional School

Tan Xianjun, Male, Han, from Dazhou, Sichuan, is a sixth-batch national representative bearer of Dragon Dance (Ⅲ-4). The tradition is documented in Dazhou, Sichuan. Within the regional tradition and school record of Dragon Dance in Dazhou, Sichuan: The Anren Bench Dragon is a traditional dragon dance transmitted in Dazhou City, Sichuan Province, distributed mainly over Anren Township of Dayi County, Dazhou City and more than twenty other townships and towns, including Maliu Town, Tanmu Town, Huahong Township, Dongxing Township and Datan Township. The local residents are mainly Han Chinese, most of them descendants of immigrants from Hunan who came during the 'Huguang Replaces Sichuan' migration. The Anren Bench Dragon is a traditional dragon dance transmitted in Dazhou City, Sichuan Province. It is distributed mainly over Anren Township of Dachuan District, Dazhou City and more than twenty other townships and towns, including Maliu Town, Tanmu Town, Huahong Township, Dongxing Township and Datan Township. The local residents are mainly Han Chinese, most of them descendants of immigrants from Hunan who came during the 'Huguang Replaces Sichuan' migration. According to legend, the Anren Bench Dragon was brought to Anren Township by the Tan family of Hunan origin during that migration and has been transmitted for more than three hundred years. In the past the project was always handed down within the Tan family through oral teaching and imitation, with a documented lineage reaching nine generations. It is a product of the mutual influence and blending of Ba-Chu cultures and bears witness to the history and reality of Hunan immigrants taking root and opening up new ground in Anren.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

The bearer record for Tan Xianjun is anchored in the documented technical standards of Dragon Dance in Dazhou, Sichuan. Within the documented technical tradition of Dragon Dance in Dazhou, Sichuan: The Anren Bench Dragon is mainly performed during rain-praying activities and annual celebrations. Its principal prop, the bench dragon, is made by an archaic technique and has an archaic shape. The dragon head and body are usually based on long wooden benches, made from bamboo strips, then decorated with straw and five kinds of crop residue such as maize husk, symbolising a bountiful harvest of the five grains; the four legs of the bench serve as the dragon's legs, expressing the wish for peace through the four seasons. The Anren Bench Dragon has many forms of performance. When performed by three men, the first two each hold one leg in a single hand and the last holds two legs in both hands, evoking the auspicious opening of the Three Signs. The performance of the Anren Bench Dragon follows a prescribed set of routines. Performers wear dragon horns on their heads, dragon scales over their bodies and dragon claws on their feet; to the drumbeats of four musical tune patterns expressing the accord of heaven, earth and humankind, they dance out various figures in a regular and rhythmic manner. Its basic movements include chasing, pressing, running, jumping, tumbling, staff-play, leaping and climbing; by imitating more than ten groups of forms such as dragon playing with water, dragon deploying the array, dragon seizing the pearl, dragon clutching the treasure, dragon paired with phoenix, storming the dragon palace, leaping the dragon gate and dragon returning to its nest, the performance fully displays strength, agility, flexibility and power. Its mode of performance is flexible: a single dragon may dance alone or several dragons may dance together; the performance site is not restricted and may be a village courtyard or a street, square or stage. The Anren Bench Dragon uses no music and no orchestral instruments at all, accompanying itself only with the rhythmic beats of gongs and drums; the rise and fall, the quickness and slowness with which the tune patterns are played are used to arrange and control the formation and the difficulty of the dragon dance. During the performance the drumbeats are urgent and the gong sound is stirring, matching the dancers' vigorous movements beat for beat and producing a strongly shocking effect. The Anren Bench Dragon is a product of the mutual influence and blending of Ba-Chu cultures and bears witness to the history and reality of Hunan immigrants taking root and opening up new ground in Anren; it integrates dance performance, craft production and percussion music into one and has strong artistic expressiveness; it has a broad mass base, for it both builds physical strength and enriches cultural life. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Five-grain decoration and four legs": Built on a long wooden bench with bamboo splints, the dragon is dressed with five kinds of crop straw for the five grains and stands on the bench's four legs for peace through the seasons. "Three dancers for the threefold auspiciousness": In one basic form three men perform, two grasping a leg one-handed and the third both legs with two hands, meaning the opening of three auspicious yang. "The basic actions": Its basic actions; the performers wear dragon horns, scales and claws and move to four drum tunes representing heaven, earth and human accord. "Ten-odd imitative figures": The dance imitates the dragon sporting in water, arraying itself, darting at the pearl, embracing treasure, skirmishing in the palace and leaping the gate.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

In 2025, Tan Xianjun was announced in the sixth batch of national representative bearers for Dragon Dance, with Dazhou, Sichuan as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Dragon Dance in Dazhou, Sichuan: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2021 (batch 5), with Dazhou, Sichuan as its declared area, and Dazhou Dachuan District Cultural Center 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. Tanxianjun (Dazhou, Sichuan) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Tanxianjun · China ICH Official Archive