Daixin
01 · Lineage & Regional School
Daixin, Male, Dong, from Shiqian, Guizhou, is a sixth-batch national representative bearer of Gelaomaolong Festival (Ⅹ-26). The tradition is documented in Shiqian, Guizhou. Within the regional tradition and school record of Gelaomaolong Festival in Shiqian, Guizhou: The Hairy Dragons of Shiqian have their main transmission sites in the Gelao villages of Yanming and Longfeng in Longjing, Tangshan and other townships. Around the Lantern Festival each village makes and parades its own dragon, and during the festival the villages visit one another, showing off their frameworking craft and performance techniques. Outside the festival season the craft's boundaries are not closed: the same artisans who frame the dragons are hired by the neighboring Dong, Miao and Tujia peoples to make and perform them. The Hairy Dragon of Shiqian is thus both a festival object of the Gelao themselves and a shared local craft of the multi-ethnic area of eastern Guizhou. The names of the performance techniques serve as the measure of a village's skill: whoever can coil the dragon body steadily and flip it nimbly earns a name under the lanterns that night. Frameworking and performance are never two separate things here, for only a light frame can be danced up and down. Scholars trace the Hairy Dragon back to the ancient Gelao worship of the Bamboo King and of procreation. The key to this inference lies not in its great antiquity but in the source of its materials: the long body built of bamboo strips and its raised-head posture fall exactly between bamboo and dragon, so that the object of sacrifice and the material of its making are fused into one. The dragon occupies a central rather than a peripheral place in Gelao belief: the occasions for honoring the dragon, the implements used, and the recited texts all have fixed forms, and the recitations are reserved for the rites of consecration, inviting water and burning the dragon, as well as for the performances of opening the wealth door and worshipping the god of wealth. A division of labor running from frameworking to performance to recitation has already made the Hairy Dragon a craft trade in its own right.
02 · Mastery & Signature Works
The bearer record for Daixin is anchored in the documented technical standards of Gelaomaolong Festival in Shiqian, Guizhou. Within the documented technical tradition of Gelaomaolong Festival in Shiqian, Guizhou: 'Gelao Hairy Dragon' is a form of folk veneration handed down for generations among the Gelao people of Shiqian. It is mainly found in the Gelao villages of Yanming and Longfeng in Longjing, Tangshan and other townships of Shiqian County, Guizhou Province, and its influence extends to the Dong, Miao and Tujia peoples throughout the county. The Gelao Hairy Dragon is most active during the Lantern Festival. Some scholars infer that the Hairy Dragon originated in the ancient Gelao worship of the 'Bamboo King' and of procreation. Dragon worship is the core of the Gelao Hairy Dragon. Its basic elements include: (1) 'dragon' belief, comprising traditional stories, dragon-worshipping rites, the occasions and implements for honoring the dragon, and the recitations addressed to the dragon god; (2) subsidiary totemic beliefs, including worship of the 'Bamboo King,' worship of Panhu, popular Buddhist and Daoist worship, and primitive worship; (3) frameworking craft, including the selection of materials (bamboo strips and colored paper) and the workmanship; (4) performance techniques, including 'Two Dragons Fighting for the Treasure,' 'Lazy Dragon Turning Over,' 'Single Dragon Toying with the Pearl,' 'Swan Holding an Egg,' 'Hanging Upside Down from the Golden Hook,' 'Rhinoceros Gazing at the Moon' and 'Screw Top'; and (5) recitation, including the chants used in the rites of consecration, inviting water and burning the dragon, as well as the sung passages in the performances of opening the wealth door and worshipping the god of wealth. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "The dragon comes out at Lantern Night": The hairy dragon is an affair of the Lantern festival: each village builds its lamp-dragon and dances it into the night to drums and torches. "Building the dragon from bamboo and paper": Bamboo splints form the frame and coloured paper the skin; the lightness of the build decides whether the dragon can rise and fall in the dance. "Seven named feats": Two dragons seizing the treasure, the lazy dragon turning over, the single dragon at play with the pearl and other feats each demand their own technique. "Chants for the dragon's consecration": The chants belong to the consecration, the drawing of water and the burning of the dragon, and to the door-opening rites of wealth, pairing words with gestures.
The dragon comes out at Lantern Night
The hairy dragon is an affair of the Lantern festival: each village builds its lamp-dragon and dances it into the night to drums and torches.
Building the dragon from bamboo and paper
Bamboo splints form the frame and coloured paper the skin; the lightness of the build decides whether the dragon can rise and fall in the dance.
Seven named feats
Two dragons seizing the treasure, the lazy dragon turning over, the single dragon at play with the pearl and other feats each demand their own technique.
Chants for the dragon's consecration
The chants belong to the consecration, the drawing of water and the burning of the dragon, and to the door-opening rites of wealth, pairing words with gestures.
03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status
In 2025, Daixin was announced in the sixth batch of national representative bearers for Gelaomaolong Festival, with Shiqian, Guizhou as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Gelaomaolong Festival in Shiqian, Guizhou: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2006 (batch 1), with Shiqian, Guizhou as its declared area, and Shiqian County 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
Historical origin
Scholars trace the Hairy Dragon back to the ancient Gelao worship of the Bamboo King and of procreation. The key to this inference lies not in its great antiquity but in the source of its materials: the long body built of bamboo strips and its raised-head posture fall exactly between bamboo and dragon, so that the object of sacrifice and the material of its making are fused into one. The dragon occupies a central rather than a peripheral place in Gelao belief: the occasions for honoring the dragon, the implements used, and the recited texts all have fixed forms, and the recitations are reserved for the rites of consecration, inviting water and burning the dragon, as well as for the performances of opening the wealth door and worshipping the god of wealth. A division of labor running from frameworking to performance to recitation has already made the Hairy Dragon a craft trade in its own right.
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.
| Bearer | Declared area | Roster code | Relation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daixin | Shiqian, Guizhou | — | This page |
06 · Archival Sources & Bibliography
This static English edition is rendered at the edge for search engines, AI crawlers and readers without JavaScript. Compiled from official national representative bearer archival records and the associated project dossier, organized by topic and translated into English. 阅读中文版。