Lantern Festival

Ⅹ-71Folk CustomsTongrenshidejiang, GuizhouBatch 5 (2021)Extension Item

01 · Historical Records

The Dejiang dragon-blasting custom is a long-standing and distinctive folk activity popular in the urban area of Dejiang County; it originated in dragon dancing to pray for rain, is held during the Spring Festival each year, and uses "blasting" to remove the evil spirits attached to the dragon's body. Today it has evolved into a folk activity that rewards the gods and entertains the people, praying for favorable weather and abundant harvests.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

The Dejiang dragon-blasting activity mainly includes the following stages: making the dragon, drawing water, displaying the dragon, sending out the dragon, dancing the dragon in households, parading the dragon, blasting the dragon, and burning the dragon, of which the most distinctive is the "blasting the dragon" stage. Making the dragon: in the early part of the first lunar month, people weave the dragon head, body, and tail from bamboo strips, glue them with leather paper, and paint the corresponding patterns on them; ropes and wooden poles are used to link and fix the head to the tail, and finally the painted dragon skin is draped over it. Drawing water: on the ninth day of the first lunar month, each lantern society sends the dragon to a riverside or well and holds a sacrifice, signifying the invitation of the dragon to emerge from the water. Displaying the dragon: the dragon is danced along the main streets to reveal itself to the public. Sending out the dragon: on the twelfth day of the first lunar month, the dragon lantern association leads all the dragon lantern troupes in a grand ceremony of sending out the dragon. Dancing the dragon (paying New Year visits): dancing the dragon in people's homes to bestow blessings. Parading the dragon (dragon races): during the daytime of the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the first lunar month, the dragon lantern troupes, accompanied by yangge dance troupes, waist-drum troupes, flower-lantern troupes, Nuo-hall opera troupes, and float troupes, all gather for a procession along the main streets of the county town. The dragon blasting takes place on the evening of the fifteenth day of the first lunar month; the dragon dancers wear towels on their heads, bare their chests and arms, beat gongs and drums, and carry the fire dragon aloft as they stride forward with heads held high. The households along the streets have long since wound firecrackers around rows of bamboo poles, and as soon as the fire dragon appears they quickly light the firecrackers and the fireworks in the bamboo tubes. Wherever the firecrackers and fireworks are most fierce, the fire dragon burrows straight in; the whole town's dragon blasting rolls like spring thunder, generally lasting until about nine o'clock in the evening before dispersing. On the sixteenth day of the first month, people send the dragon back to the place where the water was drawn and burn the dragon's frame, sending the dragon home to the sea; this is the burning of the dragon. With this, the dragon-blasting custom comes to an end.

Building the dragon

Bamboo strips are woven for head, body and tail, joined by cords and poles and clothed in a painted dragon robe.

Sending the dragon to the water

On the ninth day the dragon is taken to the river or well for sacrifice, as if setting it out to sea.

Showing the dragon and setting it out

The dragon is shown in the main street, then formally set out by the lantern association on the twelfth.

Door-to-door dragon calls

Each household is blessed by a short dance before the door, moving on when the drumming stops.

Parading rival dragons

Rival dragons march with yangge, waist-drum, flower-lantern and opera troupes in the town streets.

Battering the dragon with fire

Firecrackers roped to bamboo poles are lit as the dragon charges the loudest spot.

Burning the dragon frame

On the sixteenth the frame is burned at the water, sending the dragon back to the sea.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

The Dejiang dragon-blasting custom has distinct regional characteristics and is one of the important New Year customs of the local people; its activities are rich in content and diverse in form, encompassing not only traditional crafts such as bamboo weaving, painting, paper-cutting, and printing and dyeing, but also activities expressing folk literature and acrobatic entertainment, and it has very important historical, cultural, and artistic value with respect to ethnicity, folk custom, astronomy, vocal music, dance, and other aspects.

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

At the same time, the Dejiang people's transmission of the dragon-blasting culture is also an embodiment and expression of ethnic sentiment; through taking part in the activities, people's cohesion is strengthened, which has considerable practical significance for building a harmonious society.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

Lantern Festival (Tongrenshidejiang, Guizhou) · China ICH Official Project Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗

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