Lantern Fair
01 · Historical Records
The Lantern Festival is also known as the Festival of Lights. The custom of lighting lanterns at Yuanxiao (the fifteenth night of the first lunar month) originated in the Han dynasty, developed further during the Tang and Song dynasties, and by the Ming and Qing periods lantern fairs across the country had reached their peak.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The lantern fair is a traditional popular festive celebration of the Chinese people. It is widespread throughout the country and is also quite prevalent in overseas Chinese communities. Lantern fairs are mostly held during the Lantern Festival period, though some places hold them on the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month; the character of the fairs differs from region to region. According to traditional custom, on the night of the full moon on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, people hang and light colorful lanterns of every kind, while holding celebrations such as viewing, admiring and competing with lanterns, in prayers for family reunion, longevity and abundant harvests. Centered on the lantern fair, localities have developed a series of distinctive Yuanxiao Festival customs, such as guessing lantern riddles, eating yuanxiao (sweet rice dumplings) and walking off the hundred ailments. Over time, Lantern Festival activities have grown ever richer, and in many places traditional folk performances such as dragon lantern dances, lion dances, stilt walking, land-boat dancing and yangge (rice-sprout song) dancing, Taiping drum playing and taige (carried platforms) have been added to the festivities, making the lantern fairs still more lively and exuberant. By the Ming and Qing dynasties, New Year lantern-dancing activities were already flourishing in Shicheng. As soon as the twelfth lunar month arrives, some folk-art enthusiasts in the countryside spontaneously organize themselves and make colorful lanterns of every kind; from the first day of the first month they dance with lanterns for fun from village to village and house to house, until the 'thanking the lanterns' (xiedeng) rite at the Lantern Festival brings it to a stop. The props, dance and music of the Shicheng lantern fair are all extremely fine. Its colorful lanterns include dragon lanterns, lion lanterns, horse lanterns, snake lanterns, vegetable-basket lanterns, treasure-umbrella lanterns, plaque lanterns, carp lanterns, arhat lanterns, clamshell lanterns, boat lanterns, eight-treasure lanterns, plank-bridge lanterns and qilin-bringing-a-son lanterns, dozens of kinds in all, each painstakingly made from colored paper and bamboo strips through weaving, tying, painting, cutting and pasting. Among them, the dragon and lion lantern performances have bold, uninhibited movements, while the vegetable-basket lanterns and the like are performed in a light, lively, pungent, humorous and vivid manner; the accompanying music is mostly folk percussion unique to Shicheng, while the tunes largely adopt melodies from local songs of Shicheng and from Gannan tea-picking opera, with a bright rhythm that is melodious and pleasing to the ear. Its lantern making, dance performance and music composition fully display the cultural and artistic creativity of the Hakka forefathers, and from one aspect reflect the deep Hakka cultural heritage of Shicheng.
Lanterns and the homophone for offspring
In the local dialect lantern and son share a sound, so dancing the lanterns is a prayer for offspring and a harmonious household.
Making lanterns in the twelfth month, closing them at New Year
New Year lantern dancing flourished in Shicheng from the Ming and Qing; groups of village enthusiasts began building lanterns in the twelfth month and toured house to house until the fifteenth.
Plank-bridge lanterns and qilin-bringer-of-children lanterns
Some dozens of lantern types are built from paper and bamboo by weaving, tying, painting, cutting and pasting, drawing on everyday objects and auspicious phrases.
Two styles of dragon, lion and basket lantern dancing
Dragon and lion lanterns are danced in bold, sweeping movements while basket lanterns are handled with nimble, joking agility, so one evening alternates between two kinds of energy.
Local percussion and tea-picking tunes
The music leans on indigenous percussion plus local songs and southern Jiangxi tea-picking tunes, keeping time with the dancers while the melodies carry the mood.
The door-to-door lantern route
From the first day of the new year the lantern teams move from door to door, each household clearing space for the lights and setting off firecrackers as they pass.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The Shicheng lantern fair is a distinctive folk custom, spread mainly through Shicheng County in southern Jiangxi (Gannan). In the Shicheng dialect of Jiangxi, 'lantern' (deng) and 'male child' (ding) are homophones, so dancing with lanterns carries the wish for a flourishing population and an auspicious household. The Shicheng lantern fair is deeply rooted among the masses of the people and has a distinct local character.
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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The three registers of the Shicheng lantern fair — colorful lanterns, dance and accompanying music — are all completed locally, composing a complete folk-art ecology. The lanterns are painstakingly made from colored paper and bamboo strips through the process steps of weaving, tying, painting, cutting and pasting; the subjects run from dragon lanterns, lion lanterns and horse lanterns all the way to plank-bridge lanterns and qilin-bringing-a-son lanterns, dozens of names that nearly cover the common auspicious images of folk culture. The performance style varies with the type of lantern: dragon and lion lanterns favor bold, uninhibited movements, while vegetable-basket lanterns and the like are light, lively, humorous and pungent, so a single evening's ground has contrasts of atmosphere. The accompaniment uses no full orchestral ensemble of strings and winds, but the folk percussion unique to the locality together with melodies of Shicheng local songs and Gannan tea-picking opera, with a bright rhythm in which the dance follows the music. In the Shicheng dialect, dancing with lanterns (deng) is homophonic with 'male child' (ding), so hanging lanterns means adding sons — a pun that turns a mere lighting activity into a prayer for a flourishing population, which is the simplest reason the lantern fair has continued year after year. The production cycle begins right at the twelfth lunar month: folk-art enthusiasts spontaneously pool materials and, from the first day of the first month, dance with lanterns from village to village for fun until the xiedeng rite at the Lantern Festival brings it to a close, the whole process relying on villagers preparing and performing by themselves without depending on any outside organization. In recent years the proportion of purely ornamental content in the fair has risen, while the number of young and middle-aged craftsmen able to complete the whole paper-and-bamboo weaving and painting on their own, and of old musicians familiar with the old tune patterns, has declined at the same time; the sense of ritual in the closing xiedeng segment has gradually faded among younger audiences.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Lin Wenyi 03-1474
- Shao Chuanfu 03-1475
- Kuang Huofa
- Niujunqi
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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