Dragon Dance

Ⅲ-4Traditional DanceZhanjiang, GuangdongBatch 1 (2006)Newly Added Item

01 · Historical Records

Already in the oracle-bone inscriptions of the Shang dynasty there are records of several people collectively sacrificing to the dragon and praying for rain; the record of Dong Zhongshu's 'Luxuriant Gems of the Spring and Autumn' in the Han dynasty already contains clear accounts of the various dragon dances used to pray for rain; from that time on, poems and prose of every dynasty recording dragon dancing at court or among the folk are found again and again. According to the legend among the artists, the human-dragon dance began around the late Ming dynasty, when Ming army troops defeated by the Qing army retreated to the Leizhou Peninsula and Donghai Island; it happened to be the Mid-Autumn Festival, and the local people composed this dance to raise the morale of the Ming soldiers.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

The most basic expressive means of dragon dance are its prop modelling, its compositional variations and its sequences of movement. According to the different materials used in binding the dragon props, dragon dance is divided into 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 so on; northern dragon dance is generally tall and massive, simple and archaic in style and full of vigour, while southern dragon dance is exquisite and fine, lively and quick. The composition and movement of dragon dance generally have such characteristics as 'rounding', 'rolling', 'twining', 'interlacing' and 'leaping'. The traditional performance procedure of dragon dance is generally: 'inviting the dragon', 'sending the dragon out', 'performing the dragon' and 'seeing the dragon off'. Among the people there is a saying: 'at seven or eight one plays with the straw dragon, at fifteen or sixteen one plays with the small dragon, the young and middle-aged dance the big dragon'. The number of dragon dancers may be as few as one man dancing two dragons, or as many as a hundred men dancing one big dragon. The dragon is the totem of the Chinese nation and the ancestor in which it believes; dragon dance is a symbol of the spirit of China. It embodies the spirit of the Chinese nation's unity and cohesion and its pioneering and striving spirit, and contains the cultural meaning of harmony between heaven and humanity and of bringing benefit to humankind. It is the most common form of entertainment for Chinese people on auspicious and celebratory occasions; its atmosphere is ardent and stirring to the heart, and it is an extremely precious cultural heritage of the Chinese nation. The human-dragon dance of Dongshanyu Village, Dongshan Town, Donghai Island, Guangdong Province, has long been known as 'the wonder of the East'. In performance, from several dozen to several hundred young and middle-aged men and boys all wear shorts and join body to body, forming a 'long dragon'. Amid the thunder of gongs and drums and the blast of horns, the 'long dragon' holds its head high, its body rolls and turns and its tail lashes vigorously, like a flood dragon emerging from the sea, moving mountains and overturning seas, irresistible; it shows distinctive island colouring and a strong rural atmosphere, and is an important component of the folk customs and large-scale square entertainment of Donghai Island and even of the Leizhou Peninsula that has endured through the years. Every year at Spring Festival, the Lantern Festival, the Mid-Autumn Festival and on other major celebratory days, Dongshanyu Village necessarily performs the 'human dragon' for several nights running; every household on the east and west streets hangs lanterns and decorates its doors, every family pours out, the crowd flows like a tide, and the scene is extraordinarily lively. From then on the human-dragon dance spread here, reaching its height in the Qianlong and Jiaqing reigns of the Qing dynasty. The human-dragon dance is a product of the special social and historical factors and the regional natural conditions of Donghai Island; it fuses such folk customs of the island's people as amusing the dragon, venerating the dragon, sacrificing to the sea, honouring the ancestors and serving the gods into the 'human dragon', forming an original and unique form of dragon dance performance and a 'human dragon' spirit. The Zhanjiang human-dragon dance has distinctive performance procedures such as raising the dragon, the dragon nodding its head, the dragon passing through the clouds and the dragon rolling up the waves; the performers have trained a steady action and step for quickly hoisting a person onto the shoulder, the formations flow and change and the movements are carried through in one breath; seen from afar it is full of movement, seen from close up it is rugged and heroic, and it has become an important part of the extension and development of Chinese dragon culture.

Qi Long (raising the dragon)

The opening sequence of the Zhanjiang human dragon: dozens to hundreds of young men in short trousers link their bodies to form the long dragon, which raises its head to thunderous drums.

Dragon Nodding

One of the performance sequences, in which the boys forming the dragon's head dip and rise upon the shoulders of the bearers below.

Dragon Piercing the Clouds

One of the performance sequences, flowing and shifting in formation, executed in one breath and looking dynamic from afar and rugged up close.

Dragon Rolling the Waves

One of the performance sequences, the body surging and the tail lashing like a dragon leaving the sea, with a distinctly insular colour.

The swift shoulder-lift footwork

The steady footwork that lets performers stack into a dragon tens of metres long without losing formation, the essential art distinguishing the human dragon from prop dragon dances.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

Dragon dance, also called 'performing the dragon', is known among the people as 'playing the dragon', 'playing the dragon lantern' or 'dragon lantern dance'; it is widely distributed throughout the country and among all ethnic groups, and the diversity of its forms and varieties is beyond comparison with any other folk dance. In terms of colour, dragon dance is divided into yellow, white, azure, red, black and so on, of which the yellow dragon is the most noble.

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

Down to the present day, dragon dance is still one of the dance forms commonly present at folk festive and seasonal occasions. As the times change, the human-dragon dance has gradually lost its former appeal and is in decline; in order to protect this folk cultural heritage it is necessary to rescue and collate it as quickly as possible.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

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

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

Dragon Dance (Zhanjiang, Guangdong) · China ICH Official Project Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗

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