Dragon Dance

Ⅲ-4Traditional DanceLanxi, ZhejiangBatch 2 (2008)Extension Item

01 · Historical Records

The beheaded dragon is a folk dragon dance transmitted in Shuiting She Ethnic Township, Lanxi City, Zhejiang Province; its origin is closely connected with a folk story that has circulated for a very long time. According to legend, in the Zhenguan era of the Tang dynasty there was a great drought year after year; the Dragon King, in order to save the common people, defied the Jade Emperor's decree and sent down heavy rain, was found guilty and beheaded, and his head was separated from his body.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

Classified by the form the dragon takes, dragon dance includes 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 many other types; because the forms differ, their dance postures and dancing techniques also differ in their own ways. The traditional performance procedure of Chinese dragon dance generally consists of such segments as 'inviting the dragon', 'sending the dragon out', 'performing the dragon dance' and 'seeing the dragon off'. Dragon dance embodies cultural meanings of pioneering effort and of the unity of humanity and nature, and is an important part of the spirit and cultural heritage of the Chinese nation. Moved by the Dragon King for saving their lives, the people of Lanxi specially made a beheaded dragon, which they dance through the streets during the Spring Festival in commemoration. The greatest feature of the beheaded dragon is that the head is separated from the body; the whole dragon consists of a dragon pearl, a dragon head and 7 body sections. The dragon head and dragon pearl can perform separate sets of highly difficult technical movements; each time the body changes to a new formation diagram, the head and the pearl dance out one routine. Red candles can be lit inside the head, the pearl and the body, so that when the dragon dances at night the light flickers and the colours are dazzling. Carrying the people's deep affection for the Dragon King's benevolence, the 'beheaded dragon' dances out their mourning and dances out blessings for a good harvest and good fortune; it is a product of the accumulation of the nation's history. The whole dragon dance takes a thousand forms, is rich in variation, agile and lively, and has a distinctive artistic lineage.

The separated head and body

Its defining trait is the separation of head and body: a pearl, a head and seven body sections, with head and pearl performing independent feats at every change of pattern.

The increased repertoire of routines

Representatives of the more than twenty routines developed over the past century, including later experiments in turning a single dragon into a pair.

The beheaded dragon king

Legend tells that in the Zhenguan era the dragon king defied heaven to end a drought and was beheaded; grateful Lanxi villagers made a headless dragon and dance it at New Year in his memory.

Night candles in head, pearl and body

Red candles burn inside head, pearl and body so that at night the dance flickers with colour, carrying the villagers' gratitude to the dragon king.

Youth and women's dragon teams

The inheritor Wang Bocheng revived the village society, founded a twelve-woman dragon team in 2015 and trained five cohorts of youth teams totalling forty-six dancers.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

Dragon dance, also called 'dragon performance', is known among the people as 'playing the dragon', 'playing the dragon lantern' or 'dragon lantern dance'; it is the most widely distributed and most far-reaching folk dance in China. This dance takes varied forms in its performance, and dragon dances among different ethnic groups and different regions differ markedly in style.

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

Over the past century the beheaded dragon has been continually developed and innovated in transmission, forming more than twenty routines such as 'twin yuanbao', 'golden melon pavilion' and 'the Eight Immortals take a fall'; later attempts were also made to change from a 'single dragon' to a 'double dragon'. At present, as its living and developmental space keeps shrinking, transmission is increasingly difficult; the Lanxi beheaded dragon has few successors and faces the danger of disappearing, and urgently needs rescue and protection. Wang Baicheng (official archive record of the associated inheritor): Male, Han ethnicity, born in March 1963, native of Lanxi City, Zhejiang Province. He became a member of the dragon lantern association of Helongli Village in 1981. In 1992 he became chairman of the beheaded dragon lantern association of Helongli Village and organised and expanded the dragon dance team. In September 2015 he formed a twelve-member women's dragon dance team at the Shuiting She Township folk-customs park and served as its coach. Representative inheritor of the fifth national-level batch of the intangible cultural heritage project Dragon Dance (Lanxi beheaded dragon). In 1999 he took part in training a twelve-member dragon dance team at the Lanxi City Wuju Opera Troupe. In 2008 he was hired by Baiyuan School in Shuiting She Township as an out-of-school Young Pioneers counsellor, and at the beheaded-dragon transmission base of the Shuiting She Township Central School he trained five batches of youth dragon dance teams, 46 people in total, who won prizes many times.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

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

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗

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