Riddles
01 · Historical Records
Chenghai lies on the Han river delta plain of eastern Guangdong, its terrain mainly plain, its literary culture flourishing since ancient times; the lantern riddles originating in ancient riddles and in competitions of wit have a long history locally and by the Ming and Qing developed into a customary culture of strongly local character. Chenghai lantern riddles preserve the traditional opening form of drum-beating guessing of Lin'an in the Song, a thing quite distinctive. In 1999 Chenghai was named a home of ethnic folk lantern-riddle art of Guangdong, and in May 2000 it was named by the Ministry of Culture a home of Chinese folk lantern-riddle art. Since the Ming and Qing Chenghai lantern riddles have been widely current in town and country, with riddle societies and riddle platforms everywhere, and in the late Qing and early Republic they formed a guessing tradition centred on the riddle mother and the riddle king, transmitted without interruption. Taking the Chaoshan dialect as their vehicle, Chenghai lantern riddles stress an elegant riddle face and a precise answer and gather the essence of Chaoshan folk literature, custom and dialect knowledge.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Besides this there are such customary forms as sending riddle tokens and guessing the riddle mother, the creative methods used reaching more than twenty kinds and the riddle subjects numbering several hundred. Chenghai lantern riddles have rich creative methods, including meaning-association, addition and subtraction, separation and combination, pictography and homophony, more than twenty kinds in all, and their riddle subjects cover several hundred kinds such as characters and words, idioms, personal names, place names and things; at festivals such as the Lantern Festival and the Mid-Autumn Festival riddle platforms are often set up and riddles hung for guessing, with crowds of onlookers and a lively scene.
Drum-Beating Guessing
The traditional Chenghai lantern-riddle opening form preserved from Lin'an in the Song.
Sending Riddle Tokens
One of the distinctive customary forms of Chenghai lantern riddles.
Guessing the Riddle Mother
One of the distinctive customary forms of Chenghai lantern riddles.
The Creative Methods of Lantern Riddles
More than twenty creative methods such as meaning-association, addition and subtraction, separation and combination, pictography and homophony.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Now Chenghai lantern riddles have become an indispensable cultural item of local holiday entertainment and special publicity activities, and have become a cultural bond linking the feelings of fellow townsmen at home and abroad. Taking competitive guessing as their feature, Chenghai lantern riddles preserve the traditional opening form of drum-beating guessing of Lin'an in the Song and have such distinctive customs as sending riddle tokens and guessing the riddle mother; the guesser who is right wins a prize and, if none is right, the drum does not cease, making them one of the most popular traditional cultural activities of the locality.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Qinglinsimiyu.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Restricted by the economy and other factors, the present development of Chenghai lantern riddles is not sufficiently balanced and the level of the riddle art needs further raising. It is necessary to increase the effort of protection and support so that this flower of the traditional folk riddle art may bloom unfading. Combining knowledge, interest and competition, Chenghai lantern riddles are a folk riddle culture with a deep popular base and a clear line of transmission in the Chaoshan area and a cultural bond linking the feelings of fellow townsmen at home and abroad. Chenghai riddle faces often use Chaoshan dialect elegance and allusion, and guessing stresses fitting the riddle subject, pleasing both refined and popular taste, with a distinctive eastern Guangdong cultural character.
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)
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