Dragon Dance

Ⅲ-4Traditional DancePingjiang, HunanBatch 2 (2008)Extension Item

01 · Historical Records

The nine-dragon dance originated in Wushi Town of Pingjiang County, Hunan Province, and has long been circulated locally; it began in the Han dynasty and reached its height in the Tang dynasty.

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. According to legend, after the patriotic poet Qu Yuan threw himself into the river, at every Duanwu Festival people would row out in dragon boats to salvage his body. This moved the nine sons of the Dongting Dragon King, and the nine small dragons made a great commotion in Dongting, forcing the old Dragon King to send Qu Yuan's body back to the human world. To commemorate the righteous deed of the nine dragons, people imitated their dance movements and created the nine-dragon dance. The Pingjiang nine-dragon dance has complicated performing routines; there are as many as 26 traditional routines, including 'nine dragons playing in the water', 'eight treasures in the lantern cage', 'golden basin hanging water', 'the old dragon shedding its shell' and 'iron dragon barring the elephant'. These routines are arranged in good order and are unpredictable; the nine dragons at times coil around one another, at times form exquisite patterns, and in an instant change into new formations, leaving the eye unable to take it all in. There was once a 'Dragon Manual' setting out the performing routines of the nine-dragon dance, handed down within the local Yao clan, and its paradigm is still followed today. The nine-dragon performance is on a grand scale, magnificent in momentum and moving to the heart. In the performance the nine coloured dragons are accompanied by 4 dragon flags, 4 large hall drums, 4 large bronze gongs and 4 long horns, while 186 dragon dancers wearing dragon helmets, dragon costumes and dragon boots hold high a long banner reading 'good government and harmony among the people, favourable weather and timely rain, long life and good harvests, and peace throughout the four seas', looking majestic. The nine-dragon dance enters from the Dongting formation, passes through such segments as 'two dragons playing with the pearl', 'five dragons upholding the sage', 'seven-tiered flower tower', 'nine dragons playing in the water', 'dragons gathering their heads', 'iron dragon barring the tiger' and 'the old dragon shedding its shell', and ends with 'the dragon returns to the sea'. The gongs and drums and other percussion instruments used in the performance are all made by Pingjiang folk bronzesmiths and drum makers; the timbre is deep and resonant, the contrast strong, and it carries intense emotional colouring. In former times Baiyang Village had a 'dragon association'; once the bronze gong sounded, the whole village obeyed the command. Every time the dragons came out, an incense table was set in the ancestral hall, firecrackers were let off, and a rooster was sacrificed to the dragon. Below the incense table stood a large jar holding five dan of water, filled with clear spring water from Zhifeng Mountain on the banks of the Miluo River. The verses of praise sung to the dragon are in four-character rhymed form; when the ritual is over, the nine coloured dragons pass in turn before the incense table shaking their heads and swishing their tails, then let out a great roar and charge out of the ancestral hall. After the nine dragons go out, the incense in the ancestral hall is never extinguished, and nine old men take turns keeping watch and worshipping day and night. The holy water before the incense table is distributed to the villagers to drink, to ward off illness and disaster. The nine-dragon dance is a supreme achievement of Chinese folk art, renowned throughout the Three Xiangs and Four Waters of Hunan.

The Dragon Manual

A Dragon Manual regulating the routines was transmitted within the local Yao clan and its norms are still followed, the key text preserving the repertoire.

Twenty-six traditional routines

The repertoire numbers twenty-six routines including Nine Dragons Playing in Water and Old Dragon Shedding Its Shell, ordered yet unpredictable, the nine dragons now entwining, now forming patterns.

From the Dongting Array to Dragon Returns to the Sea

The full sequence opens with the Dongting Array and passes through Two Dragons and a Pearl, Five Dragons Honouring the Sage and Seven-Storey Tower before closing with Dragon Returns to the Sea.

One hundred and eighty-six dancers in dragon dress

Nine dragons with four banners, four great drums, four bronze gongs and four long trumpets accompany 186 dancers in dragon helmets, robes and boots under long banners of blessing.

The ancestral-hall rite and divine water

Baiyang village long kept a Dragon Society; every outing began with incense, firecrackers and a cock sacrifice at the hall, and the hall's spring water, drawn from Mount Zhifeng, was shared out to cure illness.

The four-character invocation

The rite closes with a four-character rhymed invocation as the nine dragons sway past the altar and burst roaring from the hall, its incense kept burning by nine elders in shifts.

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

In recent years the Pingjiang nine-dragon dance artists are growing old, survival and development are difficult, and the outlook is worrying, so protection must be stepped up. Yao Daming (official archive record of the associated inheritor): Male, Han ethnicity, born in June 1957, native of Pingjiang County, Hunan Province. In inheriting and developing the folk art of dragon dance he formed a unique style and set of routines, and he mastered the dragon dance techniques and the gong-and-drum accompaniment skills thoroughly. He has been devoted to the transmission work of excavating, sorting out, arranging and training in the nine-dragon dance. He has more than one hundred times led the nine-dragon dance team to take part in festival celebrations and art competitions at provincial, municipal and county level. Since 2010 he has led the nine-dragon dance members to carry out 'into the campus' activities at schools near his home town. In April 2017 he was interviewed and filmed by the education channel of China Central Television for the programme 'The Power of Inheritance'. He established an art museum in Baiyang Village to ensure the smooth running of training, rehearsal and exhibition activities. Representative inheritor of the fifth national-level batch of the intangible cultural heritage project Dragon Dance (Nine-Dragon Dance).

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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