Dragon Dance

Ⅲ-4Traditional DancePudongxin, ShanghaiBatch 3 (2011)Extension Item

01 · Historical Records

In the Ming and Qing dynasties dragon dancing flourished in the Pudong area. The principal traditional forms of dragon dancing were cloth dragons, gauze dragons, straw dragons, incense dragons, small white dragons, wandering flower dragons and the like.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

"Circuiting the dragon lantern" is the colloquial name the people of old Shanghai's Pudong gave to dragon dancing, and it appeared most often in folk sacrificial activities connected with festivals and celebrations as well as with praying for rain, averting calamity, thanking the gods and praying for peace. Pudong circuiting dragon lantern is a traditional artistic item that combines dance with folk percussion music. It is often joined to seasonal festivals, temple-fair competitions and other secular folk entertainments, and it has a strong folk character. Pudong circuiting dragon lantern folds into the techniques of dragon dancing the bodily language of the art of dance, the stepping and posing of Chinese opera, and the vigour and spirit of martial arts, expressing a beauty that is peaceful, festive, joyful and high-spirited. Whether they take part or merely watch, in such a magnificent setting people can give vent to their own feelings and find satisfaction. As an organic part of Shanghai's traditional culture, Pudong circuiting dragon lantern has, over several hundred years of historical development, already become a customary practice for local people during festivals and an important form of entertainment and aesthetic appreciation.

Cloth, gauze, straw, incense and other dragons

The dragon forms prevailing in Ming-Qing Pudong, each suited to different occasions and means, forming the plural repertoire of the Pudong dragon lantern.

The Sanlin porters' dragon team

Teams were organised by village, clan and trade guild; the most celebrated came from Sanlin's porters' guild, whose showy style carried a distinctly modern urban Shanghai flavour.

Rain-praying and disaster-averting rites

The Pudong dragon lantern appeared at festivals and in rites for rain, averting disaster, thanking the gods and praying for peace, closely bound to temple fairs and seasonal customs.

Dance, operatic stance and martial spirit

It folds dance's bodily language, opera's steps and poses and martial arts' spirit into dragon technique, expressing a beauty that is serene, festive and exalted.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

Local dragon-dance troupes are distributed mainly among the various villages and towns, clans and some guilds; the most famous of all are the dragon-dance teams formed in Sanlin Town by the "tiaoxingkou" gangs, that is, porters and loaders. Dragon dancing here emphasises artistry, display and visual spectacle, and carries the strong metropolitan colouring of modern Shanghai folk dance.

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

Lu Dajie (recorded in the official archives of associated inheritors): Male, Han ethnicity, born in July 1949, native of Shanghai Municipality. Technical committee member of the International Dragon and Lion Federation, and deputy chair of the judges committee of the Chinese Dragon and Lion Sports Association. Immersed in dragon and lion dance performance in the Sanlin area from childhood, he graduated in 1989 from the Shanghai Dance School in the teacher-training programme, and in the 1980s took part in editing the Shanghai volume of the Collection of Chinese Folk Dances. On the basis of general surveys and excavation of dragon and lion dancing in the Shanghai area, he learned dragon dance and single-lion dance techniques from dragon and lion performers in various places, as well as the methods of making dragon props and single lions. From 1993 onward he has been engaged in the study and drafting of the rules of competitive dragon and lion dancing, in technical development, training and coaching, judging and officiating, the organisation of competitions, and lecturing abroad. He has served more than thirty times as chief referee of major domestic and international dragon and lion dance competitions. Representative inheritor of Dragon Dance (Pudong Circuiting Dragon Lantern) in the fifth national-level batch of intangible cultural heritage.

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 ↗

This static English edition is rendered at the edge for search engines, AI crawlers and readers without JavaScript; it mirrors the bilingual dossier. 阅读中文版，或返回英文名录。