Dragon Dance

Ⅲ-4Traditional DanceQianjiang, HubeiBatch 4 (2014)Extension Item

01 · Historical Records

The “straw bundle dragon” is performed in the form of a dragon dance and originates in the Yu-ritual for rain-seeking of the pre-Qin period.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

Making straw bundle dragon lanterns out of rice straw is a time-honoured tradition of rice-cultivating regions; the Qianjiang straw bundle dragon lantern preserves the ancient legacy of the Jingchu region. The Tongzhi-era Gazetteer of Laifeng County records in volume twenty-eight, “Customs · Prayers and Averted Disasters”: “weaving straw into a dragon.” The Qianlong-era Gazetteer of Zhongxiang County records in volume five, “Customs”: “dragon lantern dancing.” The Qianlong-era Gazetteer of Jingmen Prefecture records in volume eleven, “Customs”: on the Lantern Festival, “making dragon lanterns.” According to legend, in ancient times a grey dragon that brought clouds and rain fell here by mistake, and the people covered and protected its body with rice straw, which later developed into the straw dragon. The straw bundle dragon lantern is danced mostly during the Spring Festival or on the Dragon Raising its Head festival on the second day of the second lunar month, and it may also be performed from time to time in times of drought or flood, epidemics, or folk activities. The Qianjiang straw bundle dragon has many sacrificial routines: dancing the “yellow dragon coiled round the pillar” to pray the gods for rain, dancing the “dragon gate formation” to expel demons and ward off evil, dancing the “long snake formation” for the common people who pray for children, and dancing the “paying homage to the four directions” when a house is built and the foundation laid. Each routine corresponds to a particular object of sacrifice and expresses a different psychological petition. The traditional ritual decorum and prohibitions of the straw bundle dragon are strict; for example, making the dragon head has its own distinctive cultural ritual. When the straw dragon enters the home of a bereaved family, its eyes must be covered with white cloth. If it meets a cloth dragon, the cloth dragon must kowtow three times and then bend down and pass beneath the belly of the straw dragon. After the straw dragon has danced three times, it must be burned in an open low-lying place to send the dragon god back to heaven. With a thousand fields of rice and a dense network of waterways, drought and flood provided the basis for the beliefs of the rice-cultivating region. Making the straw bundle dragon out of rice straw is precisely a characteristic of rice culture. Under the driving force of organizers and core members who hold prestige among the people, this heritage project is collectively transmitted by the people of their own accord.

Yellow dragon coiling the pillar (for rain)

One of the sacrificial routines of the Qianjiang straw dragon, danced to entreat rain; each routine addresses a specific deity and expresses a distinct wish.

Dragon gate array, long snake array, four-direction bow

The remaining sacrificial routines: the dragon gate array to drive off evil, the long snake array for offspring, and the four-direction bow for laying a foundation.

White cloth over the eyes and three bows

Its strict codes: entering a house in mourning the dragon's eyes must be veiled, and any cloth dragon must bow three times and pass beneath its belly.

Burning to send the dragon home

After three performances the straw dragon must be burned in low open ground to send the dragon god to heaven, a rule peculiar to the straw dragon.

Purification and the ancestors' hall

At the outset incense and paper are burned to purify the dragon god and the ancestral hall is saluted; wherever the dragon goes the local earth god is first worshipped.

Zhang Jinpan's craft and ritual

The inheritor Zhang Jinpan can complete the whole binding process alone and commands every dance technique and sacrificial procedure, notably in making heads and tails.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

At the beginning of the dragon dance, incense is burned and paper money burnt to cleanse the “dragon god,” who is then worshipped at the local shrine of the founding master. Wherever the dragon dance goes, the local earth god must first be worshipped.

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

The Qianjiang straw bundle dragon is a traditional dance centred on dragon dancing to pray for blessings and avert disasters, handed down through generations in Longwan Town, Qianjiang City, Hubei Province. The Qianjiang straw bundle dragon takes Longwan Town, Qianjiang City, Hubei Province, as its core area of transmission, and is practised in the lake district threaded with waterways within Qianjiang City and in the surrounding area. The deep-rooted popular veneration of and belief in the dragon god is the solid foundation for the continuous transmission of the straw bundle dragon lantern. The Qianjiang straw bundle dragon dance is a living fossil of the ancient Yu-ritual of the Chinese nation; its rusticity and local character are its outstanding features, it has certain historical, folklore and artistic value, and in strengthening community cohesion and other respects it also plays an incalculable role. Zhang Jinpan (as recorded in the official archive of the associated inheritor): Male, of Han nationality, born in November 1941, native of Qianjiang City, Hubei Province. He can independently complete the entire sequence of making a straw bundle dragon, and has thoroughly mastered the various dragon dance skills, sacrificial rites and their procedures; he is especially skilled in making dragon heads and tails, with fine workmanship and practised technique, and is a representative inheritor who combines making, dragon dancing and the organization of ritual activities. While carrying on the tradition, Zhang Jinpan has persisted in exploring and improving the making technique of the straw bundle dragon, making it more beautiful, solid and flexible in the choice of materials, in the making and in the modelling. At the same time, he has actively taken part in the investigation, research and sorting of materials on the history and present state of the straw bundle dragon, and has convened artists to take part in intangible cultural heritage exhibitions at provincial and city level. He has actively carried out teaching and apprenticeship work, and enjoys high prestige locally. Representative inheritor of the dragon dance (Qianjiang straw bundle dragon) inscribed 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。