Lantern Dance
01 · Historical Records
Lantern dance has existed since ancient times; even in the Qing dynasty there are records of "lantern dance" in which characters were danced out with lanterns as props. The Jiuli lantern dance passed down in Goumian Village, Huangshi Town, Licheng District, Putian City, Fujian Province, is an outstanding flower within the garden of Fujian folk dance. It originated in the lantern dance performances of myriad forms on the Lantern Festival and, handed down from generation to generation by folk artists, gradually formed a complete system of dance performance, reaching its height in the Ming and Qing dynasties.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
On every festival (especially the Lantern Festival) and during rites such as prayers for rain, sacrifices, and supplications for a good harvest, both court and common people would hold lantern dance performances. In its earliest form, lantern dance was characterized by arranging lanterns into characters; it later gradually developed into a form of folk dance in which colored lanterns are arranged to construct patterns and create artistic settings, and it spread throughout the country. Classified by the shape of the lantern display, lantern dance falls mainly into three types: those imitating animals — dragon lantern dance, lion lantern dance, fish lantern dance, clam lantern dance, butterfly lantern dance and hundred-bird lantern dance; those imitating flowers — lotus lantern dance, chrysanthemum lantern dance and waxflower lantern dance; and other forms such as boat lantern dance, cart lantern dance, cloud lantern dance and embroidered-ball lantern dance. Lantern dance performances are richly varied; they are generally presented at night as group dances on a grand scale. The performers dance as they walk, the formations change constantly, and firecrackers and fireworks are let off during the dance, making the scene a magnificent spectacle. This form of folk dance appears mostly in Han areas, while also being popular in some ethnic minority areas. The fish lanterns used in the Jiuli lantern dance are meticulously made: first bamboo strips are used as a frame and tied into the shape of a carp, and then red paper is pasted over the outside and painted with scales and fins. A finished red carp lantern is generally 1.5 metres long and 40 centimetres wide. In performance a fish lantern troupe consists of a dozen-odd fish lanterns, the leading fish lantern being slightly larger. The Jiuli lantern dance has a complete set of prescribed movements, and the performance is accompanied from the side by gong, drum, cymbals and gongs. When the fish lanterns move, one sees big red carp weaving up and down through the night, swimming leisurely and frolicking, and the joy of it deeply moves those who watch. Most of the performers of the Jiuli lantern dance are young and middle-aged adults from the countryside; those who are older generally take responsibility for playing the gong and drum in accompaniment. If during a performance the dragon dance troupe of a neighbouring village is encountered, there is another set of dance moves in which fish and dragon sport with each other, used to express the mutual goodwill of the two sides. The Jiuli lantern dance touches on many fields of research such as folklore, archaeology, martial arts and art, and is characterized by mass participation, entertainment and aesthetic appeal. Its rare nine-carp props and its rich folk dance vocabulary and performance formats have received high praise from the experts and scholars concerned. As the commercialization of culture has intensified, the traditional Putian Jiuli lantern dance has declined rapidly; performers and prop makers are steadily dwindling, its prospects are not optimistic, and it urgently needs rescue and support.
Making the fish lantern
The fish lanterns are built on bamboo splint frames in carp shape, then covered in red paper and painted with scales and fins.
The metre-and-a-half carp lantern
Each red carp lantern measures about 1.5 metres by 40 centimetres, and a team fields a dozen or more of them with a slightly larger leading fish.
The fish-and-dragon encounter
When the team meets a neighbouring dragon troupe a special fish-and-dragon routine is danced as a gesture of friendship, to the accompaniment of gong, drum, cymbals and small gongs.
Family transmission of the props and mnemonics
The dance survives only in the clan village north of Goubian, where the prop-making craft and the dance mnemonics pass within the family.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The Jiuli lantern dance has Goumian Village as its place of transmission; the making of the fish lanterns and the dance methods are handed down mostly within the clan.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Lantern Dance · Lantern Dance · Lantern Dance · Lantern Dance · Lantern Dance · Lantern Dance · Lantern Dance · Lantern Dance · Lantern Dance · Lantern Dance · Lantern Dance.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Today this distinctive folk dance survives only in the clan-based natural village to the north of Goumian Village, and the prop-making techniques and the verbal formulas of the dance are likewise passed down inside the family. Chen Jinwen (as recorded in the official file of the associated inheritor): He learned the techniques of the Jiuli lantern dance from his elders in childhood and has fully mastered both the performance and the prop-making techniques of the Jiuli lantern dance. He can perform the dance postures of various kinds of fish with skill, vividly depicting the movements of fish as they sometimes leap and sometimes dive, and has received the Excellent Performance Award issued by the Provincial Department of Culture and the Provincial Federation of Literary and Art Circles. Besides this, he has paid attention to collecting and organizing relevant documentary materials, exploring the historical origins of lantern dance, uncovering its cultural content, and cooperating with the relevant departments in compiling the materials on Putian Jiuli Lantern Dance. Male, Han ethnicity, born in October 1927, died in January 2018, native of Putian City, Fujian Province. Representative inheritor of the national-level intangible cultural heritage project Lantern Dance (Putian Jiuli Lantern Dance) in the third batch. Since 2002 he has successively organized Jiuli lantern dance troupes for senior, young and middle-aged groups, taught the techniques of lantern dance, and trained a group of successors.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Chen Jinwen 03-0930
- Wu Guanqiu 03-0931
- Wuqifu 03-0932
- Guo Bingqiang 05-2253
- Yang Senfang 05-2254
- Huang Jiehai 05-2255
- Ren Juntang 05-2256
- Deng Jianmin 05-2257
- Shi Qing 05-2258
- Chen Wenshi
- He Wu
- Shi Guanbin
- Yang Hairen
- Mao Mingkang
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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