The Historical Development of Dragon Dance

Dragon dance refers to a traditional sports activity in which the dragon dancer, under the guidance of the dragon ball, holds dragon tools and accompanies drum music, and completes the dragon's movements and routines such as swimming, wearing, jumping, turning, rolling, beating, winding, group painting and modeling through the changes of human body movements and postures, so as to fully display the dragon's essence, spirit, qi and rhyme. The Chinese nation is the most populous country in the world. As long as there are places where China people live in the world, they regard "dragons" as auspicious things. During festivals, congratulations, blessings, exorcism, worship of gods and temple fairs, there is the custom of dancing "dragons".

This is because "Dragon" is a totem worshipped by the Chinese nation for generations. In ancient times, China people regarded "dragon" as a magical thing, which could spread clouds and rain, eliminate disasters and reduce happiness. For thousands of years, people in China called themselves "descendants of dragons".

China Han folk dance. Named after a dancer holding a dragon-shaped prop in China legend. The image of the dragon originated from the totem in ancient China, and it is regarded as a symbol of the Chinese nation and a god who can spread clouds and rain, eliminate disasters and reduce happiness. Therefore, in some places, if it doesn't rain for a long time, it will dance dragons and pray for rain; In some places, after transplanting rice, dragons are danced to repel insects. Dragon dance has a long history, and there has been a relatively complete dragon dance movement in Han Dynasty. According to Dong Zhongshu's "Spring and Autumn Story" in the Han Dynasty, it was recorded that the four seasons prayed for rain at that time, spring dance Qinglong, Summer Dance Red Dragon Huanglong, Autumn Dance White Dragon and Winter Dance Black Dragon; Each dragon is tens of feet long, and 5 ~ 9 dragons dance together at a time. After nearly 2000 years of creation and development of working people, folk dragon dances are not only superb in skills, but also more and more colorful in performance forms. Among them, the following is widely circulated. Dragon lanterns are also called fire dragons and golden dragons. Bamboo sticks are tied into bibcock, dragon body and dragon tail, ranging from 3 to 10, and the number of knots is mostly odd. Festivals are connected with 100 ~ 170 cm silk, and then Jackie Chan's image is colored. There are lighted lamps and candles in each festival, and wooden handles are installed under the festival, which can be held when dancing. When dancing, one person holds a treasure ball (spherical lantern) and leads the dance in front of the faucet to show that the dragon catches the treasure ball. The movements of the dragon lantern include the dragon wagging its tail and the golden dragon winding the jade column. Dragon lanterns are mostly danced on holiday nights. Some areas also set off fireworks and firecrackers at the same time. With drums, gongs, cymbals, suona and other musical instruments, it is more magnificent and vivid. Bulong is also called playing dragon. Slightly different from dragon lanterns is that candles are not lit on festivals, which are generally longer than 10. At the beginning of the dance, it bends from left to right, with nine turns and ten turns, sometimes slow and sometimes urgent, and twists and turns. Bulong is characterized by fast movements, large amplitude and agile and vigorous dancing. More than two dragons perform two dragons to grab the ball together. Cloth dragon's movements include golden dragon spraying water, snow capping, white crane spreading its wings, double jumping dragon gate and so on. Grass dragons are mainly popular in southern China. Dragons are made of straw, green or willow branches. Dragons in some places are also full of incense, so they are also called fragrant flower dragons. This kind of dragon usually dances in the evening between May and June of the lunar calendar, and the stars shine when dancing. There used to be insect disasters, and we jumped more grass dragons; Some places dance when praying for rain and throw water at dragons, so they are also called water dragons. White Ye Long is mainly popular in Zhejiang province. At the beginning of the dance, people hold lotus lanterns, lotus leaf lanterns and butterfly lanterns with wooden handles and dance alternately. Finally, a big lotus lamp became a faucet, a butterfly lamp became a dragon's tail, and other lamps became dragons, just like a dragon flying in the air. Duan Long is mainly popular in Jiangsu Province. There is no cloth connection between the dragon head, the dragon body and the dragon tail, only 230-300 cm red silk is tied to the dragon head and each dragon body. Duan Long is mostly a female dance, light and elegant, with the dance characteristics of Jiangnan water town.

As early as the Han Dynasty (205 BC-AD 2 19), there were miscellaneous notes that recorded such a spectacular scene: in order to pray for rain, people wore colorful clothes and danced colorful dragons. Gradually, dancing "dragon" has become a necessary form for people to express their good wishes and pray for a happy birthday, especially in festive festivals, people dance "dragon" with their hands to vent their cheerful emotions.

There are hundreds of dragon dances in China. After thousands of years of circulation and development, the forms of expression are more diverse. The popularity of dragon dance is inseparable from its mass and entertainment. Folklore, "seven or eight years old, playing with grass dragons; When you are 15 or 16 years old, you play with dragons, and teenagers dance with dragons in their prime. " When playing with dragons, there are as few as one or two people, and as many as 100 people dance a big dragon. The most common name is "Dragon". Dragon dancing is often accompanied by dozens of cloud lanterns, which are often danced at night, so the "dragon" is also called "dragon lantern".

When playing the dragon lantern, dozens of big men walked around in the cloud lantern holding the dragon, sometimes jumping and sometimes diving, which changed a lot, and occasionally there were firecrackers and fireworks, which was very powerful! Hundreds of revelers are surrounded by gongs and drums, which are spectacular and lively!

This magnificent scene greatly aroused people's emotions, inspired and inspired people. Therefore, dragon dancing has become an indispensable sport to maintain the traditional culture of the Chinese nation, and it also embodies the invincible heroism of the people of China.

origin

Dragon is the first of the four spirits in China, and people in China respect and fear it. In our minds, the dragon is auspicious, the master of wind and rain, and the destroyer of wild waves; Its power is unmatched by the fiercest beast. Because the dragon is the master of water, in the coastal areas of China, fishermen build temples to worship in order to keep good weather, and there are many myths about dragons in the coastal areas.

It seems that life is like a dream, and dragon dancing at night is one of the folk arts with national color in China. Whenever there are large-scale festivals, large-scale celebrations and parades, there will be dragon dances. As for when the dragon dance started, it is beyond reproach. However, in ancient times, in the event of floods, droughts, plagues and evil spirits, the ritual custom of dancing dragons and praying for rain can be imagined. Since ancient times, China believed that the dragon was the master of wind and rain and had boundless magic power, so he prayed for its mercy and protection during drought and waterlogging.

In the ceremony, wizards and wizards imitate the dragon's movement posture, rotate and dance, and use the magical principle of "as if life were" to pray for rain and sunshine. This is the original origin of dragon dance. This is a future thing, and the ceremony of this festival has evolved into an entertainment-assisted celebration. From the beginning of the Song Dynasty evening play recorded in Hua Meng, Tokyo: "On the left and right doors, the stalks of grass are dragon-shaped, dragons are covered with green curtains, and lanterns and candles are densely placed on the grass, looking like dragonflies", it can be seen that the custom of dragon dancing has prevailed in the Middle Ages. In modern times, the custom of dragon dancing is popular in the northern and southern provinces of China. Golden Dragon and Silver Dragon are indispensable for the Spring Festival, which is more lively and colorful than lion dance.

"Dragon" is a powerful clan with totem, which moved eastward from the west (Gansu and Xixia) and entered the Central Plains. This is the later "summer". Fuxi and Nu Wa are famous figures of China's former formula. Legend has it that they are brother and sister, and some people say they are husband and wife. In the stone carvings and brick paintings of the Han Dynasty, there are often portraits of the snake heads of Fuxi and Nu Wa. Fuxi and Nu Wa in these portraits are adults above the waist, wearing robes and crowns, while below the waist are snakes with two tails tightly intertwined (occasionally dragons); The faces of the two bodies are either forward or backward. People at that time actually believed that they were ancestors and protectors from legends. Therefore, many of his portraits were carved in the tombs of ancient temples to protect the dead and let them enjoy underground happiness.

This powerful dragon totem clan entered Xichuan from Gansu and Xian 'an. The land of Bashu is also named after this clan (the pictograph of Bashu House is Baba, which is the pictograph of snake), and then it goes down the Yangtze River, from Sichuan to Wuhan to Henan in the Central Plains. Later, they were hostile to the totem Yin nationality, and some of them moved northward, which was the later Xiongnu. So Attila's place of worship to heaven and earth is also called "Long Ting", which also indicates the relationship with dragons. The nationalities in Jingchu and wuyue in the early Zhou Dynasty and the Miao nationality in the southwest moved southward. Although the part left in place was conquered by the Yin nationality, its cultural influence has always existed. At that time, dragons and snakes were painted on bronzes in Shang Dynasty. Therefore, although in the Yin Dynasty, Fuyi was still qualified to burn sacrifices.

The Xia Dynasty is an era, so there are more legends about the relationship between Yu and the dragon, the first monarch in the Xia Dynasty. According to legend, Yu himself is a dragon, and his success in controlling water is also the dragon's assistance. Qi, the son of Yu, is also driving two dragons to hang two green dragons. Xia culture is the real cultural standard of our country. Emperors of all ages thought it was the incarnation of the dragon. The clothes they wear are called "dragon robes", the bed they sleep in is called "dragon bed", and the fetus conceived by the queen is also called "dragon fetus". Therefore, the dragon has become a sacred and noble "creature" in China.

Dragon is a nation and mysterious god in China. Of course, the dragon referred to here is "loong", not a dinosaur in primitive times. Does "loong" exist or ever existed? This is a "God knows" question. This kind of "animal" without fossils can be seen in the picture!

However, people in China have always believed that dragons are really mysterious, and even ancient metaphysics scholars who study the Book of Changes are convinced that there must be a dragon destined to go to heaven, earth and fire in the universe. The Book of Changes often talks about dragons and uses their positions and traces to predict good luck.