The Origin of Dragon Dance in Spring Festival
Dragon dance, also known as playing with dragon lanterns, is a unique folk entertainment of Han nationality in China. From the Spring Festival to the Lantern Festival, China has the custom of playing dragon lanterns in both urban and rural areas. Legend has it that dragons can spread clouds and rain, eliminate disasters and reduce happiness, symbolizing good luck, so it is a custom for Han people all over the country to dance dragons to pray for peace and harvest.
Dragon dance originated in the Han Dynasty and has gone through several generations. Dragon dance was originally a ritual to worship ancestors and pray for rain, and later it gradually became an entertainment activity. In the Tang and Song Dynasties, dragon dancing has become a common form of expression in festivals. Dragons have appeared in historical documents for a long time. "Dragon dancing" includes "good weather, peaceful country and people", which means "praying for the New Year".
The wisdom of ancient people can't be opened, probably because the dragon is the master of the ocean in myth, with infinite power. The ocean dominates the water, and the dragon naturally becomes the rain god of crops. Food is the most important thing for people, and food is the basis of maintaining life, which indirectly controls people's lives. According to this perfunctory meaning, the importance of dragons has surpassed that of ancestors-Emperor Shun, Qi and Hou Ji.
In this way, it is not surprising that dragons were regarded as "auspicious things" by the ancients and appeared in celebrations and sacrifices. "Wang Lizhi" said: "Sacrifice in the ancestral temple is called the key in spring, the emperor in summer, the taste in autumn and the roast in winter". The reason why people want to dance dragons is related to the lack of scientific knowledge of natural phenomena in agricultural production of ancient working people. They fantasize that the dragon is in charge of the rain, and want to pray for the dragon by dancing the dragon, so as to keep the good weather and the good harvest.
Legend of Dragon Dance in Spring Festival
Legend of Dragon Dance 1: It is said that the back pain of the Dragon King is unbearable. Is there any medicine for lumbago in the Dragon Palace? So the dragon king disguised himself as an old man and went out for medical treatment. The doctor thought the dragon king's pulse was abnormal, so he said, "It's not human.". The Dragon King looks scared, but he can't hide the truth. So he told the doctor the truth and the reason for coming to see a doctor. So the doctor changed the dragon king back into his real body, and then pulled out a centipede from under the dragon forest at the waist of the dragon king. After the centipede was caught, the doctor put some plaster on it. The dragon king is very good. In order to thank the doctor for his treatment, the Dragon King said to the doctor that "dragon dancing can bring good harvest". This story is circulated among the people, and dragons are danced every spring to pray for a bumper harvest in the coming year.
Legend of Dragon Dance II: In ancient times, Pangu, Shennong and Fuxi took turns to take charge of the treasure of the town house-a faucet and a walking stick, with the first day of the first month of each year as the shift change time. On this day, Fuxi had just taken office when he suddenly saw the boy with five epidemics turn into a black gas and rush to the world. Fuxi was afraid that Wu Wen's children would go to the world to do evil, so he threw the dragon rod into the air. The scepter immediately turned into a golden dragon, opened its mouth wide, swallowed all the plagues released by Wentong at once, and then seized Wentong and imprisoned him. Because the dragon's head and staff are all made of Yuzhu, later people made a dragon with a wax lamp in it according to the appearance of Yuzhu Dragon, and danced and circled by themselves to eliminate plague immunity.
Legend of Dragon Dance 3: The Jade Emperor once had a carved dragon stick, which became a living dragon because of years of feeling immortal. One day, when the jade emperor was resting, he secretly ran to the earth to make trouble and endanger the people. The Jade Emperor was very angry with the common people, so he sent heavenly soldiers and generals down to arrest him, and then let the common people burn him. The dragon was burned to death and danced, and when he had only one breath left, he was taken back to heaven. Since then, there has been a folk custom of dancing dragons and setting fire to eliminate disasters and welcome blessings.
the dragon dance
The main prop for playing dragon lanterns is "dragon". Dragons are made of grass, bamboo, wood, paper and cloth. The number of dragons is singular, which means good luck. Most of them are nine-section dragons, eleven-section dragons and thirteen-section dragons, up to twenty-nine. Dragons with more than fifteen knots are bulky and unsuitable for dancing. They are mainly used for viewing. This kind of dragon pays special attention to decoration and has high technological value. There is also a kind called "fire dragon", which forms a cage by weaving bamboo sticks into cylinders, affixing transparent and beautiful dragon clothes, and lighting candles or oil lamps to burn. The performance in the evening was spectacular.
The "dragon" for dragon dancing is usually placed in the local Longwang Temple. On the day of dragon dance, the dragon body was invited out of the temple with flags, gongs and drums and horns as the leading factor, and the dragon tail was connected to hold a closing ceremony. The dragon body is tied into a dragon shape with bamboo, one by one. Covered with a huge red cloth painted by Longlin. Every five or six feet, one person holds the pole, and the head and tail are separated by about ten feet. In front of the dragon, one person holds the pole, and a huge ball is erected at the top of the pole as a guide. When dancing, the giant ball swings back and forth, and the faucet catches the ball, making the dragon body swim and fly.
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