Dragons fly in the fire, and people dance in the fire. The shirtless dragon dancers shuttle through the blazing iron flowers, dancing the fire dragon in their hands. Have you ever seen this 1500°C "dragon"?
In Tongliang, Chongqing, if you don't look at the fire dragon, it is not a New Year. The fire dragon dance is a traditional folk activity in Tongliang, and the Tongliang dragon dance is the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage, known as "China's first dragon".
Zhu Huawei, a molten iron master, has been involved in Tongliang Fire Dragon for 30 years and is a "dragon master" who has mastered kung fu. During this year's Spring Festival, Zhu Huawei and other dragon dance masters brought amazing fire dragon performances. How to present this visual feast of coexistence of beauty and technology?
"Dragon Master" interpretation
The most warm Chinese romance
"Playing with the fire dragon is the unique skill of our Tongliang people, and it is not possible to do without Tongliang people!" Zhu Huawei, who began to dance the fire dragon at the age of 20, told the reporter of the main station that Tongliang is the "hometown of China's dragon lantern and dragon dance".
There are 9 dragon bodies in Tongliang, 18 meters long, with dragon balls, and 10 dragon dancers play the dance.
The fire dragon dance must be large and the light is weak to look good. A performance lasts about 10 minutes, usually with two dragons and 8 stoves, everything is ready, and the wonderful Tongliang Fire Dragon performance begins:
Lead the dragon out of the hole (fire meteor performance): The dragon dancer puts the red-hot charcoal into the small iron cage and ties it to the end of the long rope, he holds the long rope in his hand and swings the rope quickly, so that the iron cage and charcoal fly in the air, which is brilliant and makes people unable to take their eyes off.
Dragon King Debuts (Hot Wheels): The iron flowers rotated by the "Hot Wheels" are continuous layer by layer, circle by circle, and the shirtless dragon dance masters make their debut.
Live dragon (fireworks): The two dragons on the stage, light the fireworks placed in advance, and under the leadership of the dragon balls, form a three-dimensional phalanx of "fire in the mouth", "fire on the spine", "fire in the belly" and "guiding fire", which is warm and colorful.
Dragon King Turns Back (Iron Flower): This is the most anticipated part of the performance.
Zhu Huawei stood beside the stove, scooped up a spoonful of bubbling molten iron, shouted, threw the molten iron into the air, and when he was about to land, the apprentice hit hard with a wooden plank, "Bang!" A series of loud noises, 1500 °C molten iron instantly exploded in the air, blooming into a beautiful rain of fireworks.
Dragons fly in the fire, and people dance in the fire. The dragon dancer wearing goggles and shorts dances the dragon in the fire tree and silver flowers, and will not lose his pace even if the iron flowers splash on his body.
The sparks flew to the audience, and they couldn't help but retreat, but they surged forward, this is the most warm Chinese romance, "The sparks of the dragon dance can burn a good year and good luck!"
1500°C iron flower
Behind the "must have an accurate head"
The shocking fire dragon performance is inseparable from the mutual cooperation of the molten iron master and the dragon dance master. Zhu Huawei said, "The molten iron master must know when the dragon dance master will appear, and at which angles the molten iron will not hurt people, but also blow up beautifully, which requires accumulated practice and tacit understanding." ”
There is a lot of preparation to be done before the fire dragon dance, and every step must not be sloppy, especially the burning of molten iron.
Burning molten iron is a technical job, and the heat must be mastered well and there must be enough patience. When the performance reaches its climax, the temperature of the molten iron is not good, and the heat is not good. If the heat is insufficient, the hot iron will splash on the dragon dance master, leaving large and small scars.
△Before the performance, Zhu Huawei was boiling molten iron.
After 30 years of dancing the fire dragon, Zhu Huawei has found a set of experience: it must be burned with pure pig iron for about 40 minutes, and the temperature can reach 1500 °C. "The charcoal used to burn molten iron must be white, and the molten iron is red and bubbling outward" to be considered qualified molten iron.
△ Pig iron used for striking iron flowers
△ Tools used to make iron flowers
When the molten iron of 1500 °C reaches the high altitude and falls, the temperature is as high as two or three hundred degrees Celsius, the molten iron drips on the skin will quickly bounce off, the bare shoulders are the safest, everyone has sweat on the body during the performance, it is not easy to be burned, if you wear clothes, the molten iron can not bounce off, but it is easy to be injured. "But in the dragon dance team, getting burned is commonplace. Zhu Huawei's body also left a lot of "iron flower" scars.
"It's not just a casual splash of iron flowers, you have to have an accurate head. In order to ensure the effect of the performance, Zhu Huawei has to train every day and practice with water to simulate molten iron. The weight of molten iron and water is not the same, a spoonful of molten iron is twice as heavy as a spoonful of ordinary water, the purpose of practicing water is to feel the feeling of water falling on the body, and the water must be beaten into a water mist before the molten iron master can play.
"The higher and straighter the molten iron is thrown, the more scattered the iron flowers will be, and the less likely it will be to hurt people. ”
△ Zhu Huawei's apprentice is practicing playing iron flowers with water
The dragon dance and the iron flower complement each other, and the spacing and point of the dragon dance players, including when to turn, are also particular. Zhu Huawei said that the fire dragon dance also contains the truth of life, "At which point a person in front turns, the person behind must step on the footprints of the previous person, otherwise the direction of the dragon will be deformed, which also reminds young people to do things steadfastly, don't think about taking shortcuts." ”
△ Zhu Huawei is making preparations before striking iron flowers
On weekdays, go south and north to "catch the field"
The Spring Festival is ready to perform at the doorstep
The dragon dancers of Tongliang go south and north all the year round to "catch up with the field". Zhu Huawei and his apprentices danced the fire dragon all over China in a hurry, and also danced abroad.
On the eve of the Spring Festival, as a cultural business card of Chongqing, the Tongliang Fire Dragon performed all the way north, passing through Shaanxi, Henan, Shanxi, Hebei, Tianjin, Jilin, Liaoning, and finally came to Harbin, Heilongjiang.
△ Tongliang Fire Dragon came to Harbin
In recent years, more and more young people have returned to their hometowns and taken the initiative to join the dragon dance team to learn intangible cultural heritage skills. Zhu Huawei is very pleased: "Now there are a lot of dragon dance teams in Tongliang, many apprentices have come out, and I am also very busy, but I am very energetic." ”
During the Spring Festival, there are fire dragon performances and dragon lantern art festivals in Tongliang District every day, which is very lively. In previous years, during the Spring Festival, Zhu Huawei was busy dancing dragons in other places, and he had not reunited with his family for many years, but this year he decided to spend the New Year at home.
"The development of my hometown is getting better and better, I want to dance the fire dragon at the door of my house during the Spring Festival, and I hope that my family will also come to see it and have a reunion together!"
CCTV News specially planned the "Life Guanghualu New Year Special Issue" for the New Year, and set off towards spring together.
▌Source of this article: CCTV News WeChat public account (ID: cctvnewscenter)
Producer/Li Zhe Producer/Ma Wenjia
Reporter/Zhang Yalan, Li Hongmiao, Wang Yang, Tongliang District Rong Media Center
Editor/Zhang Yalan Proofreader/Gao Shaozhuo
Photography / Tongliang District Rong Media Center Tang Mingbin Chen Gang
Video/blogger @Chase Shadow Mountains and Rivers
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