Editor's note
General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "Every civilization continues the spiritual blood of a country and a nation, which needs to be passed down from generation to generation, and more importantly, it needs to keep pace with the times and be brave in innovation." "Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, General Secretary Xi Jinping has put the promotion of the creative transformation and innovative development of China's excellent traditional culture in a prominent position, and promoted the inheritance, development and rejuvenation of China's excellent traditional culture, including intangible cultural heritage.
To this end, "Wei Jiazhou" has launched the town (street) series of "Keeping "Memory" Time". By focusing on intangible cultural heritage inheritors or folk craftsmen, we will explore the past and present of traditional skills, as well as the protection, inheritance and innovative development of traditional skills, so as to form a pattern of participation of the whole society, so that Chinese traditional culture can continue to be carried forward in the continuous inheritance.
Today, decrypt with Jia Meier
White horse dragon dance
Jiazhou Lantern Dance is one of the Chinese folk dances with a long history, and it will be successfully declared in 2023 for the list of representative items of intangible cultural heritage in Shizhong District, mainly performed during the Lantern Festival.
Before the founding of the People's Republic of China, Baima Town was the famous hometown of dragon lanterns, and its white horse dragon dance, commonly known as "playing dragon lanterns", was an important ceremony for the people of Leshan Baima to pray for good weather and abundant grains. "Leshan County Chronicles" (Republic of China) records: "The ninth day of the first month of the first month of Shangjiu is commonly known as Shangjiu, from the day to the Shangyuan, tied into a dragon shape with paper, called the dragon lantern." ”
The White Horse Dragon Dance is developed from the folk cattle dance performance "Niu Er Lantern". "Cow lamp" originated from the folk custom of "beating spring cattle" since the Ming and Qing dynasties, with farming as the theme, with bamboo cow head, black linen cloth as the body, hemp rope dyed black as the tail, by the two people cooperate to wear cowhide, wear the cow head, in the form of speaking, singing, walking, dancing as the performance form, by the shepherd boy dance to cause difficult movements, such as drilling the fire ring, climbing the bench, turning over the high platform, in order to show joy and auspiciousness, the performance of this traditional dance symbolizes the people's vision of a bumper harvest and smooth wind and rain.
In the eighties and nineties of the twentieth century, the "Niu'er Lantern" performance was accompanied by the national musical instrument suona, the accompaniment of the bamboo flute and the self-composed gong and drum percussion, which was active in the streets and alleys of the festival and the fields, and also appeared on the performance stage of the major festivals together with the dragon lantern, lion lantern, aquarium lantern, etc., and gradually developed into a folk celebration, the white horse dragon dance that the common people entertained themselves when they were in their spare time.
There are many wonderful dragon dance skills in the White Horse Dragon Dance, including basic movements such as rolling, panning, swimming, and stringing, as well as difficult movements such as jumping, lying, wrestling, and spinning. In the performance, the golden dragon chasing pearls, the dragon roaming, the dragon head diving, the dragon tail swinging and other performance methods are dazzling. The more than 10-meter-long dragon sometimes soars, sometimes enters the sea and breaks the waves, forming a flexible, vivid, fit, and majestic performance characteristics.
Before the founding of the People's Republic of China, there was a famous grass dragon in the essence village of Baima Town, but in the early days, due to fewer and fewer people mastering this skill, the Jiazhou lantern dance once fell into a lost situation. With the reform and opening up and social and economic development, the White Horse Dragon Dance flourished again in White Horse Town, and after the establishment of White Horse Town in 1982, the Dragon Lantern Team was reorganized for training and running-in. In 1986, the dragon dance gradually appeared in the eyes of the people of Leshan.
In 1992, White Horse Town developed from a number of 3-person dragon dance teams to 30-person dragon performances, which were passed down to a group of young people around 30 years old by the older generation. In 1992, the White Horse Town Dragon Dance Team participated in the International Coconut Festival with the Leshan City Performance Troupe. In 1994, he participated in the Sichuan Folk Art Festival at the Chengdu Gymnasium. Up to now, Jiazhou Lantern Dance has always been active in various activities, deeply loved by people, and has a good state of survival.
Source: Rong Media Center, Shizhong District, Leshan City, Baima Town