Tujia Dragon Lantern Dancing Dragon

Tujia lantern dragon, also known as Baolong, Denglong, Donglong and Raptors, is popular in the market towns where Liu Tujia people live in compact communities. In Nuxi Shili Gallery, the Lantern Festival usually starts on the third day of the first month and ends on the fifteenth. Lantern Dragon consists of nine segments (meaning: the old dragon was cut into nine segments). The faucet is tied into a shelf with bamboo strips, pasted with white Qingming paper and painted with various colors. Its shape is lifelike, with horns, mouth, eyes and beard. Each section of the dragon body is tied into a cylindrical shape with thin strips, and the outside is pasted with Qingming paper. The dragon tail is also tied into a fishtail shape with thin strips. The dragon head, dragon body and dragon tail are connected with red cloth belts, and each node has a candle lamp, which looks like a lantern.

Dragon dancing is very lively. There are two or four rows of lights in front to clear the way, indicating which village and street the dragon is. There are fish, shrimp and mussels behind the lamp. Shake your head and tail in the sound of gongs and drums and horns, and travel all over the streets. The actions of playing with lanterns and dragons include Huanglong entering the sea, Jinlong holding the column, Erlong grabbing the treasure, the old dragon turning over, and Jinlong crossing the sea cucumber.

Dragon dancers are mostly young and middle-aged masters with quick eyes and quick hands, strong body and high dancing skills. Most of them go shirtless and roll with the dragon. Lights don't go out, dragons don't stop, firecrackers don't stop. Once the water is sprayed into the dragon's mouth, the host will pull the dragon beard and hang friends in red, and entertain the dragon dance team with first-class tricks. If the dragon dancer is timid and afraid of fireworks and firecrackers, the coal dragon will bow his head in front of the door, and he will leave, without the owner's colored silk and the best taste.

Wherever the lantern dragon goes, firecrackers are constantly ringing, fireworks are everywhere, and onlookers are packed. In order to welcome the lantern dragon into the house, 36 pairs of barrel guns were arranged in front of the door, and tens of thousands of firecrackers rang, hoping that the brave would try it in the courtyard. When the lantern dragon entered the courtyard, the fireworks and firecrackers outside the door exploded in the air, and the fire was everywhere. At this time, all the lights except those of the lantern dragon are extinguished. Lantern dragons dance in the afterglow of firecrackers and fireworks, which is very spectacular.

Sometimes lanterns and dragons dance directly into people's courtyards, and fireworks fly all over the sky, which is very lively. Although fireworks are flying all over the sky, they can't hurt dragons or people. Occasionally, unskilled people dance lanterns and dragons into the hospital, leaving only a bamboo ring when they come out (in the case of leaving the hospital naked with a bamboo ring). 13 to 15 are dragon burning days. Dragon burning is carried out by streams or ditches with water. Put the dragon on the ground and spray the prepared fireworks, firecrackers and other sparks to the dragon body. After burning, everyone roared "Ah" and jumped for a while, sending the dragon wreckage into the water, which means sending the dragon back to the sea.

Tujia's "Dragon Protection" and loong Worship

In the legend of the Chinese nation, Baolong can be hidden, detailed and huge, short and long. The vernal equinox ascends to the sky, and the autumnal equinox dives into the deep, omnipotent; In feudal society, the upper class is the embodiment of imperial power, while the people are auspicious signs.

As the embodiment of feudal imperial power, the ancient village of Nuxi Dawanba people has been under the rule of the central dynasty since ancient times. It belonged to the ghost face in the Yin and Zhou Dynasties and the southern border of Pakistan in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. Since then, the Central Plains culture has spread to various border areas through political channels. In ancient society, human beings could not make scientific explanations for some astronomical phenomena, natural disasters, plagues and diseases, but could only pray for the blessing of various gods. As the main object of totem worship, dragon was undoubtedly the main body of people's worship at that time.

After Qin and Han Dynasties, as the embodiment of imperial power, Baolong has penetrated into every corner. As a symbol of rule, it maintains social stability and unity to a certain extent and promotes social progress and development. As a recessive cultural symbol of folk beliefs, dragon has been spread and consolidated, and accumulated more beneficial development elements.

As a symbol of good fortune among the people. Taking the dragon as an auspicious symbol is the product of worshipping the dragon as a protector. So people draw dragons everywhere, draw dragon shapes, and even lie about seeing dragons. Until modern times, there are still many dragon-related patterns circulating in Tujia areas of jiangkou county, which can be seen everywhere in furniture wood carving, decoration and many stone carving works, as well as in daily necessities such as suspenders, waists and costumes, which is undoubtedly the result of taking dragons as auspicious symbols.

On February 2nd, the "Dragon Head Up" Festival is an important traditional folk festival in China, and it is a day dedicated to the dragon god. According to relevant scholars' research, the formation of the Dragon Head-lifting Festival on the second day of the second lunar month is the product of China people's worship of the dragon as the water god in charge of rain. On the second day of the second lunar month, during the vernal equinox, the earth gradually warms up. According to folklore, the dragon that has been dormant for a winter began to move from this day, and then the rain increased. As early as the eighth year of Yongle (14 10), there was a graphic record of "dancing dragons for rain" in the area of Ba people's ancient village in Nuxi Dawan.

By the Qing dynasty, a place dedicated to the dragon god had been built. Historical materials (Daoguang) contain: "Dragon Shrines: On the left side of Zitong Pavilion, there are three temples. In the 18th year of Daoguang (1838), wood blade Temple was built, and then Guanyin Building was built. In the fifty-ninth year of Qianlong (1794), county citizens Liu Xin and Liu Sheng donated the building and built it outside the hall. This temple was created by changing its hall. " In the "Tongren Prefecture Records", there is such a narrative when the Dragon Palace is recorded. In the fifth year of Yongzheng, the imperial edict said: "The Dragon God walked in the rain, enriching the country and helping the people, which played a significant role. I set up dragon statues in various provinces of Beijing to pray for them. Today, I think that the Dragon God specifically asks for rain in various provinces ... I specially created two statues of the Dragon God in various provinces, greeted them with provincial governors, offered sacrifices to the local area, and exhibited them devoutly. " It can be seen that the worship of dragons and the wind of begging for rain prevailed in various places at that time.

According to legend, during the Tongzhi period of Qing Dynasty, Liu Honggui, an ancient village of Dawanba in Nuxi, made great contributions to suppressing the uprising of Huang Haojun, and became a four-grade official residence. People say that he was born as a dragon dancer, so he carved two dragons on the tombstone. In the ruins of Guzhai, a tombstone carved by a hostess and a phoenix by a man adds a mysterious color to the dragon worship of Tujia people. By the time of the Republic of China, dragon dancing had been concentrated in the county town from the past countryside.

Tujia "Baolong" and Ba Culture

Tujia people's "dragon protection" shows cultural characteristics besides dragon worship itself, as well as the influence of various cultural factors and national character of Tujia people.

Tujia "Baolong" and the national character of Ba people and their descendants. The outstanding features of Tujia "Baolong" to the outside world are the masculine beauty and indomitable spirit of struggle of men. According to modern scholars' research, Tujia ancestors originated from Cubans, which are recorded in historical books such as Shan Hai Jing and Han Shu. Ba people were originally mainly distributed in western Hubei and eastern Sichuan. With the expansion of Chu's power, the main force gradually moved westward. The residence is "yufu in the east, trails in the west, Hanzhong in the north, Guizhou and Fucheng in the south".

Ba people have a long history. Because I have lived in Wuling Mountain for a long time, I am belligerent and brave. According to "Eight Records of Huayang National Records", it is said: "Zhou Wuwang was really a teacher of Bashu when he attacked Zhou. Author of Shangshu. Ba Shi Yong Rui, the song and dance moved people's hearts, and the former disciple defected, so the deceased called it:' Wu Wang cut, singing before dancing'. " It can be seen from the records here that the Ba people are not only brave and sharp in fighting, but also good at singing and dancing, which has a profound cultural heritage, which is the same as the cultural characteristics of "protecting dragons". So the dragon is named after being tied with straw. Make a bibcock with a mouth, horns, eyes and a beard with a straw, make a seven-section dragon body with the same thickness as the neck of the bibcock with a bundle of straw, and then make a fishtail with nine sections, with straw connected in series at every other section and a bamboo pole inserted in each section. The grass and dragon dances are mainly held in Tujia rural cottages. Every year from May to July in the lunar calendar, it is the time to dance grass and dragons. The significance of dragon dance is that entertainment includes expelling plague and preventing fire.

Drive out the plague. During May and June of the lunar calendar, rice straw seedlings in the field are in a vigorous period, the weather is hot, and there are many pests and diseases, among which rice blast is the most destructive pest. In an era when science and technology are backward and hard to prevent, Tujia farmers use grass and dragons to drive away rice blast, which has become a habit over time and gathered for entertainment. Dancing grass to drive dragons away from the epidemic, starting from the village to the fields, dancing along the road in turn in every paddy field and every mound ridge, with the same dance movements as lantern dragons. The Dragon Dance Team, playing the trumpet, firing three cannons, beating gongs and drums, setting off firecrackers and performing dance skills, is quite spectacular. After dancing in all the fields in their respective villages, the grass will take the dragon to the stream and burn it. This is called sending the dragon back to the sea.

Remove the flame. Around the Dragon Boat Festival in May or July of the lunar calendar, the rice in the village is about to mature. On the day of dragon dance, a basin of water and a sieve of whole grains were placed in the middle of every hall in the village, waiting for the dragon dance team to come. In the dragon dance team, in addition to dancing nine grass dragons, one of them broke a 10-foot-long bamboo into a boat shape with a pot of charcoal fire in the middle, and two people carried it. There are also three archers, archers and toast, and then there are a group of free spectators. The dragon dance team, led by the toast, started from the first village head and entered every room from top to bottom. After that, the faucet nodded three times to the shrine of the room, and then circled the room, dancing all kinds of tricks. At this time, the water shooter absorbs water in the basin with a water gun (the shape is the same as that in Chapter 3), and shoots water in the southeast, northwest, middle and five directions (meaning fire fighting). The toast grabs a handful of grain in the sieve and stays in the southeast, northwest and middle directions. When they were left outside the gate of the China Club, the Dragon Dance Team went out to dance in another club. After all the families in the village finished dancing, the grass came to the stream with dragons and flames, burned it and poured it back into the sea. The meaning of dancing the dragon and moving the flame is: ask the dragon to move the flame god out of the village to avoid fire and ensure peace. Legend has it that a long time ago, when people watched dragon lanterns, three Tujia youths became more and more excited, dancing and eager to try, eager to gain wisdom. They raised the bench and imitated the dragon lantern dance, having a good time. In the future, traditional sports will be gradually formed, with entertainment and fitness at ordinary times and performances and competitions during festivals, which are deeply loved by Tujia people.

There are two styles of Wolong: one is a simple Wolong with an ordinary long bench, with three people carrying it and two people living in the front; The other is to use thin bamboo strips, including a dragon head, a dragon tail, a dragon horn, a longan and a dragon mouth, and then paste scales of various colors. The tied dragon is placed on the bench with four wooden feet showing its claws, which is very beautiful.

There are two kinds of bench dragons: single bench dragon and multi-bench dragon. One-legged dragon is jumped by three people, one with his right hand and the other with his left hand. Each person grabs the first two feet, and the third one grabs the last two feet with both hands. When dancing, head and tail are required to take care of each other and cooperate with each other. When the head is high, the tail should be low, the head should be left and the tail should be right; Looking up, the tail player let go of the transposition. A dragon-tailed dancer must be a person with fast footwork and good eyesight. The height of the two dancers is basically the same. Multi-bench dragon consists of nine benches, the first section is the dragon head, the ninth section is the dragon tail, and the rest are the dragon body. Under the leadership of the treasure changer, the faucet fluctuates up and down from time to time, turning around, just like a dragon out of water. The whole dragon needs tacit cooperation and follows each other. Wolong's movements are: two dragons grab the treasure, Huanglong wears flowers, Jinlong plays in the water, the golden cicada hulls, Huanglong rolls up and so on. Nowadays, the bench dragon performance has been put on the literary stage. The water splashing dragon of Tujia nationality is also a grand folk sports activity, which generally rose in the Tusi period. Splashing dragon is made of willow branches, and consists of dragon head, dragon body, dragon tail and rolling treasure. The whole body of a dragon is generally 12 holes, that is, one hole every month, and 13 holes in leap years. The faucet has eyes, nose, mouth, tongue, horns and whiskers, and its image is realistic. The dragon's tail is upturned and can swing from side to side. People who hold the dragon head are generally famous elders in Tujia village, and the dragon body and dragon followers hold it. Rolling treasure is also made of wicker into a ball, flying up, down, left and right in front of Longkou, forming a dragon to grab treasure.

The Dragon Splashing Dance is scheduled to be held in sunny days in the Year of the Loong in June and July of the lunar calendar. On this day, every household in Tujia village was filled with buckets, pots, water scoops and water guns in front of the door. When the water splashing dragon team with horns, suona and gongs and drums came to the door, men and women, old and young, all the water scoops, water scoops and wooden pots kept splashing on the water scoops and naked dragon dancers. Whoever splashed more water would have a good time. When jumping the water splashing dragon, all men, women and children in the village can take part in the water splashing freely, and the scene is tense, cheerful and lively. Rolling dragon lantern is a custom of Liu branch of Ba people's ancient village in Nuxi Shili Gallery and villagers in Shanhe Dilou village for the New Year. It is 36 meters long, divided into 17 sections (also known as holes), and 34 people take turns dancing. Tie nine thumb-thick bamboo strips together to connect the keel, arrange nearly 500 contempt rings with a diameter of about two feet at equal intervals to connect the keel, and then draw colorful scales on the whole white cloth to cover the rings. The faucet is twisted into a frame with thick bamboo, and then covered with cloth that describes the appearance of the faucet in advance. What's more unique is that the faucet is filled with colorful lights. When dancing at night, it is crystal clear and colorful, just like a dancing rainbow, which is very spectacular. Lingzhen Zhai Ying Gunlong is the source of this legend.

The modern "Dragon Lantern" is also called "Dragon Dance". It is about 20 meters long and 60-70 cm in diameter. The inside is made of iron wire, filled with light bulbs or candles, and wrapped with gauze. Dragon dancers are made up of dozens of people. 1 People hit dragons with hydrangeas in front of them, and all the others held dragons, performing actions such as "Two Dragons Playing with Beads", "Shuanglong Coming Out of the Water", "Longxiang" and "Dragon in the Sea". With the development of the times, the dragon lantern is full of vitality and has become a grand and enthusiastic artistic activity for enterprises, institutions and mass organizations to praise the motherland and celebrate a happy life. One of the legendary dragons. Dayu used it to control water. Its theory began in the Jin Dynasty. Jia Yu Shun's Note: "Nanxun state-owned cave has a source of yin and leads to the earth vein. There are hairy dragons and hairy fish, sometimes shedding their bones in the wilderness. Dragons and fish live in the same cave. His country enshrined a long-haired dragon, a female and a male, so he was appointed as the official of the dragon.

One side raises one person with water and soil, and the other side raises one person with art. Today, many folk arts are on the verge of extinction, but Maolong, a little-known folk art, is still brightly lit with its unique artistic courage and popularity.

According to the ancient book Nanzhongzhi, Maolong originated from the legend of "Yelang Bamboo King": "There is a women's courtyard on the waterfront, and three bamboos flow into women's feet, so I can't push it away. When I heard a child's voice, I took it back and broke it. I got a man. I was talented and martial arts since I was a child, so I became a hero. " Later generations used bamboo to tie dragons to commemorate the Yelang King. At first, JOE and Weijiaba Gelao were a famous ethnic group of Ba people in Nuxi Shili Gallery, and they celebrated the Spring Festival as their main mass cultural activities. Due to wars such as "expelling foreigners and seizing industries", "moving north to fill the south" and "moving north to move south", most of the current people have moved, and some have moved to Shiqian County in the Wujiang River Basin. Now it is mainly active in Shiqian Tangshan, Zhongba, Ganxi, Guo Rong and other towns. A hairy dragon is generally composed of two main dragons, two attached dragons and a dragon treasure. During the performance, Mao Long rolled up and down, left and right under the guidance of the treasure bearer, sometimes the head and tail danced together into a "spiral top", sometimes the treasure bearer and the lead dancer danced back to back, and sometimes the two dragons faced each other, rolling up and down with the treasure bearer, dancing together into a "two dragons grabbing the treasure". Maolong is closely followed by two dog dragons (the hounds of the legendary Yelang Bamboo King) on both sides, which is the main feature that distinguishes Maolong from other dragon lanterns in weaving and plays the role of "clown" in the performance. They sometimes lead the way in front, sometimes watch the battle, and sometimes perform "two dog grabs the ball" from behind, which makes the surrounding audience burst into laughter. At the same time, yellow smoke was used in the performance, and the whole dragon was looming in the smoke, and the scene was spectacular.

Tujia, Gelao and Miao people have lived in Nuxi Tujia and Miao Township at the southeast foot of Fanjing for generations. In the long-term historical development, various ethnic groups have formed their own colorful folk customs, unique food, colorful original songs and dances, and long-standing folk literature in the aspects of marriage and childbearing, diet, funeral etiquette, clothing residence and entertainment activities.

"Worship the pier" is a traditional folk activity of the ancient Zhaiba people in Dawan of Nuxi Shili Gallery, which involves solve riddles on the lanterns, singing songs for Ba and saying a few words. Every year, starting from the ninth day of the first month, a small stool is placed in front of every house in Bazhai, Dawan, where red envelopes, cigarettes and other things are placed. Then put a few charades "docks" on the dam in the backyard, and let the leading singers "worship the docks". solve riddles on the lanterns said eight characters in pairs, which enlivened the festive atmosphere of the Spring Festival. If you guess correctly, you will tear down a pier and the dragon dancer will take a step forward. If the singer knows nothing about the past and astronomy and geography, not only will he make a fool of himself, but people who play with lanterns and dragons will also be stopped outside the mountain by the "pier" and will not be able to enter the cottage for a while. After the singer answered correctly, the host removed the "dock" and gave the red envelope to the singer. The master also chiseled a garden hole in the cardboard, lit an oil lamp on the garden hole and held a dragon dance team. The shrewd singer replied, "Today, when we stepped into the dock city, we only heard the sound of lions' gongs and drums. After the hegemony of Qin and Han dynasties, the armies of the three countries relied on Kong Ming. "The host posed a crossword puzzle" Liang Zhu "with candles, inkstones and cypress branches. The singer casually replied:" Today, I went to the platform to pay New Year's greetings, and it is difficult to guess the pier I put. I sang the story of Liu Yin through the ages, and my brother Liang became a butterfly. " When the singer shouted "Happy Tashi" (good luck, good luck), the gongs and drums were crisp and powerful, and the drums were deafening, which pushed the festive atmosphere of Tujia people celebrating the Spring Festival with lanterns and dragons to a climax.