Early in the morning of February 23, the villagers of the dragon dance team of Datian Street, Linhai City, rushed to repair the keel, paste dragon paper, and prepare for the dragon dance performance. During the performance, the dragon is mainly walking, with the cooperation of gongs and drums, the old dragon takes the lead, the new dragon follows, the dragon is shaking, interspersed with crossing, jumping and other actions, showing the majestic posture of the dragons riding the wind and waves, mighty and sacred, and pulling out the clouds and driving the fog. Through the dragon dance, the spiritual meaning of the dragon is displayed, and the prayer of the people of Daejeon for good weather and abundant crops is also interpreted.
In Daejeon Street, there is the custom of dancing "Banlong" every Lantern Festival, these days, Daejeon Banlong, which has a history of hundreds of years, has been busy walking around the village, and everywhere it goes, it is lively and jubilant, and the scene is very spectacular.
It is worth mentioning that 4 foreign friends were specially invited to participate in the event, and the young speaker Yang Chengye enthusiastically introduced the origin and customs of the Lantern Festival to them. They either followed the dragon dance procession, or stopped to watch, or experienced it in person, feeling the unique charm brought by the intangible cultural heritage board dragon. "This is the first time I have seen such a shocking dragon dance performance, and it has made me deeply feel the breadth and profundity of traditional Chinese culture. I am very honored to be a part of celebrating this wonderful holiday with all of you. American friends who participated in the event said.
It is reported that Datian Banlong is a "lantern in the shape of a dragon", each section of the dragon body is made of eight bamboo pieces as the keel, two pieces of white paper as the dragon skin, a red paper paste dragon section at both ends, the dragon body is pasted with landscape flowers and birds, drama characters and other folk paper-cuts, the dragon belly is lit candles, the distance is the scales, the close view is the painting, the candlelight that beats slightly inside also adds a little agility to the dragon body of the whole board dragon.
At the end of 2023, Daejeon Banlong will dance on CCTV again and participate in the recording of the CCTV Spring Festival Gala of "East, West, South, North and South to Celebrate the New Year".
*: Wangchao client.