Tuesday, February 20 Sunny.
If you don't go to the sandbank, you can't witness the grand occasion of the incense dragon. If you don't go to the sandbank, you won't experience the shock of the incense dragon. If you don't go to Shazhou, you won't feel the love and totem of the people of Shazhou for dragons, which has such a deep meaning.
When I went to Shazhou in the New Year, I was fortunate to encounter the incense fire dragon activity in the village, and at first glance I was close and fresh, and I had mixed feelings. Looking at the thousands of thoughts again, how shocking. Although I have seen the dragon dance lantern since I was a child, the lion dance, and the nostalgia has been entangled in my heart, when I saw the dancing incense dragon, the heart was touched, like the door of time suddenly opened, and the boat of time was instantly traced back to the ancient years.
Xu is this year is the Year of the Dragon, the Chinese people love the dragon, respect the dragon, sigh the dragon, and Yanglong has indescribable feelings. Since ancient times, the dragon has been a sacred object of the Chinese people, and has been respected as the chief of all spirits by the government and the opposition for thousands of years. The dragon can be described as an auspicious symbol and totem, and it is also the spiritual totem and worship of the descendants of the Chinese nation. All continents and seas are called "descendants of the dragon".
Dragons are nothing, living in our spiritual daily life, and living more meaningfully than material. There are many things about dragons in the hometown, and the Zhuoji woman of Anren in the neighboring county is also known as rice plastic. The dragon is the first thing, a celestial species. The dragon dance lantern in Shonan is also a totem and prosperity, praying for a prosperous and prosperous New Year. The incense fire dragon in Shazhou is an extension of the incense fire dragon in Rucheng, but it is a unique folk skill that survives in the world.
The incense dragon of Rucheng is the skeleton of a dragon woven into a dragon by the folk artists in the countryside of Rucheng with straw, bamboo strips, rattan, branches, etc., commonly known as Zhao Gong whip. It is composed of a dragon's head, a dragon's body, and a dragon's tail, and the dragon's body is filled with lit incense, and the dragon dancer waives and runs at night, so that the dense incense burns red on the dragon's body and flickers and changes, so it is called "incense fire dragon". Rucheng incense fire dragon is a kind of majestic shape, exquisite structure, exquisite skills, spectacular scenes, warm atmosphere, unique traditional folk comprehensive performing arts activities, but also a special folk entertainment activities held during the Lantern Festival, in 2008 was included in the national intangible cultural heritage project.
In the folk of Rucheng, the origin of the "incense fire dragon" is very ancient and magical. It is rumored that during the Song Dynasty, Rucheng was flooded for many years, and the people were not able to make a living, so the villagers burned the grass dragon in order to eliminate the flood. Making straw dragons has become a custom and has become a traditional folk entertainment. For thousands of years, on the occasion of the Spring Festival every year, dragon dances have been held in various villages to celebrate a good harvest and pray for good weather and a good harvest. From the Spring Festival to the Lantern Festival, every day is festive, as long as the people in the village want to dance, the incense dragon will come alive.
The production of the incense dragon on the sandbank is very particular, and the "Zhao Gong Whip" with a diameter of 4 centimeters is first tied with straw to be used. According to the design drawing, the dragon head is tied into a dragon head with a Zhao Gong whip in turn, the dragon neck, the dragon body (an arch per section), the dragon tail, and then the dragon foot, dragon claw and dragon spine are tied in the specified position. The dragon head structure is complex and exquisite, Mr. horns, secondary mouths, in turn are dragon whiskers, dragon eyes, dragon ears, dragon teeth, dragon nose, nose whiskers, dragon forehead, dragon balls. The rings are tightly linked to form a whole. The whole dragon, after inserting incense, only needs to light the incense and start to set off the flames. In the process of dancing, as the wind speed increases, the incense becomes more vigorous. The majestic momentum is like a dragon in the sky, looking for light in the dark night.
The awe of the Shazhou people for the incense fire dragon is not only in the craftsmanship of production. Before the dance, the worship ceremony of the incense fire dragon is an important part of the incense fire dragon dance. The dragon dancers in the village use the ritual of washing their hands and purifying themselves to express their awe for the dragon. There is a complete set of procedures for dancing incense fire dragon: before the dance, you have to go to the ancestral hall to hold the ancestor worship ceremony, set up a case, burn incense, make a bow, and give a bow, at this time the villagers are pious and solemn, there is no noisy frolic, after the ceremony, the dragon will be raised in front of the ancestral shrine and kowtow three times, before the "dragon dance", people along the street should set off firecrackers and call it "solitaire", after the dance according to the prescribed route, and return to the ancestral shrine, the dragon's head is in the center, coiled into three circles, after the villagers pull the incense, that is, the dragon is called "turning the dragon", "the dragon returns to the sky". The next morning, the dragon ash is poured into the stream, which means "the dragon returns to the sea".
For thousands of years, the people of Rucheng have a grand event of dragon dance every year with the village as a unit, and each village has a complete set of related utensils, a complete set of gongs and drums and suona brands, which are roughly the same, but each has its own characteristics and is rich and colorful, and it is particularly popular in Shazhou Village, Hantian Village, Xiushui Village, Wenshi Village and other villages in the civilized area of Wenming Yao Township.
The incense fire dragon means auspiciousness because of the dragon, and it shows prosperity because of the fire, and it has become a folk cultural activity for Shazhou people to pray for prosperity and good auspicious wishes. At night, the grass dragon with incense all over its body dances in the countryside, and the fire dragon gallops and jumps, and its posture changes variously, and the scene is very spectacular. And it is the implication that the countryside generally has the meaning of driving away miasma and avoiding disasters. The incense fire dragon on the sandbank, in order to pray for good luck every year, good wind and rain, happiness and health, has become a historical inheritance.
Dancing incense dragon is a contest of physical strength and intelligence, in order to make the dragon dance charm, highlight the spiritual realm of the dragon, the dragon head and the dragon body between the dragon head, the dragon tail and the dragon body between the tacit understanding, flexible skills to achieve, but also need the performers in a long time of drilling, running-in, in order to really do the diving and rolling, meandering and swimming in the process of waving, in one body. And their clothing is also special, protective clothing. The key is to raise the head and tail of the dragon dancer, who are carefully selected by the village and have stamina and resilience. There is also a group of replacement people and horses, so that physical strength and endurance are at the same time, an incense fire dragon, not only to have supplementary labor, but also to supplement the incense. This unique folk custom of the spring is also the excellent traditional cultural customs of the Shazhou people in Rucheng, which is not only full of a strong local atmosphere of the sandbank, expressing the essence of the hard-working, brave, simple and kind people of the Shazhou people, but also fully embodies the unity and perseverance of the Shazhou people and the pursuit of a better life.
Nowadays, the Shazhou people dance the incense fire dragon more and more attention from the world, and I believe that this cultural custom will be more sought after by modern people. Its distinctive sports culture characteristics and profound social functions will be up and down in the long history of Chinese civilization.
Author: Tan Xuri).