Text/Wei Jianfeng, Qiu Ruini, Lai Jiahua, Zheng Kun, Chen Yangyi
In Puzhai Town, Fengshun County, Meizhou City, during the Lantern Festival, people use bamboo strips and straw to tie up In the shape of a "golden dragon", firecrackers and incense are placed on the "golden dragon", accompanied by gongs and drums, and the "golden dragon" is set off and danced, commonly known as "burning dragon" to pray for good weather and a good harvest. This is a folk sacrificial ritual and custom of exorcising evil spirits and praying for blessings that began in the sixth year of Qianlong's reign (1741) in the Qing Dynasty and has been passed down from generation to generation in Puzhai.
The flying dragon celebrates the festival
As an ancient totem, the dragon has a high status in the hearts of the Hakka people. Not only do dragons often appear in traditional Hakka buildings, but the ones enshrined under the main tablet of ancestor gods in the ancestral hall are also called "Five Directions Dragon Gods". On festive days, Hakka people will perform dragon dances to pray for the dragon’s blessing. “Puzhai Fire Dragon” is one of the most ornamental Hakka dragon dances.
The "Puzhai Fire Dragon" performance is usually held on the night of the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first lunar month every year. What is special is that the dragon's head, body and tail are cleverly tied with different fireworks and firecrackers, including "Shaoyu" There are three major projects: "Door", "Smoke Burning Rack" and "Fire Burning Dragon". At the same time, more than 100 people from the Fire Cable Team, Xicannon Team, Dragon Lantern Team and Drum Team performed together.
"Shao Yu Gate" is also called "Carp Jumping Dragon Gate". "Yu Gate" is six meters high, with a main entrance and two small doors, more than ten meters wide, and looks like an archway gate. Door couplets are often used as "dragons soar and phoenixes dance and sing in prosperous times, fish leap and people live in joy". Various types of fireworks are installed throughout "Yumen", and there are also "water fish" performances during the "Burning Yumen". This project is based on the historical story of Dayu's flood control. Under the "Yu Gate", groups of carps and shrimps, led by turtles, swim, play in the water, and jump, creating a peaceful scene.
"Burning smoke rack" is also called "burning fire tree". The "smoke rack" is more than ten meters high, with eleven different levels of fireworks landscapes, which can be set off in an orderly manner from bottom to top. In an instant, little dragons were born on the ground, flower baskets were paired in pairs, silver flowers were growing on the ground, a big boat returned with a good harvest, carps were swimming with scallops, the wedding couple was auspicious, flower baskets were strung together, thousands of arrows pierced the sky, bead lanterns were paired in pairs, and the discs were opened. Wonderful sights such as flowers, beautiful flowers, and a round moon continue to appear.
The highlight is "burning the fire dragon", which is divided into three steps: "dragon emerging", "burning the dragon" and "returning the dragon". The "golden dragon" is usually carried out of the cave by more than 60 shirtless strong men. While the "golden dragon" keeps dancing up and down, the fire will spread along with the fuses, igniting the fireworks on the dragon's body section by section, and the "golden dragon" instantly turns into silver flowers. A splashing, sparkling "fire dragon". The dragon dancers skillfully "control the dragon" in the colorful flames. The fire dragon seems to come to life, tumbling and flying in the sea of ????fire, making movements such as opening its mouth, spitting beads, bowing, wagging its tail, and breathing fire. The scene is majestic and magnificent. For spectacular. At this time, the surrounding people not only did not avoid the flying sparks, but also rushed forward to soak up the "dragon spirit". The sound of salutes and cheers came one after another, making it very lively.
Craftsmanship remains unchanged
Puzhai Town, Fengshun County is known as the "Hometown of Chinese Fire Dragons", and is also the "Hometown of Chinese Folk Culture and Art" and "Guangdong National Folk Art" Hometown".
Zhang Zijin, like many people in Puzhai, has witnessed his ancestors making fire dragons since he was a child. However, he started to help make fire dragons at a young age and showed amazing talent. He often wondered: "How How to make the dragon head look more elegant, how to draw the dragon scales more smoothly... I often think about these questions. "It turns out that making fire dragons seems to be the same, but in fact, due to the complicated process and the lack of drawings, everyone's fire dragons are different. "If you want to make a good dragon, you have to concentrate. If you start thinking about other things once you do it, you won't be able to do it well." Zhang Zijin loves to study and is patient, and the fire dragons he makes are always vivid. In 2008, Zhang Zijin took over the "passing baton" and became the third generation successor to the Fire Dragon.
In 2018, Zhang Zijin was identified as the representative inheritor of national intangible cultural heritage representative projects. In order to let the "Puzhai Fire Dragon" go out, he often takes the fire dragon he made to tour Chaoshan area, the Pearl River Delta, Fujian and other places, so that more people can understand this folk art.
Contextual links
Integration of tradition and modernity
Charm of large-scale fire dragon live performance exhibition
“Walking through the streets and alleys from folk customs, The grandeur of the fire dragon brings auspicious clouds, rainbows, and thunder and lightning. Amid the sound of drums and music, the crowds of people see it strutting, and the invisible dragon's tail stirs the joy of the village. "As Fengshun poet Chen Qixu said in his poem, every Lantern Festival in Puzhai. The fire dragon performances are very lively, attracting tens of thousands of people from surrounding areas to watch, but there are still many viewers who cannot see the grand spectacle and sigh with regret. At the same time, intangible cultural heritage culture is also facing the dilemma of "promotion".
Interpretation of the Fire Dragon Scene on Tea Mountain
In order to further activate and utilize this national intangible cultural heritage, with the assistance of the relevant departments of Meizhou City and Fengshun County, Fengshun Township Xianluo Bin combined the characteristics of the Puzhai fire dragon to create a Dabaoshan tourist resort with the theme of large-scale fire dragon live performance.
Dabaoshan Scenic Area is about 6.8 kilometers away from Fengshun County. It is actually a tea mountain where Fengshun Alpine green tea is grown.
After being developed into a scenic spot, while retaining the tea mountains, an artificial lake was built in the valley, with seats arranged around it. With the mountain scenery as the background, modern lighting, sound, lasers, water curtains and other elements were added to form a real-life performance theater.
“There is no shortage of beautiful mountains and rivers in Meizhou, especially in Fengshun County, which is known as Meizhou’s ‘South Gate’. Therefore, when the scenic spot was first established, it was planned to create a place where you can not only enjoy the scenery, but also "A place to enjoy folk performances." Huang Yuan, the relevant person in charge of Dabaoshan Tourism Resort, said that after selection, the folk performance theme of their scenic spot was finally selected as "Puzhai Fire Dragon", and they created a live drama "Millennium Fire Dragon" and also invited the national Zhang Zijin, the inheritor of fire dragon making skills in Fengshun Pu Village, a level 1 intangible cultural heritage, and his team joined them.
It is understood that the live-action drama "Thousand-Year Fire Dragon" takes the vast and multi-layered natural landscape of Dabaoshan Ecological Tea Garden as the stage, presenting a feast of "light" and "fire" to the audience. The live-action drama takes the "Puzhai Fire Dragon" and its folklore as the cultural core, and uses the latest technologies such as water screen holographic projection, Wia system, naked-eye 6D, etc., to integrate real-life performances and video special effects into overall planning, creativity and counter-arrangement, forming a "virtual and real" The stage performance effect of "combination" vividly demonstrates Fengshun's fire dragon culture and customer tide culture.
Create a study camp to inherit intangible cultural heritage
How to inspire more people, especially young people, to become interested in intangible cultural heritage and feel the charm of intangible cultural heritage. The inheritance and development of intangible cultural heritage is a current issue. important topic. In October 2020, Dabaoshan Scenic Area applied to relevant departments to establish a study and practice education camp for primary and secondary school students in Meizhou City.
"The camp has independently developed more than 10 research and education courses such as "Descendants of the Dragon" and "Exploring the Intangible Cultural Heritage Fire Dragon". Through curriculum education, students can become curious about the intangible cultural heritage fire dragon and develop an interest in research." Huang Yuan introduced that so far, the camp has received more than 60,000 students from Meizhou, Jieyang, Shantou, Chaozhou and other schools to participate in study and practical education activities. The students have enriched their own humanities by understanding the origin and history of the "Puzhai Fire Dragon" Feelings; through the team’s hand-painted coloring of the dragon body of the “Fire Dragon”, you can feel the charm of national intangible cultural heritage.
Contextual Observation
Fire dragon folk custom embodies the longing for a better life
Text/Zhou Yunshui (Ph.D., Secretary General of the Hakka Research Professional Committee of the Chinese Anthropology and Ethnology Research Association)
The Puzhai Fire Dragon Festival has been around for more than 270 years and is a folk sacrificial ritual and custom of exorcising evil spirits and praying for blessings that has been passed down from generation to generation. Folk legend has it that in order to commemorate Princess Qingfeng, who helped the people eliminate harm, villagers in Puzhai Town, Fengshun County, tie bamboo strips and straw into the shape of a "golden dragon" during the Lantern Festival, install firecrackers, add incense, and dance. Commonly known as "burning the dragon", it is intended to pray that the golden dragon will come to the world every year and that the world will have good weather every year.
Every time the Lantern Festival arrives in the new year, the people of Puzhai, men, women and children, are eager to see the fire dragon performance to bring good luck to the people. The villagers holding the "Fire Dragon" bare their shoulders and let the sparks fall on them. Sparks splashing and blistering on the skin symbolize money and good luck. Visitors are not too afraid of being injured by firecrackers. It turns out that if you are burned by the firecrackers and get blisters, and the word "bubble" sounds similar to the word "qiao" in banknotes, you will definitely make a fortune in the coming year. Especially those who hold the dragon's head are even more remarkable. People are vying for money, and the one who pays the most can hold the dragon's head. If you hold the dragon's head, you will definitely have good luck in the new year. People call it "Da Fa Long Luck" (Fa Long Yun). fortune).
"Puzhai Fire Dragon" has been invited to perform in various places for many times, such as the first Folk Art Festival in Guangdong Province in 1987, the first Hakka Friendship Festival in Meizhou City in 1989, the "International Daffodil Festival" in Fujian Province in 1990, Guangdong "International Tourism Culture Festival" in 2005, the opening ceremony of the 6th Meizhou Sports Games in 2009, the 8th World Fengshun Fellowship in 2010, the 2011 Hakka Twelve Festival "Miaoli Fire Dragon" exchange held in Taiwan in 2011 In large-scale activities such as performances, the wonderful performance of "Puzhai Fire Dragon" won more than 100 flags and medals such as "Hakka Treasure", "Superior Technology", "Bright Future" and "First-class Brilliance", winning the audience's admiration and It has become a shining pearl of Chinese folk art. At the same time, dozens of domestic and foreign media have made special reports. It is particularly worth mentioning that from February 13 to 22, 2011, at the invitation of the Miaoli County Native Cultural Exchange Association in Taiwan, a 29-member delegation from Fengshun County's "Puzhai Fire Dragon Performance Exchange Group" went to Taiwan to participate in the Miaoli County 2011 Hakka Tenth Festival. The second festival "Miaoli Fire Dragon" exchange performance event aims to "promote Hakka culture, promote Hakka cultural exchanges between the two places, improve the level of Hakka folk festival skills and performances in the two places", and enhance the emotional connection among the global Hakka community.
The folk custom of burning fire dragons in Puzhai on the night of the Lantern Festival not only shows the increasing living standards of the people, but also has become an important channel for Fengshun tourism and even Meizhou’s foreign exchanges, embodying intangible cultural heritage The Puzhai Fire Dragon with the spirit of craftsmanship shows the joy and happiness of the Hakka community’s increasingly prosperous life!
Under the guidance of the rural revitalization industry policy, the Dabaoshan Ecological Tourism and Health Resort in Tangkeng Town, Fengshun County, performed national-level intangible cultural heritage projects.
"Millennium Fire Dragon" combines the fire dragon culture, guest culture, farming culture of Fengshun in eastern Guangdong and Meizhou's modern typical cultural elements, folk customs and life details, and combines light, film and film to outline a vivid picture of the thousand-year guest flow. Original ecological life picture. More importantly, through a multi-party cooperation model with government guidance, private enterprise leadership, and cultural implantation, Fengshun County has explored a development model in which folk culture and rural revitalization mutually promote each other.
A week of cultural context
Recently, the list of the fourth Guangdong Province young and middle-aged writers and artists with both virtue and art was announced, and 10 people were selected. Lin Wenxiang, director of the Meizhou Drama Research Studio, is on the list. His creative works have won the first prize for screenwriting at the 8th, 10th, 11th, 12th and 14th Guangdong Arts Festival. The mountain opera "Waiting for the Young Girl" won the "Cao Yu Drama Award" and the Outstanding Screenplay Award at the 8th China Drama Festival, the 3rd Guangdong Province "Five One Project" Award, and the 7th Guangdong Province Lu Xun Literary Award.
Recently, the 2021 "Guangdong Children's Reading Star" and "The Most Beautiful Children's Reading Promotion Librarian" selection activities came to a successful conclusion. Reader Yu Ziyang of Meizhou Jianying Library was named the "Guangdong Children's Reading Star (Children's Group)" in 2021. Wu Peiling of Meijiang District Library of Meizhou City and Cheng Yanmei of Meizhou Meixian District Library were named "The Most Beautiful Children's Reading" in 2021 Promotion Librarian.”
Recently, the inspection and acceptance work deployment meeting of the Hakka Culture (Meizhou) Ecological Protection Experimental Zone was held in Meicheng. The meeting called for consolidating responsibilities, paying close attention to implementation, making every effort to do a good job in the inspection and acceptance work of the experimental area, effectively fulfilling the main responsibilities, strengthening inspection and supervision, thoroughly understanding the standards, increasing rectification efforts, paying close attention to publicity, creating a strong atmosphere, and going all out to grasp Implement all tasks well.
Recently, the Propaganda Department of the Meizhou Municipal Party Committee carried out the application and selection process for the fifth batch of patriotic education bases in Meizhou City, and finally evaluated 22 units including Cai Mengji’s former residence as the fifth batch of patriotic education bases in Meizhou City. It is on the list of Haishi Gallery.
(Qiu Ruini)
Organizer/Guangdong Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism Yangcheng Evening News
Chief planner/Li Bin Du Chuan Guilin Haili
Director of the editorial board/Zeng Ying Such as Sun Aiqun, Sun Xuan and Hu Quan
Coordinator of this issue/Ma Hanqing and Yao Zhide
Source | Yangcheng Evening News·Yangcheng School
Editor-in-chief | Zhu Guangyu