Tongliang Dragon Dance In Tongliang, Chongqing, "dragon dance" and "dragon dance" have been famous for a long time. "Tongliang Dragon Dance" has also been included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage masterpieces by the State Council. Visiting the dragon lantern-making artists and dragon dance masters in Tongliang, you can appreciate the majesty, delicacy and beauty of the "Tongliang Dragon Dance".
Zhalong artists have been passed down from generation to generation
Among the many Zhalong artists in Tongliang, three are known as the "Three Successors of Tongliang Dragon Lanterns": Jiang Yulin, Zhou Jun'an, and Fu Quantai. Jiang and Zhou Zhou have passed away, but only the 72-year-old Fu is still innovating his tying skills. I met Mr. Fu in his small workshop. Neighbors who are familiar with him said that Mr. Fu is best at painting and is one of the famous "Top Ten Folk Artists in Chongqing". The old man witnessed the development of Tongliang dragon lanterns. When talking about the history of dragon lanterns, Mr. Fu relished: "Tongliang dragon lanterns originated in the Ming Dynasty and flourished in the Qing Dynasty. According to legend, the famous ancient temple Lufeng Temple in the county 1,400 years ago and the Bozhou Temple later. Lun Temple, there are various dragon decorations and patterns, and people enjoy playing dragons..." "Tongliang is a land of rice, and the earliest dragon is a straw dragon. Because fireworks are used when dancing, it is easy to burn the human body. The stiff-necked dragon was reconstructed. It stands with its head held high, and the knots are lit up, which is very spectacular. Because the dragon's neck is long and stiff, it is difficult to dance, so it is still not ideal. "According to the old man, around 1924, a famous barber in Chengguan was born. Li Jiezhi and Liu Lianshan added circles of ribs to each building on the basis of this dragon, making the dragon's body round and strong. Each building can expand, contract, and rotate freely. From this, a new kind of bone and flesh appeared. The winding and squirming dragon is called "big dragon" or "wriggling dragon" among the people. In this way, through the careful production and improvement of generations of skilled craftsmen like Mr. Fu, the original large colorful dragon with cloth spines of more than 20 people dancing has been reduced into a new type of small colorful dragon with 5 or 3 people dancing. Depending on the industry, season, and purpose, there are simple and practical bench dragons, Huang Jinglong for praying for rain in dry seasons, and Xiaolong for memorial purposes. There are more than 100 kinds of Tongliang dragon-themed craft products, which are not only used for dancing but also for decoration. They are exported to more than 20 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities across the country and more than 10 countries including the United States, France and Italy.
Dragon dance masters dance across Asia
Farewell to the masters of dragon dance, we met Zhang Yongjiang and Zhang Shunsheng, the famous dragon dance masters of Tongliang. As soon as he saw Master Yongjiang, he put on a "flying dragon in the sky" posture and said boldly: "We Tongliang people, no one in any town or village can't dance! Everyone can dance!" Master Yongjiang said , "The key to dragon dancing is to have a dragon in your heart. It's usually my dragon head and his dragon beads..." As they said, the two started dancing. There was a sense of grace and magnanimity in the slow dance, and excitement and unrestrainedness in the fast dance, which was really touching. They said: "The Tongliang Fire Dragon is even more charming. It melts molten iron, sprays sparks, people dance in the fire, and dragons fly in the fire. The scene is lively and colorful." Master Zhang Yongjiang recalled that when he was a child, he looked forward to the 13th day of the first lunar month the most. On the fifteenth day, it is the climax of the dragon dance, which is the most lively. On the street, big dragons and fire dragons are jumping and flying, fish lanterns and lion lanterns are coming and going like shuttles, dragons and tigers are fighting, there are trees and flowers, and it is a peaceful scene. At this time, business travelers from far away, relatives and friends from other places gathered at the city gate one after another, the city was brightly lit, and the inns were full...
The Tongliang dragon dance is not only rooted in tradition, but also incorporates modern elements. Percussionist Wu Xianhu said that we not only use gongs and drums, but also use electronic harmonies to combine traditional performances with modern instrumental music to compose new music to create a rough and magical artistic conception of the sea, making the audience feel immersed in the scene. feeling. "We have danced the 'Chinese Dragon' to Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and Japan, and have also been invited to dance to the United States, Britain, France, Switzerland, Belgium, India and other countries and regions." Master Shun Sheng said proudly, "We also collected... There are many foreign apprentices!”
Tongliang Dragon Dance carries cultural contemplation
Cao Dingfu, director of the Tongliang Cultural Bureau, said that we compiled and edited, and visited all villages and towns, whether it was oral teaching or video. Including it, we must continue to collect the Tongliang dragon dance that is on the verge of being lost among the people into a book to leave textual research for future generations. The people of Tongliang have created a new look of Longxiang by virtue of their infatuated pursuit of dragons. Soon, the first book that systematically records Tongliang dragon dance culture, "Tongliang Folk Dragon Dance Collection", will be published. The data collection work for this book has been completed.
Tongliang County plans to invest more than 3 million yuan in the next five years to rescue and protect Tongliang dragon dance culture. It is mainly used to collect, organize and publish relevant information on dragon culture, innovate Tongliang dragon dance programs, establish dragon dance ecological protection communities, train key dragon dance teams, improve and innovate dragon lantern crafts, and enrich and update the Tongliang Dragon Museum displays. With its cultural characteristics and unique artistic appeal, Chongqing Tongliang Dragon Dance was determined to be the finale of the opening ceremony of the 2008 Olympic Games. In order to display the unique style of Bayu culture in the artistic performance at the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games.
It is understood that the artistic performances before the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games included national songs, national dances, national sports, wind and percussion music and other art forms. Since accepting program recommendations at the beginning of last year, the Beijing Olympic Games Opening Ceremony Organizing Committee has carefully understood and reviewed 134 programs. After many comparisons and screenings, a total of 20 programs were finally confirmed and became the official performances for the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games, including the Chongqing Tongliang Dragon Dance, which has strong regional cultural characteristics and auspicious and festive artistic appeal. .
The person in charge of the Tongliang County Culture, Radio, Television and New Bureau said that the Olympic Organizing Committee requested that the content of Tongliang Dragon’s performance be “unheard of and unseen.
According to this requirement, our Tongliang dragon that appeared at the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games incorporated a large number of competitive dragon performances, which is very different from traditional performances. The "moves" of the Olympic dragon dance are more capable and more coherent than before. The newly created "12 Olympic Dragon Dance Moves" are in order: "The dragon goes out to sea - recruits thousands of troops - the dragon plays in the water - the blue waves - the dragon walks in Tai Chi - the dragon plays in the water - the golden waves roll - the river collapses - —The lotus comes out of the sea—the two rings shine—the golden dragons gather together—the golden light shines brightly.”
At the same time, we have also made special improvements to the music and costumes of the Tongliang Dragon Dance. There are *** 4 dragons participating in the performance, each about 60 meters long. In order to reflect the concept of the "Green Olympics" of the Beijing Olympics, the dragon body is made of new environmentally friendly materials imported from the United States. , and more flexible, the "dragon scales" are more colorful and have a stronger sense of color. Under the irradiation of sunlight or light, the reflected brilliance is more dazzling. "The dancing dragon has an elegant and dynamic figure, which can meet the needs of various difficult action performances. The innovation of music combines Sichuan opera, symphony, harmony and other musical elements, and has the characteristics of "the combination of Chinese and Western, traveling through ancient and modern times, and the harmony between heaven and man" "And" effect. The costumes are specially designed by the Olympic Games designated costume designers and produced by the Olympic Games designated manufacturers. The styles and colors are innovative, integrating elements of Sichuan opera costumes, traditional plackets, samurai armor, dragon dance and clouds, and Western animation. In addition , this dragon dance performance also has new breakthroughs and new highlights. The total performance time is 5 minutes. The actors have to complete 12 innovative and difficult movements such as standing leg kick, lotus blooming and force circle dragon dance, which require strength. The difficulty of performing moves with speed and speed has never been greater.
Zhou Keji, the chief conductor of the Olympic Dragon Dance Performance Organizing Committee, said that unlike previous Tongliang dragon dance performances, the more than 100 actors participating in this performance are all young people, with the oldest being 45 years old and the youngest being 17. Years old, they are composed of school music, sports and art teachers, amateur athletes and party and government agency staff. Experts explained that the traditional Tongliang dragon dance has simple movements and low difficulty in performance, and can be completed by elderly people with rich performance experience. However, the difficulty and taste of this performance are different from those in the past, and it requires higher strength and cultural accomplishment. The teams participating in the performance adopt off-the-job training methods, practicing for 6 to 7 hours a day and dancing the dragon body about 1,000 times. The entire performance team has entered the final sprint state. "The rehearsals are very hard. There are more than 1,000 dragon dances every day. Injuries and injuries are common during the rehearsal process. Dozens of boxes of band-aids have been used. From April 2 to the present, the dragon dance at the Tongliang County Sports Ground At the training base, more than 100 dragon dance team members insist on training hard every day. Even if they encounter high temperatures, their enthusiasm does not diminish because these dragon dance team members have the same belief: to open at the upcoming Beijing Olympics. The performance task was successfully completed at the ceremony and the majesty of Bayu culture was fully prepared for the performance before the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games, so that the grace of Tongliang Dragon and the majesty of Bayu culture were perfectly displayed at the Olympic Games. Every technical move is very strict, and the team members train very hard. Zeng Lingguo, a member of the Tongliang Dragon Dance Team, told reporters: "We start at 7 o'clock in the morning and run three laps on the 400-meter track in the sports field, and then perform fast dances. For dragon exercise, you need to wave your arms left and right more than 2,000 times, once in the morning and once in the afternoon. "The high-intensity training every day caused blood blisters on the hands of many members of the Tongliang Dragon Dance Team. After training, they bought dozens of band-aids to wrap up the blood blisters tightly. Team member Wang Gang He strained his thigh muscle and became very swollen, but he didn't take a minute off. After being sprayed with Yunnan Baiyao, he returned to training. Team member Wang Ji fractured his left ankle and continued to train while wearing a plaster. After four months of training in the scorching sun, dragon hand Long Yi has now transformed into a "black peony". She told the author with a smile that although she has become a black man, as long as she can dance the dragon well, she will do her best for the country and her hometown of Chongqing. It’s worth it.”
Received 8 applause in 5 minutes
After performing for the first time in front of tens of thousands of “audiences” at the “Bird’s Nest” stadium, the Chongqing Tongliang dragon dance team members Everyone was excited. According to Zhou Keji, the head coach of the Chongqing Tongliang Dragon Dance Team, yesterday was the first time that the Chongqing Tongliang Dragon Dance performed according to the official procedures of the opening ceremony. The audience liked the show very much and applauded the show eight times. According to the arrangement, Chongqing Tongliang Dragon Dance has three rehearsals before the official performance at the opening ceremony. After the first two rehearsals, the team will rehearse at the Bird's Nest in accordance with the formal performance procedures for the opening ceremony on August 5. This will also be their last chance to rehearse. And yesterday, the team suddenly received a rehearsal notice to participate. "Called in the face of danger," the Chongqing Tongliang Dragon Dance Troupe did not disappoint the director. They conquered the audience with their wonderful performance. During the entire 5-minute performance, they received 8 applauses from the audience. The last group modeling movement received warm applause from the audience for more than 1 minute. After watching the Tongliang Dragon Dance performance, Zhang Yimou, the chief director of the Olympic opening ceremony, praised the Tongliang Dragon Dance as the "most ambitious and distinctive" program among the artistic performances at the Olympic opening ceremony. In the late 1970s, mass cultural activities in Tongliang County began to return to their original nature. On New Year's Day in 1980, the cultural department of Tongliang County organized folk artists to make a big dragon and dance it publicly in the county. Since then, after dormant for more than 20 years, the annual Tongliang Dragon Lantern Festival has been revived.
In 1982, during the nationwide collection of folk literature and art, Tongliang County comprehensively organized its own dragon lantern art under the guidance of the Chongqing Municipal Culture Department.
At the end of 1983, Tongliang Dragon Lantern participated in the cultural performance in Chongqing Square and was well received.
On New Year's Day in 1984, the Tongliang Cultural Bureau organized a team of hundreds of people to bring the main varieties of the Tongliang Dragon Lantern Festival to the streets of Chongqing's main urban area, which attracted widespread attention from the news media.
In April 1984, the Chongqing Acrobatic Troupe brought two Tongliang Creeping Dragons to perform in Western European countries such as France, Britain, Switzerland, and Belgium, and received unanimous praise from all walks of life in the local society.
On October 1, 1984, at the grand celebration of the 35th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China, Shougang workers danced nine bronze beams and participated in the Tiananmen Parade, attracting the attention of the world.
In September 1988, at the National Dragon Dance Competition held in Beijing, the Tongliang creeping dragon dance won the first gold medal.
In 1992, he won the highest award at the 2nd Shenyang International Yangko Festival.
In 1994, he won the first place in the Fuzhou "Zuohai Cup" National Dragon Dance Invitational Competition.
In the same year, Tongliang dragon paraphernalia was designated as a standard competition prop by the National Sports Commission; Tongliang dragon dance routine was designated as a standard competition routine by the National Sports Commission.
In May 1995, he won the first place in the first national dragon dance competition organized by the National Sports Commission.
In July of the same year, he won the gold medal in the Guangdong “Green Cup” International Dragon and Lion Invitational Competition.
In 1996, the Tongliang Dragon Lantern delegation went to the United States for cultural exchanges.
In 1997, the Tongliang Dragon Dance Troupe won three awards for Best Performance, Best Organization, and Best Choreography at the First Dragon Dance Art Festival in Beijing.
In 1998, Tongliang Dragon Lantern went to Singapore to hold a lantern festival.
In 1999, Tongliang Dragon Lantern went to Malaysia to hold a lantern festival.
In September of the same year, the Tongliang Dragon Dance Team won the championship of the "Longgang Cup" Dragon Dance Invitational Tournament in Xijiang.
In the same month, the Tongliang Dragon Dance Team won the naming rights of "China National Dragon Dance Team" at the Jinan National Dragon Dance Championship.
In October of the same year, the 450-member Tongliang dragon lantern delegation composed of the "Nine Dragon Square", "Dragon, Phoenix and Peony Presenting Auspiciousness", and "Two Dragons Playing with Pearls" went to Beijing to participate in the National People's Congress and the People's Republic of China. The 50th anniversary celebration once again caused a sensation at home and abroad.
In September 2000, the Tongliang Dragon Dance Team won the gold medal in standard routines and the overall team championship at the Fourth National Agricultural Games.
In late October of the same year, Chongqing·The First China Tongliang Dragon Lantern Art Festival was held in Tongliang County. At that time, the "Soul of the Dragon" large-scale song and dance party, the "Wind of the Dragon" Chinese dragon dance invitational competition, the "Dragon's Origin" academic seminar on Chinese dragon culture and Chinese dragon dance art, and the "Rhyme of the Dragon" 2000 Dragon Culture and Art Exhibition , the China Tongliang Dragon Lantern Festival and other projects were launched one after another in 2000, significantly raising China's dragon lantern culture and dragon culture to a new level.
In June 2001, the Tongliang Dragon Lantern delegation went to the United States again for cultural exchanges.
In the same year, Tongliang Dragon Lantern went to the United Arab Emirates to hold a lantern festival.
In May 2002, the Tongliang Dragon Dance Team won the gold medal in standard routines and the overall team championship at the Second National Sports Conference.
In January and July 2002, the Tongliang Dragon Dance Team went to Hong Kong and Macau to participate in cultural exchange activities.
In January 2003, Tongliang Dragon Lantern went to Thailand to hold a lantern festival and dragon dance performance.
Tongliang Dragon Dance won the 35th National Day Ceremony Commemoration, the first place in the Baxi Cup, the Beijing Tourism Annual Gold Award, the first place in the Hanging Green Cup, the gold medal in the Second National Sports Conference, the gold medal in the Agricultural Games, and the dragon dance. Hong Kong Cup gold medal and many other awards.