Dragon lantern dance is a traditional cultural activity of the Chinese nation, and all ethnic groups have the custom of dragon lantern dance. Legend has it that Tujia people did not have the habit of dancing dragons long ago. One year, after a long drought without rain, the seedlings withered and the stream was cut off. Mr. Guigu, who can calculate the weather, said to Tujia people, "Don't worry, it will rain at the end of this afternoon, with three points in the city and seven points outside the city." Old Dragon, the golden dog in charge of water conservancy, listened and thought, there are so many talents on the earth, why should I care about water? ! Suddenly jealous, he got angry and changed the rain inside and outside the city that the Jade Emperor ordered him to do. As a result, it rained cats and dogs, flooded the city, collapsed houses and drowned many people. After this incident was told to the jade emperor by the local land, the jade emperor put the old dragon in prison and beheaded him seven days later. Guanyin Bodhisattva knew this and begged the Jade Emperor to save the old dragon. Before Guanyin could speak, the jade emperor put a yin sword and cut the old dragon into nine sections with a gold hook. Later, Mr. Guigu came to Tujia and said, "Lao Long was angry with me, but he did a lot of good things to the people." You should burn some incense paper for him when he dies. " Therefore, Tujia people made nine golden dragons, danced in various villages, asked people to worship them, and asked the old dragons to bless the good weather and good harvests. For a long time, dragon dancing has also become a traditional custom of Tujia people. But Tujia people dance dragons, which means dancing Buzalang in the town, and it is similar all over the country. Tujia mountain village is different from other places and has its own characteristics. There are mainly the following kinds.
(1) lantern dragon
This kind of dragon, also known as "Lantern Dragon", is popular in market towns where Tujia people live in compact communities.
Generally, lights are lit on the third day of the first lunar month and end on the fifteenth day. 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. The dragon head, the dragon body and the dragon tail are connected by a red cloth belt. The dragon head, the dragon body and the dragon tail are lit with a candle lamp, which looks like a lantern. Dragon dancing is very lively. There are two or four pairs of lanterns in front to clear the way, indicating which village and street the dragon is. After the lantern, there are fish, shrimp, clam shells, lanterns and so on. Swinging their heads and tails in the sound of gongs and drums and horns, they swam around the street. Playing with lanterns and dragons includes Huanglong entering the sea, Jinlong holding a column, Erlong grabbing a treasure, Laolong turning over, and Jinlong crossing the sea cucumber. 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. Most people who dance lanterns and dragons are shirtless and roll with dragons. 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. Therefore, people who dance with lanterns and dragons have quick eyes and quick feet. When the lantern dragon enters the courtyard, despite the fireworks flying, it can't burn the dragon body and human body. The dancing skills are not strong, and there are also cases in which dragon dancers enter the hospital and are discharged naked with bamboo rings.
Lantern dragons play until the fifteenth day of the first month, and the dragon burning day is from the thirteenth to the fifteenth day of the first month. Dragon burning is carried out by a stream or ditch with water. When burning the dragon, put the dragon on the ground, and everyone will spray the prepared fireworks, fireworks and firecrackers directly on the dragon. After burning the dragon, people "ah" jump for a while, send the fragments of the lantern dragon into the water and water it, which means sending the dragon back to the sea.
② grass-handled dragon
Therefore, the dragon is named after 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, the rice straw seedlings in the field are in a vigorous period, the weather is hot, and there are many pests and diseases, among which the devastating pest is "rice blast". In an era when science and technology are backward and hard to prevent, it has long been a habit for Tujia farmers to dance grass to drive away rice blast and gather people 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 uses a water gun (the shape is the same as that in Chapter 3 "Water Gun") to absorb water from the basin, and shoots water to the southeast, northwest and middle five sides (meaning to put out the fire), and even grabs the grains in the sieve and leaves them in the southeast, northwest and middle five sides. 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.
(3) Wolong
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.
(4) Splashing dragon
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 woven into a ball with wicker, flying up and down and left and right in front of Longkou, forming a "dragon grabbing 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 is filled with buckets, basins, water scoops and water guns in front of the door. When the water splashing dragon team with horns, suona and gongs and drums comes to the door, men, women and children, all the water in the water scoops, water guns and wooden pots keep splashing on the water splashing dragons and naked dragon dancers. Whoever splashes more water will have a good harvest. When jumping the water splashing dragon, all men, women and children in the village are free to take part in the water splashing. The scene was lively and lively.