Cili Board Dragon Lantern

Culture 2012/08/08 View：2145

ZJJ Board dragon lantern was originated from Song dynasty, from Longtanhe Town, Cili County. It is a commonly seen traditional performance and special folk activity to Tujia people.

As for the properties used in making a board dragon lantern, there are several basic ones: board, dragon head, dragon tail and candles. 5 eight-side lantern are put in every piece of board (Means good harvest). On both ends of the board, round circles are left for connecting two pieces of boards with sticks and thus making a long dragon. Dragon head and dragon tail are made of bamboo splits. Generally, at least three to four hundred people should be involved in the performance team, at most over two thousand people.

There are five features of board dragon lantern:

1.Ancient form, It was be handed down from generation to generation since Song dynasty. You can even find some mentions in Cili Records written in Qing dynasty.

2.Countrified, Because most performing people are from Tujia nationality.(Tu has the same pronunciation with the word countrified in Chinese)

3.Crazy performance, People usually shouts out loudly to the sky when they feel excited.

4.Special constitutions, Board dragon lantern has various performing forms. It is attracting and wonderful when seeing at night.

5.Rarity, The Board dragon lantern is unique domestically. Its distribution area is somewhat small, only in 4 towns around Longtanhe Town,Cili County.

Translated by Becky

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