Chao News Client Reporter Li Wei Correspondent Xianglimei
In the Year of Jiachen 2024, God of Wealth Day and Valentine's Day collide, who is more popular?
There is no doubt that the former will win - who doesn't want to have a full wallet in the new year? Of course, there is another reason why we are paying more and more attention to traditional Chinese culture.
No, the dragon lantern on the river that will be consecrated on February 14, 2024 is about to blow up the circle of friends!
"Lantern Festival (Dragon Lantern Festival on the River)" is a traditional folk custom spread in Heshang Town, Xiaoshan District, Hangzhou City. In 2014, it was included in the list of national intangible cultural heritage representative items.
The dragon lantern festival on the river originated in the Shaoxing period of the Southern Song Dynasty. The lanterns were turned on on the fifth day of the first lunar month, the Lantern Festival was held on the fifteenth day, and the lanterns were held on the seventeenth day of the lunar month... The process was rich in content, including "there were dragon lanterns, meetings, and horse lanterns to join the team." The flags, gongs, umbrellas and muskets are all available. The scene is magnificent and the lights are exquisite. The most famous one is the Banlong Dance - a dragon head raised high, a gorgeous dragon body that stretches hundreds of meters, carried by five or six hundred people, the wooden boards connecting the dragon body "rattling", amidst the noisy gongs and drums and the sound of the dragon. A long line of people marched forward amidst the cheers of the onlookers.
On February 14 this year, the opening ceremony was held in the square of Xitou Village, Heshang Town, Xiaoshan District. The gongs and drums are noisy and lively. The exquisite lanterns and Gaozhao with unique local characteristics show the regional culture and customs of Xiaoshan to villagers and tourists. The
ceremony officially began, and the blessing ceremony and the divine dragon consecration ceremony were held in sequence. Among them, the most interesting thing is to consecrate the Panlong. Fu Naicheng, the representative inheritor of the intangible cultural heritage of the Dragon Lantern Festival on the River, will apply the consecrating holy water taken from Sanjiangkou to the eyes of the Panlong.
Fu Yemao was born in Xitou Village, Heshang Town, Xiaoshan. In the memory of the villagers, every year he would lead a group of old artists to carve a dragon lantern that was unique to that year. The dragon head should have dazzling golden scales and be impressive, and the dragon sections should have many lanterns and occupy a larger proportion, so that the Lantern Festival dance will be beautiful.
After the consecration, the firecrackers went off, and this year's dragon lantern festival on the river officially kicked off - with "Gao Zhao" in front, "BMW" accompanying it, and with the sound of gongs and drums, the street patrol ceremony of the dragon lantern market town officially began. The dragon lantern procession of more than a hundred people started from Fu's Ancestral Hall and went all the way to Yanjiang Temple, Zhu's Ancestral Hall, etc. Along the way, every household placed incense tables, offered tributes, and set off firecrackers to welcome the dragon. The dragon also nodded three times to the people who set up the incense tables. , to express gratitude and send blessings.
If you didn’t catch up with the wonderful things on the consecration day, don’t worry.
The 2024 Dragon Lantern Festival and Lantern Festival Folk Custom Activities on the River will continue from February 14th to 26th. Important activities include dragon dance and Lantern Festival activities on the 15th day of the first lunar month, and the "Hua Lantern Day" on the 17th day of the first lunar month.
This event is guided by the Xiaoshan District Culture, Radio, Television, Tourism and Sports Bureau and the People's Government of Heshang Town, Xiaoshan District, hosted by the Xiaoshan District Heshang Dragon Lantern Festival Association, and hosted by Xitou Village, Weimin Village, Zhujia Village and Changchun Community in Heshang Town.
In recent years, Xiaoshan District has attached great importance to the classification and protection of intangible cultural heritage, and has continuously made new practices and new attempts in the protection of folklore projects, strengthening the "Lantern Festival (Dragon Lantern Festival on the River)", "Qianjiang Tide Watching", and "Dragon Boat Race (Xintang Dragon Boat Festival)" " and other local folk customs' influence and radiation, expand publicity channels, provide excellent soil for the survival and development of related projects, inherit excellent traditional culture, and guard the spiritual homeland.
Pictures provided by the event organizer
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