Where does Dragon dance come from?
The dragon dance comes from China. Its roots go back more than 2,000 years to the Han dynasty, when dances with dragon figures were part of rituals to ask for rain; today teams carry long dragons on poles through New Year parades worldwide.
Dragons for rain and show
In ancient China the dragon was linked with rain. The Western Han thinker Dong Zhongshu, who lived from 179 to 104 BC, wrote that in times of drought, clay dragon figures were made and people danced among them. Han audiences also watched baixi variety shows, in which performers dressed up as beasts, fish and dragons; Zhang Heng described one dressed as a green dragon, playing a flute. Han stone reliefs suggest these early dragons were heavier props than today's.
A team brings it to life
A modern dragon is a long, snake-like body of sections on poles, with a head and a tail, once built of wood, bamboo hoops and fabric and now often of aluminium and plastic. A skilled team moves it in time with a drum, in patterns such as 'dragon chasing the pearl'. Acrobatic dragons are about 25 to 35 metres long. Sun Loong of Bendigo, Australia, was the world's longest dragon when it was made in 1970: about 100 metres.
Why people say Vietnam or Japan
Both countries have well-known dragon dances. In Vietnam, the múa rồng is performed at Tết, the Lunar New Year, and at the Mid-Autumn Festival. In Japan, the ja odori, or 'snake dance', is one of the main attractions of Nagasaki's Kunchi festival, but it was first performed by Chinese residents who had settled in the port. Unlike the lion dance, which has many native versions across Asia, the dragon dance spread abroad mainly with Chinese communities.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org ↗ · govt.chinadaily.com.cn ↗
