The Dragon Lantern Dance is mainly a custom in Guangdong and Guangxi regions.
The Dragon Lantern Dance originated in the Han Dynasty. The image of the dragon was created by the ancients in order to send good wishes. The ancients called the dragon, phoenix, Lin, tortoise as the four spirits, of which the dragon's shape is particularly beautiful and robust, high and vigorous, rigid and flexible. Although the festival of lights began in the early Han Dynasty, flourished in the Tang and Song dynasties, but the custom of the dragon dance, should be inherited from the Yin Zhou "sacrifice to the sky" of the legacy.
The dragon appeared very early in historical documents, "playing dragon lanterns" contains a prayer for the wind and rain, the country's prosperity and people's peace of mind, that is, the so-called "pray for the year". Dragons were regarded as auspicious objects by the ancients and appeared in all kinds of celebrations and rituals, praying for the blessing of dragons with the way of dragon dance. When people danced the colorful dragons knotted with bamboo poles and decorated with satin for fun, its ritual nature began to quietly recede, and gradually became a traditional Han Chinese dance art with a wide range of performance skills.
The Moral of the Dragon Dance
China is the hometown of the dragon, and the Chinese people regard themselves as the heirs of the dragon. The dragon is the first of the five mythical beasts, and dragon culture is the most important totem culture of the Chinese nation. Since ancient times, legends about dragons are as vast as the sea, and the dragon has become a spiritual symbol of the Chinese people's self-improvement. Along with the development of the times, the dragon dance has regained vitality and become a grand and warm artistic activity for enterprises, public institutions and mass organizations to sing praises of the motherland and happy life.