Cultural Investigation Of Loong-Dance Ceremony

The Loong-dance is a folk sport with a long history and rich cultural heritage,which is also an important part of China's excellent traditional culture.With the changing of times,numerous technical expressions of Loong-dance came into being during the process of its heritage and development.In the past research,we have paid more attention to the technical performance of the Loong-dance rather than the inspection of Loong-dance ceremony.Especially,the previous research lacked the investigation for the persons,items and objects of the Loong-dance ceremony,and lacked in-depth research for the performing and symbolic meanings behind the Loong-dance technology,which caused the weakening of the sense of ritual and the sense of identity in the Loong-dance ceremony.The existence of these problems leads Loong-dance development into a relatively barren cultural dilemma.In order to fully inherit and develop Loong-dance culture,we start from cultural studies,anthropology,sociology,psychology and other theories,based on literature review,the methods of oral history and fieldwork investigation of anthropological research,carried out a comprehensive investigation for the cultural value and significance of Loong-dance ceremony.Through the case study of panoramic investigation and case analysis on Loong-dance ceremony--Seven-section Loong of She nationality of Shen Bu village and Three-section Loong of Guantian town in Chongyi,this paper described the traditional cultural performance---Loong-dance ceremony,explored the history memory of Loong-dance ceremony,the evolution process and vicissitude reason,structure characteristic of inheritance time and space,internal structure composition of the ceremony and the present living conditions and revealed the symbolic meaning of the objects and behaviors,etc.in Loong-dance ceremony and symbolic order of intercommunication human and god and interpersonal communication on the basis of the description of Loong-dance ceremony of traditional Chinese cultural performance.Through the interaction of the state,society,folk,and patriarchal clan behind Loong-dance ceremony and the potential background of economy,politics,culture and religion,this paper analyzed how folk sports inherit strategically and express itself in social changes,and the inspiration for the protection of present non-material cultural heritage and the implementation of rural revitalization strategy.Through the study,the following main conclusions are drawn:1.The Loong-dance ceremony is a system of symbols,information and symbolism,and it is a kind of folk sports of gathering myths,legends,totem worship,folk beliefs,Chinese wisdom,fitness and entertainment,musical instrument performance,dinners and carnivals,etc.Among them,the faith in gods and worship of ancestors constitute the inner support of the entire ceremony.Specific space fields,farming seasons,ritual objects,instrument playing constitute the symbolic communication system of Loong-dance ceremony.Ritual behaviors,village communication and Loong-dances performance constitute the entire framework of the practice.2.Loong-dance ceremony is a kind of dramatic cultural performance.In the drama,the characters play different roles: the government plays the role of the director,serving as a leading role and managing services.There is direct relationship between digging,organizing and carrying out Folk Sports and the government.Local elites play the role of consultant.They plan and organize the whole family's Loong-dance ceremony,and every family member plays the role of actors,while the Loong players must be male.This is caused by three factors: the division of labor,the masculinity and the rule of gender politics.The villagers,relatives and friends play the role of the audience.They play the role of inheriting and developing collective memory.2.The deep structure of Loong-dance derives from traditional culture,which is closely related to the two elements combination of Loong-dance ceremony,the cultural background of Chinese Taiji picture,the support of economic power and the promotion of non-governmental organizations.The Loong is regarded as god by Chinese people with the meaning of worship of ancestors and propagating descendants.Loong-dance also signifies masculinity.As a dominant symbol,Loong goes through the process of the Loong-dance activity during the whole ceremony.Other folk items belong to instrumental symbols,such as the solidarity media of bamboo,cloth,firecrackers,gongs and drums,suona horns and cymbals.The presence and dancing of Loong symbolize the presence and exchange of the gods,and it is also an internal flow of human social relations.The movement of Loong-dance is the display of the Chinese Tai Chi map,and the operation formation space is the image interpretation of the Chinese "round" culture.The time length of Loong-dance between the same clan reflects the different status of the invited parties of Loong-dance circle.4.In time dimension,Loong-dance ceremony is a kind of transitional ritual in farming etiquette.The vicissitude of Loong-dance ceremony has changed with the historical changes of the Chinese nation.It originated in the Loong totem,and then develops from the rain praying ceremony to recreation and entertainment activities,and finally to the form of present folk sports,which carries the blood lineage,nationality lineage,cultural lineage,land lineage and national lineage of the Chinese nation.It showed the history of the continuous progress of the Chinese nation and the process of experiences and exercises of cultural tradition and national spirit.5.Loong-dance ceremony is regarded as a system of signs and symbols.In its entire space system,the mountain symbolizes the heaven,the ancestral hall symbolizes the land,and the village symbolizes humans.It conforms to the traditional Chinese unity thought of heaven,earth and human.As a social practice,from the gift theory,Loong-dance ceremony itself is a gift from the local people to nature,god and ancestors.In the process of giving gifts,the reproduction and remolding of social relations take place.By participating in Loong-dance ceremony,participants can produce collective consciousness,emotional resonance and collective memory.6.The revival of Loong-dance ceremony is a kind of adaptation in the background of the new era,and it is also a process of reproduction of culture.In this process of reproduction,traditional culture will be dependent on the development of modernization and change.The Loong-dance ceremony is the presence of the state and the local society,and its rise and fall and the vicissitudes of the country are closely linked.The system characteristics of Loong-dance ceremony in the new era are the technological innovation of making materials,the simplification of the ceremony procedure,the atmosphere desalination of worship ancestors,and the strengthening of the fitness and entertainment factors.7.As a carrier of local culture inheritance,Loong-dance ceremony has a powerful function for farming,reading,generation to generation,cultivating humans,and striving for new progress.The cultural identity,the sense of ritual and the spirit of Loong-dance are the values of the Loong-dance ceremony.The core contents of Loong-dance ceremony are worshipping ancestors,being honest,accumulating virtues,order of human relations,glorifying one's forefathers and enriching one's posterity.Loong-dance culture is not only the presentation of Loong-dance technology,but also the expression of a Loong-dance ceremony.In the vigorous development of Loong-dance today,we should pay more attention to Loong-dance ceremony,because ceremony is beyond limb technology,but also a link and a kind of recognition and awe.The cultural connotation in the Loong-dance ceremony shows the most cultural identity value and significance.