Fangshan Big Drum, a kind of folk dance in Fangshan, Jiangning, Nanjing, is also called “Sparrow Dance”. Legend has it that, Fangshan Big Drum was a dance created by the peasant according to the mood in which sparrows were happily pecking at the rice in the paddy fields when Taiping Army were stationed in Fangshan. The performers dance while playing 10 drums and gongs. Their festive dance reflects their good wishes for better food and clothes. The drumbeat is fast and simple and their movement is extremely vigorous. The dance in the Village of the Tao Family is the most typical.
Total 12 Folk Customs and Entertainment
Jiangpu Lion Dance originated in Pukou District, in the northern outskirts of the ancient capital of Nanjing. It is said that this dance was to fortify the health of Taiping soldiers stationed in Yongning and to share happiness with people during the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom period. After the failure of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, this dance was preserved to celebrate festivals and entertainment. The Jiangpu Lion Dance consists of a lion made of bamboo wrapped in linen and colored thread. The handle is a wooden stick or a bamboo stick that beats against the chest and the lower abdomen of the lion. This dance can be performed by one person only or by several people.
The Liuhe Lantern Dance on Stilts, a form of traditional folk art, originates in Quanshui Town in Liuhe District. As early as the 1950s, Quanshui Folk Stilt Art Troupe was established in Quanshui Town. The traditional Lantern Dance on Stilts has won widespread praise because of its novelty, strangeness and peculiarity. During the Spring Festival in 1997, the Dragon Dance on Stilts performed by Quanshui girls was praised as a unique Chinese performance by CCTV.
Wuchang Dance refers to the folk dance performed to worship the gods during the Western Zhou Dynasty. Wuchang, also called Five Gods, represents wood, fire, earth, metal and water in the five elements respectively. During the Spring Festival, villagers in ancient costume will carry a basket, flag, beat gongs, or sound drums according to their roles accmompanied by letting off firecrackers so as to pray for the happiness of villagers and the peace of the village by worshipping those gods. The scenes are most spectacular.
