The Spring Festival ritual features dragon dances and parades usually lasting 15 days until the Lantern Festival.
It is the most important ritual and the largest entertainment of the year in Hunan. Preparations may begin several weeks before Spring Festival as the apparatus and costumes for the dances and parades are made. Every detail in the process is a ritual itself.
A range of events then follow, including a ritual on the second day of the second month of the lunar calendar to celebrate the "dragon beginning to raise his head" and dragon boat races on the fifth day of the fifth month.
In addition to routine events, local people in Hunan also have sacrifice rituals when specific needs arise, such as asking for rain when there is a drought, according to Sun.
The expert said that unlike other regions in the nation where dragon worship has mostly evolved into entertainment and carnivals, "Hunan is still the place that you can find a lot of rituals with their primitive forms, although they are sometimes entertaining too".
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| The 'furious dragon' popular among the Dong ethnic people in Zijiang county, is said to be the smallest dragon in China. Photos Provided to China Daily |
Straw dragon dance
He cited the straw dragon dance in Yanling county, home to the mausoleum of the Red Emperor.
The Red Emperor and his contemporary Yellow Emperor are considered the common ancestors of the Chinese people.
It is said the Red Emperor's greatest contribution to the nation was to teach people to farm some 5,000 years ago.
The straw dragon dance actually originated with an ancient farming practice. During the Red Emperor's period, people lit straw torches to fend off pests from farmland according to his instructions.
Today the straw dragon dance is an important part of the offerings to the Red Emperor held during the sixth lunar month.
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