Cultural Significance in the Performance Process of the Dragon Lantern Chinese Auspicious Phrases Formation Dance (DLCAPFD)

The Dragon Lantern Chinese Auspicious Phrases Formation Dance (DLCAPFD) is a distinctive dragon dance tradition practiced in Zhongyi Village, Yixian County, Hebei Province, China. While previous studies have primarily focused on its historical development, transmission, and heritage preservation, limited attention has been given to the cultural meanings embedded in its performance practices. Drawing upon an ethnochoreological perspective, this study examines how cultural meanings are created, communicated, and sustained through the interconnected stages of Caijie (Festive Street Parade) and Liaochang (Entering the Arena). The research is based on qualitative fieldwork involving participant observation, interviews, focus group discussions, photography, and video documentation. The findings demonstrate that DLCAPFD functions as more than a traditional festive performance. Meaning is constructed through the interaction of movement, music, spatial organization, symbolic character formations, and collective participation. The formation of auspicious phrases such as Tian Xia Tai Ping (Peace under Heaven), Zheng Da Guang Ming (Fair and Upright), and Long Nian Da Ji (Auspicious Dragon Year) transforms movement into a medium of embodied cultural communication through which values of harmony, prosperity, moral integrity, and communal well-being are expressed. The study further shows that collective coordination among performers and musicians reinforces social cohesion, cultural memory, and shared community belonging. By analysing the relationship between performance process and cultural meaning, this study argues that DLCAPFD functions as a form of embodied cultural communication in which movement, music, spatial organization, and collective participation work together to create and transmit collective cultural values. The study contributes to ethnochoreological scholarship by demonstrating how traditional performance practices operate as systems of cultural transmission that sustain collective identity and cultural continuity within contemporary society.

Dragon Lantern Chinese Auspicious Phrases Formation Dance (DLCAPFD); Ethnochoreology; Embodied Cultural Communication; Performance Process; Intangible Cultural Heritage

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