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1.Dragon and holidays
a. Dragon dance:
In Chinese
New Yearˇ¦s celebration, we have Dragon Dance performance on the
street or in public places.
It is a
special and delicate performance of arts which also symbolizes the bringing of
good luck and prosperity in the year to come for all the human beings on earth.
In the dance, a group of
people whirl the dragon on poles. The dragon model is constructed of wood or
plastic, with bamboo or aluminum hoops on the inside and covered with a rich
fabric. The lead dancer is responsible for lifting, dipping, thrusting, and
sweeping the head, while others are moving the dragonˇ¦s body and tail.
Sometimes in the dragonˇ¦s head, there is a device controlled by a dancer and
is rigged to belch smoke, and that makes the dragon look like breathing fire! Most
dragons can range in length from around 25 to 35 meters. But the large dragon
can be up to 50 to 70 meters long. It is believed that the longer the creature,
the more luck it will bring. The colors of dragons in dragon dance convey
different messages. For example, green is sometimes selected as a main color of
the dragon, which symbolizes a great harvest for the year to come. Other colors
include: yellow symbolizing the empire, golden or silver colors
representing prosperity, and red color representing excitement while its scales
and tail are mostly beautiful silver colors and glittering which
creates the joyous atmosphere for Chinese New year celebration. But the origin of Dragon dance didnˇ¦t start from Chinese New Year. In the past, Chinese dragons were believed to be the gods in charge of rain, cloud and wind. So when there were droughts, the witches would imitate the dragon movement and dance to pray for rain. Then dragon dance is widely used in the Chinese New Year celebration because if dragons, the gods of Rain, can bring rain at the beginning of the year, there will be a good year of great harvest. b. Red couplet and dragon: The couplet is written on two strips of red paper on which poetic sentences express hopes for the new year. The red couplets serve as beautiful decorations and protective symbols which can drive away bad spirit. We find some red couplets with the dragon patterns on it. It might be because both dragon and red couplets can bring people more blessing and happiness.
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Chinese
New year 
