Throwing Fire for Lunar New Year
In Throwing Fire for Lunar New Year, iron metal workers in Nanquan, China, create amazing, glowing art with molten metal. Today, they perform nightly, but the tradition goes back hundreds of years. This video is excerpted from BBC’s Chinese New Year: The Biggest Celebration on Earth, a documentary series detailing the world's largest annual human migration (Chunyun), where over 1.5 billion people celebrate the Lunar New Year.
Lesson Express
Q: How has the tradition of Dashuhua continued for so long? What might this mean for it in the future?
A: It has been passed down from father to son. In the future, it may change to include women, or it may die out if if young people do not want to learn the tradition anymore.
Q: How has Dashuhua changed for modern visitors? How has it stayed the same?
A: It is now part of a live show instead of a smaller, more local tradition. The performer still wears the same sheepskin and straw hat.
Q: How is Dashuhua a product of its location? Is Dashuhua a tradition that could only come from Nanquan?
A: Student responses will vary. Students may talk about how iron and the history of metalworking have produced this tradition.
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