History of the Pok Fu Lam Fire Dragon Dance

Pok Fu Lam Village in the Southern District of Hong Kong Island has a history of over two hundred years. The Xin’an County Gazetteer compiled in 1819 during the Jiaqing reign of Qing dynasty described the area of “Pok Fu Lam” as “built alongside the hill and the creek, with many elegant structures”. “Pok fu” is the Cantonese name for a bird common in the area, and “lam” means “forest”.

The community’s most prominent tradition is the Fire Dragon Dance that takes place during the Mid-Autumn Festival every year. According to local legend, the tradition began in the late 19th century, when a plague ran rampant in the Pok Fu Lam region. The villagers believed that incense could dispel the contagion and cleanse the whole village. Also, the “dragon” has always been an auspicious symbol in Chinese culture. So they used hay to form a dragon, placed lit joss sticks all over the body, and held it up to parade the streets and lanes to invoke well-being for the local residents. The plague soon subsided, but the fire dragon dance practice became a standing tradition. Although large-scale fire dragon dance activities were curtailed in the 1970s, the locals remembered that there were still some conducted in various parts of the village, only on a smaller scale. Today, the locals are actively promoting it as a heritage. Apart from conducting the fire dragon dance on the day of the Mid-Autumn Festival, i.e., the 15th day of the eighth lunar month, the custom of holding it on the night before has also been revived. The organisation of the festivities has also become more formal and the scale much larger.