HKBU-led team receives support to study Pok Fu Lam fire dragon dance

A research team led by Professor Stephanie Chung of the Department of History has received HK$1.39 million from the Intangible Cultural Heritage Office, Leisure and Cultural Services Department to conduct the three-year “Mid-Autumn Festival - the Pok Fu Lam Fire Dragon Dance” partnership project.

The Pok Fu Lam Fire Dragon Dance is one of the most representative examples of intangible cultural heritage in Hong Kong. The research team will conduct field trips, produce oral histories, and reorganise old documents and photos from historical and anthropological perspectives with the aim of retracing the history of Pok Fu Lam Village, as well as the cultural connotations, historical background and inheritance of the century-old fire dragon dance tradition. The time-honoured event is included in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Hong Kong.

The team will also conclude the research with a monograph. Part of it will be used to develop teaching materials for primary and secondary schools, and the study will also be used to establish an online database so that the invaluable cultural and historical stories can be shared with the general public.