- Summary
Young Chinese League for many years paraded dragon around Melbourne and Victoria including Moomba festival Parades.
Details
In 1953 two Young Chinese League committee members, George Lo and Charles Quon organised for a processional dragon to be imported to Melbourne from Hong Kong to parade in the Lord Mayor's Labor Day Charity Parade, the precursor of Moomba. Chinese dragons are traditionally the bringers of rain to swell crops for harvest, perfect for Moomba, a festival dedicated to water. Dragons are said to be an amalgam of different animals including camel, deer, rabbit, cow, snake, frog, carp, hawk and tiger. They are brightly coloured and intricately decorated with scales and mirrors.
Beneath the dragon are its 'legs'. These 'legs', members of the Young Chinese League, carried the dragon for many years. From 1953 until 1975, the Young Chinese League dragon travelled around the Victorian regional centres of Geelong, Colac and Mornington, as well as parades in the Melbourne suburbs of Black Rock, Sandringham, Ringwood, Brunswick, St Kilda, Moonee Ponds, Preston and Sunshine. One year it even travelled to Sydney to parade.
The dragon was very moveable and could be carried on the back of a truck after it was assembled. Smaller than the later Dai Loong and Millennium dragons, the Young Chinese League dragon needed 20 to move it, plus more to assemble it, act as relief, serve refreshments and assist in its transportation. The dragon was paid for and maintained by donations of League members organised as well as money provided by organisations and regional centres who hired the Young Chinese League 'legs' to parade the dragon. When the Young Chinese League's meeting rooms were at the Chinn family home on Little Bourke Street the dragon was hung from the ceiling in the banana storage room.
The dragon was a popular fixture of Moomba and was described in the press as both that 'gorgeous Chinese dragon' and 'grotesque Chinese dragon'. There were some years, however, when the dragon did not parade and this did not go unnoticed and some press commentators complained that the festival lacked life without the dragon. When the dragon did not take part in Moomba, it all came down to funds and manpower. The Young Chinese League was a small social club which relied on volunteer support and in some years' the numbers were too few and fundraising fell short.
By 1969, the Young Chinese League dragon had not appeared at events for a couple of years. In 1971, with additional financial assistance and manpower from Melbourne City Councillor, David Wang, the dragon reappeared at Moomba after many years' absence. It won the Best Novelty Event that year as well as 1972, 1973 and 1975. In 1975, the dragon even appeared in an episode of the long-running police drama series 'Homicide'. Footage for the episode was shot during the Moomba procession.
The Young Chinese League dragon made its last appearance at Moomba in 1975. A new dragon, Dai Loong, made its debut at Moomba in 1979. The purchase and management of the dragon was overseen by the Melbourne Dai Loong committee and in the years following, some of the dragon's 'legs' continued to be those of Young Chinese League members. The Young Chinese League dragon and Dai Loong are both on display at the Museum of Chinese Australian History in Melbourne
Sources used to compile this entry: Macgregor, Paul (ed.), Histories of the Chinese in Australasia and the South Pacific: Proceedings of an International Public Conference Held at the Chinese Australia Museum, 8-10 October 1993, Chinese Australian Museum, Melbourne, 1995; Museum of Chinese Australian History collection including - Young Chinese League Exhibition text, Museum of Chinese Australian History, 1993. Young Chinese League newsletters (1955, 1956, 1958, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1969, 1975, 1978 & 1979) Russell Moy oral history transcript Dai Loong Association website, http://www.melbournedailoong.com.au/association.html.
Prepared by: Brendan O'Donnell, Monash University
Related Subjects
Published Resources
Edited Books
- Macgregor, Paul (ed.), Histories of the Chinese in Australasia and the South Pacific: Proceedings of an International Public Conference Held at the Chinese Australia Museum, 8-10 October 1993, Chinese Australian Museum, Melbourne, 1995. Details
Images
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- Title
- Dragon parade practice
- Type
- Photograph
- Date
- c. 28 February 1954
- Place
- Australia - Victoria - Melbourne - Carlton
- Details
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-
- Title
- Dragon procession to celebrate royal visit on Labour Day 1
- Type
- Photograph
- Date
- c. 8 March 1954
- Place
- Australia - Victoria - Melbourne
- Details
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-
- Title
- Moomba Young Chinese League dragon procesion
- Type
- Photograph
- Date
- 1950s - 1970s
- Place
- Australia - Victoria - Melbourne - Bourke Street
- Details
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-
- Title
- Procession with Chinese Dragon
- Type
- Photograph
- Date
- 1960s
- Place
- Australia - Victoria - Melbourne?
- Details
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-
- Title
- Young Chinese League dragon on Carlton Oval
- Type
- Photograph
- Date
- c. 28 February 1954
- Place
- Australia - Victoria - Melbourne - Carlton
- Details
See also
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-
- Title
- Mooomba Parade, Melbourne in the mid 1950’s
- Type
- Photograph
- Date
- c. 1955
- Place
- Australia - Victoria - Melbourne
- Details
-
-
- Title
- Two men dressed for dragon parade
- Type
- Photograph
- Date
- c. 1925 - c. 1930
- Place
- Australia - Victoria - Melbourne
- Details
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-
- Title
- Young Chinese League [?] group in Moomba parade
- Type
- Photograph
- Date
- c. 1955
- Place
- Australia - Victoria - Melbourne
- Details
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-
- Title
- Young Chinese League Members, South Melbourne Beach
- Type
- Photograph
- Date
- 1950s - 1960s
- Place
- Australia - Victoria - Melbourne
- Details
Created: 5 December 2009, Last modified: 11 November 2012
