During the Han Dynasty, different forms of the dragon dance were described in ancient texts. Rain dance performed at times of drought may involve the use of figures of dragon as Chinese dragon was associated with rain in ancient China, for example the dragon Yinglong was considered a rain deity, and the Shenlong had the power to determine how much wind and rain to bring. According to the Han Dynasty text "Luxuriant Dew of the Spring and Autumn Annals" by Dong Zhongshu, as part of a ritual to appeal for rain, clay figures of the dragons were made and children or adults may then perform a dance. The number of dragons, their length and color, as well as the performers may vary according to the time of year. Other dances involving dragons may be found in a popular form of entertainment during the Han Dynasty, the "baixi" () variety shows, where performers called "mime people" () dressed up as various creatures such as beasts, fish and dragons. In his "Lyric Essay on Western Capital" () Zhang Heng recorded various performances such as performers who dressed as a green dragon playing a flute, and a fish-dragon act where fish transformed into a dragon. A version of the fish-dragon dance called "fish-dragon extending" () was also performed at the Han court to entertain foreign guests – in this dance a mythical beast of Shenli () transforms into flounder, then to a dragon. These ancient dances however do not resemble modern Dragon Dance in their descriptions, and depictions of dragon dance in Han Dynasty stone relief engravings suggest that the props used may also be cumbersome, unlike modern Dragon Dance where light-weight dragons are manipulated by performers.