2016年7月17日星期日

Chinese Tradition Art: Lion Dance

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  Lion dance,also known as playing lion, is a form in which performers mimic a lion’s movements in a lion costume. Unlike dragon dance, a lion is often operated by two people and the performers' faces are often covered during the dance while a dragon dance needs more people and the performers can be seen since the dragon is held upon poles.

  There is a legend about lion dance. Once upon a time a monk had a dream in which there were many sorrows and evils plaguing the land. The monk prayed and asked the gods how he could prevent these evils from occurring. The gods told him that a lion would protect them and fight back the evils.

  The Chinese people had never seen a lion before, but had heard stories that the lion was the king of all the other animals, so the monk combined all the lucky or magical animals he could think of and so made a lion. If you look closely at any lion, you can see a red sash tied on its horn.

  It is told that the lion was disrespectful to the Jade Emperor. This of course caused the Jade Emperor to get very angry, so as a punishment he chopped off his horn (The source of his life) and the lion died.

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  The Goddess of Mercy (Guan Yin) felt bad for him so she tied his horn back on with a red sash with golden leaves and chanted to the lion and he came back to life.

  Actually, according to textual research, lions in China were originally introduced from West Asia through the “Silk Road”, since sending lions to China wasn’t an easy job accompanied by hardships, very few lions finally arrived at the destination.

  Therefore, the real breathtaking lion dance was only limited to the imperial palace and wealthy families, and common people never had the chance to watch it. Therefore, the folk artists created lions through imagination according to records or legends.

  They highlighted the broad forehead, upturned nose and open mouth with traditional divine and auspicious decorations, presenting the mighty force and liveliness of lions. In the lion dance, people perform the role of lions.

  The performance is divided into civil lion and martial lion according to the performing styles. Civil lion, in which the lion player always wears a mask, has a docile and funny image.

  For instance, there are the Luohan (Arhat) playing with Lion in Sichuan and Hunan provinces and the Laughing Monk Playing with Lion in Shanxi Province. While martial lion portrays the power of the lion, besides the usual jumping, falling and tumbling, performers will also show their excellent techniques by climbing upon a high table or stepping on five wooden stakes.

  For instance, the Gaotai (High Terrace) Lion Dance of Sichuan Province has to be performed on seven high tables, which makes the performance highly difficult.
  The performance is also divided into Northern Lion Dance and Southern Lion Dance according to the factors of geography.

  The Northern Lion Dance has a longer history that in the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534), the Emperor Wu launched an expedition Hexi Corridor (used to be a vital passageway of the Old Silk Road) to Gansu Province, and took captive of more than 100,000 Mongols.

  The emperor ordered the Mongols to perform dance and other entertainment. More than 30 Mongolian warriors held wood carved animal heads and wore animal skins, dancing before the emperor.

  The emperor was very pleased and named it Northern Wei Auspicious Lion, and allowed the captives to return home. The legend about the Southern Lion Dance is said that in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), Emperor Qianlong dreamed about the pilgrim of an auspicious animal in colorful hair on his inspection tour south of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. More→http://www.beijing-haidian.com/

  After his return to Beijing, the capital, the emperor ordered his men to make one according to the image of the auspicious animal he dreamed about.


  He ordered some people to perform whenever there was a festival or a ceremony, indicating to make the state prosperous and people peaceful.

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