According to Chinese traditional belief, the lion is regarded as the king of the forests and of the other animals. It has thus long been used as a symbol of power, guardian, grandeur, courage, stability and superiority. It is even believed to offer protection from evil spirits. That is why imposing statues of lions were placed at the gates of imperial palaces, official residences, temples and tombs.
Lion Dance: The crashing of the cymbals and the beating of the drums break the silence. It is the beginning of the Chinese Lion Dance
! The brightly colored lion bows and dances throughout the stage, while a playful big headed old uncle
leads the way, teasing and taunting the lion.
The lion’s dance is performed to chase away ghosts and evil
spirits, since the monsters, ghosts, evil spirits (symbol of misfortune) are
afraid of loud noises.
Lion dance usually performs its dance at business opening,
to signify hope, prosperity into that business and drive away misfortunes. Not
only in business opening, lion dance frequently performs in wedding party, birthday party, public events, etc. In Chinese new year, Lion dance performs its attractive,
energic, harmonic, dexterous dance which complements families togetherness,
happiness, and prayer for health, hope, happiness, success, and prosperity for
the next year.
The lion’s every movement has a specific musical rhythm. The
music follows the moves of the lion, the drum follows the lion, the cymbals and
the gong follow the drum player. The cymbals, gong, and drum clash accompanying
the lively dance. Throughout the performance, the Lion will mimic various moods
and demonstrate similar physical gestures allowing the Lion to look life-like.
The dance of a Lion is preformed by two performers, one at
the head of the lion, one at the tail of the lion. The head of the lion is made
out of papier mâché and the nearly constant twinkle and movement of the lion’s
eyelids as well as the movement of the head and mouth are supposed to enhance
the lion’s vitality and longevity, while the tail of the lion sweeps away bad
fortune and unpleasant things from last year.
A shop, business (or household) being visited by the
performers of the Lion Dance will have good luck in the year to come, it means luck, prosperity, and also may act as guardians along
with symbolizing the unity of heaven and earth.
While it becomes symbol for auspiciousness, lion dance has make its pace to modern era. It becomes popular type of entertainment and sport. What people frequently see as random dances actually requires teamwork, hardwork, and perseverance. As a sport, lion dance has made itself communiy of lion dance academies, which taught students not only lion dance techniques, sport, and art, but also moral values.
