There are so many different stories about how the lion dance started. Here are some of the stories I’ve heard.
Some people said that lions show up and start eating people once a year when winter is ending and spring is coming. When people get together and fight for survival, after many years they practice Kung Fu and finally defeated the lion. They started to act like the lion movement to tell the story, and later on, it became lion dance.
Another story is that people find out the lion is afraid of fire and noise. So they started to light up firecrackers, playing percussion instruments while another two-person wearing the lion custom to copy the lion action to scared the real lion away. And this act became lion dance which people believe wards off evil, and pray for God’s blessing.
Some mentioned a myth version that God come and lead the lion away, and you can see the “big head buddha” sometimes dance in front of the “lion”.
The Han culture lion dance is mainly devices into two types: Northern-style lion dance, which initially was more popular up north of the Yangtze River; and Southern-style lion dance, those more focused on the lion custom located in southern mainland China and overseas. In recent years, we combined these two types, mainly using the image of southern lions with northern lion dance footwork. There are many tricks for lion dance, including rising, normal, rise, doubt, progress, itching, Yingbao, politeness, leaping, scrutiny, doze, go out of the hole, show power, cross the mountain, go upstairs, etc.
The northern lion custom looks exactly like the real lion, coats golden, orange and red, is made of fiberglass or wood as shown picture below.
Generally, there’s a two-person dance in a lion custom together unless it’s the small northern lion custom that only fit in one person. The northern lion dance has flexible moments such as flapping, jumping, turning, rolling, falling, and itching. Advance dancers also using the bench, ball, stakes, or rocking boards.
Northern lions usually appear in pairs, with males having red knots on their heads and females with green knots. Sometimes a pair of northern lions will be paired with a pair of young northern lions. The young lions tease the big lions. The North Lion show is closer to juggling.
The southern lion, also known as the awakening lion or the Guangdong lion, has focused more on the powerful shape and pays more attention to the frame of martial arts when dancing. The southern lion mainly expresses the lion’s look by the dancers’ movements. The southern lion’s custom head is based on the opera mask, which is crafty with colorful eyes, mouth, and ears that can be moved. With the development of modern technology, many lion heads will be decorated with LED lights that can be turned on and off at will.
The lion head of the southern lion is said that comes from the shape of the beast. The lion head of the southern lion also has a horn. In the early years, it was even made of iron. The dancers were equipped with sharp weapons to deal with the martial arts that often occur during the lion dance. You can find those in movies <黄飞鸿 Once upon a time in China>.
Southern lions are generally divided into 鶴山裝獅crane mountain style lion and 佛山裝獅buddha mountain style lion. Buddha mountain-style lion has a large round head, forehead shaped is more wide and powerful with a wider mouth. Crane mountain-style lion has a long, protruding mouth that is like a duck’s beak, so the insider also calls it a “duck-billed lion”.
Before the lion dance, an “eye-drawing” ceremony is usually held. The ceremony was performed by the guests of honor and painted on the lion’s eyes as a symbol of giving life.
During the Chinese New Year, the lion dance team will make a profit by dancing in front of the house by house and store by store to request red envelopes in the past. According to legend, “Cai Qing”, is generally used for its purpose, because the lettuce and the “shengcai” homonym also have the meaning of “shengsheng”. Picking lettuce and entering the store symbolizes the booming business since the store opened. Therefore, lion dance not only popular during Chinese new year, but also celebrates the opening of the store, wedding, etc. To increase the entertainment, the lettuce and red envelopes will be hung high from the ceiling or the door of the store. The lion dancers will act as hesitated, then jumped up, “eat” the green vegetables in one bite, and then “Bite the lettuce into pieces and spit it out” and greet everyone. The lion dance team needs to use a stool or chair to climb and pick, and sometimes they also use special tricks, such as upper shoulder dancer (lion head standing on lion tail shoulder), upper thighs (lion head standing on lion tail dancer on the thighs), waist-closing (lion heads with their feet pinched between lion-tailed waists), and poles (climbing on bamboo poles), but during TV recordings performing in New Year celebrations or tournaments, lion dancers may use plum piles instead of stools and chairs.
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