What did the Chinese dance before the rise of the lion dance?

Lion dance is China's outstanding folk art, every Lantern Festival or gathering celebrations, folk lion dance to cheer. This custom originated in the Three Kingdoms period, began to popularize the North and South Dynasties, has been more than a thousand years of history. Under the music of gongs and drums, the performers dress up as lions and make various lion movements. Chinese folklore tradition is that lion dance can drive away evil spirits. Therefore, whenever there is a festive occasion, such as a grand opening ceremony or a spring festival, they like to perform lion dances with gongs and drums. Lion dances have also become world-famous following the migration of Chinese overseas, and are very popular in Malaysia and Singapore. Overseas Chinese living in Europe and the United States have also formed a number of lion dance clubs, and every year at the Chinese New Year or major festivals, they will be celebrated with lion dances around the world. According to legend, it was first imported from the West, the lion was the mount of Manjushri, and with the introduction of Buddhism into China, the lion dance was also imported into China. The lion was a tribute brought back by Zhang Qian, sent by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, along with the peacock. The technique of the lion dance was introduced from the "mask play" of the Western Liang, and it is also believed that the lion dance was created in the army in the fifth century, and later introduced into the folklore. Both claims have their own basis, and today it is difficult to judge their rights and wrongs. However, during the Tang Dynasty, the Lion Dance has become an activity prevalent in the court, military and civil society. Tang Duan Anjie "music miscellaneous search" said: "the play has five square lions, more than ten feet high, each dressed in five colors, each lion, there are twelve people, wearing red smudged forehead, clothing painted clothes, holding a red whisk, known as the lion Lang, dancing peace music." Poet Bai Juyi "Xiliang Kabuki" poem has a vivid depiction of this: "Xiliang Kabuki, Xiliang Kabuki, masked hu people fake lions. Carved wood for the head and silk for the tail, gold plated eyes and silver teeth. Fenxun sweater swinging both ears, as from the quicksand to ten thousand miles." The poem describes the lion dance at that time. Lion dance has a long history, it is a product of cultural exchanges between China and the West. As early as 1,900 years ago, Persia passed through the Silk Road and China conducted commercial trade between the two sides, but also promote cultural exchanges between the two countries. Persian emissaries also transported lions and other animals to China, at that time, China's Central Plains did not produce lions, but with the next ancient China and West Asia, India and other countries to carry out friendly exchanges, more lions came to the Chinese territory. Lion body size, known as the king of beasts, and China is generally not subject to lion trouble, so the folk have a sense of affection for the lion, as a symbol of might and courage and good luck, and hope that the lion's mighty image of exorcism to drive away evil spirits, caused by the lion to suppress or to show the might of the lion. Chinese society has always been based on agriculture, with the change of seasonal weather and agricultural life, various festivals or welcome the gods came into being, in these festivals, people in order to seek peace and tranquility in life, to the gods or beasts to drive away the ghosts and entertain the gods evolved, this form will gradually have the meaning of the entertainment of the people. With the people's love of lions, not satisfied with the standing door piers, eaves, stone fences, seals, paintings on the static lion art image, they want to let the lion alive, so they created a simulation of the lion's behavior of the dance, and then improved and developed into a unique art of the Chinese nation. Although the folk lion dance activities from a long time ago, but the origin of this art is a diversity of opinions. Connoisseurs all over the books, in the end can only be traced from a variety of records in the realization of some clues, which includes a variety of legends. Among them: the origin of the Han Dynasty said: according to legend, when Emperor Zhang Han, the western region of the country to the Han Dynasty tribute to a male lion with golden hair, the emissary threatened the field, if someone can tame this lion, they will continue to pay tribute to the Han Dynasty, or else cut off diplomatic relations. After the emissary left, Emperor Zhang of the Han Dynasty chose three people to tame the lion, but were unsuccessful. Later, the golden hair of the male lion madness seizure, was killed by the palace people mess stick, the palace people to avoid the Zhangdi descending, so the lion skin pulled off, by the palace people brothers dressed as a golden lion, a person to tease the dance, this not only fooled the ambassadors of the Dayuezhi, and even the Zhangdi also believed that this matter was later spread out of the Han Palace, the people believe that the lion dance is a symbol of glory for the country, good luck. So they imitated the lion and performed the lion dance. Lion dance has been popular since then. The origin of the Northern Wei Dynasty: lion dance as a performing art, believed to have been formed in the Northern Wei Dynasty 1500 years ago, when the northern Xiongnu infestation of chaos. They made a number of carved wooden stones, sewed the body of the lion with gold silk and hemp, and sent good dancers to Wei to pay tribute, with the intention of assassinating the Emperor of Wei during the lion dance, but fortunately, they were detected by the loyal officials, so that they knew what to do and retreated. Later, because the Emperor of Wei loved the lion dance, he ordered to copy it, and it has been passed down to future generations. Yang Xianzhi "Luoyang Galaxy Records" recorded that when the Buddha statue traveled in Luoyang Changqiu Temple at that time, there were words of "warding off evil lions, guiding its front". Origin of the Tang Dynasty said: in the tablet to make the Tang Ming Huang tour of the Moon Palace, Lion Dance made by the Tang Ming Huang tour of the Moon Palace after a wake-up call and there is a wake-up lion dance, the story that when the Tang Ming Huang tour of the Moon Palace, in front of the steps appeared in a colorful, broad-mouthed, big-nosed unicorns at the Tang Ming Huang no harm, and in front of the steps rolling ball, posture majestic. Tang Ming Huang woke up to see this phenomenon, he wanted to close ministers according to his dream beast imitation, at the same time by the club with a strong gongs and drums choreographed dance to entertain the guests. Since then, the lion dance has been introduced to the people. In the Tang Dynasty, the "Taiping Le" in the "Lipu Kabuki" is also known as the "Lion Dance of the Five Parties". Bai Juyi, a famous poet of the Tang Dynasty, wrote a poem: "A fake lion with a false face, carved wood for the head and silk for the tail. Gold-plated eyes and silver paste teeth, Fenxun sweater swinging ears" ("Xiliang Shu"). It can be seen that there were already lion dances in the Tang Dynasty. Internationally widely recognized origin of Foshan said: in ancient times, Guangdong Nanhai County, Foshan Township, Zhongyi Township, a strange beast, eight feet long, big head and small body, eyes like bronze bells, green fangs, head with a unicorn horn. The beast appeared on the night of New Year's Eve and came and went like the wind, specializing in destroying the crops of the people, including rice, vegetables and so on. Villagers and townspeople are not tired, because he appeared every New Year's Eve, so people call it "New Year's Beast", the townspeople will discuss the elimination of the "New Year's Beast" has a wise man to offer advice, with gabions and paper, tied into the shape of the beast and color on the color. To various shapes of cloth such as square, triangle woven into the body of the beast, and then set warriors dozens of people, holding pots and other loud appliances, and by a person holding a double chopper, standing in a round anvil ready to knock. They ambushed under a bridge, the place for the beast must pass through. When the beast appeared, all the warriors rushed out and struck the instruments to make the sound of "clanking" and "thumping", which was as loud as thunder. The beast was so shocked that it fled and has never been seen again. In order to celebrate the success of driving away the beast and to commemorate the merits of the papier-maché beast head, the villagers took it out to dance in the Spring Festival. Some even suggested that it be named the Lion Dance: because the lion is the king of beasts, a representative of courage and a symbol of good luck. Some also call it the Dancing Sacred Head. The villagers not only perform the lion dance during the New Year, but also on the occasion of God's Birthday or celebrations to add to the lively atmosphere. The musical instruments used in the lion dance are changed to gongs and drums, with a certain rhythm, which are commonly used in various places to welcome the gods and worship the gods and households, and are meant to be able to calm down the house, make the ghosts and gods descending, and bring peace to the community and a good harvest. Today's lion dance is mainly divided into two kinds of southern and northern lions. Initially, the Northern Lion Dance was more popular in the north of the Yangtze River, while the Southern Lion Dance was popular in South China, the South Seas and overseas. In recent years, there is also a dance method that combines the two, mainly using the lion of the Southern Lion and the footwork of the Northern Lion, known as the "Southern Lion and Northern Dance". The Northern Lion is styled like a real lion, with a simple head and golden-colored fur. The pants and shoes of the lion dancers (usually two dancers dancing at a time) are covered with hair, and the lion already looks like a lion before the dance. Male lions have red knots on their heads, while females have green knots. The northern lions show flexible movements, unlike the southern lions, which emphasize strength. The dance is based on pouncing, falling, tumbling, rolling, jumping and rubbing. The northern lions are usually seen in pairs and are led by a master dressed as a warrior. Sometimes a pair of northern lions will be paired with a pair of small northern lions, the small lions teasing the big lions, the big lions to get children for fun, to show the family. The performance of the northern lions is closer to vaudeville. The music is mainly composed of cymbals, gongs and drums. The Southern Lion, also known as the Waking Lion, has a more powerful shape and focuses on the horse stance when dancing. The Southern Lion mainly relies on the movements of the dancers to show the majestic lion form, and usually only two people will dance one head. The lion's head is made of opera masks, colorful and well-made; the eyes and mouth can be moved. Strictly speaking, the lion's head of the Southern Lion is not quite like a lion's head, and some people even think that the Southern Lion is closer to the New Year's Eve. The Southern Lion's head also has a horn, which is rumored to have been made of iron in the past to cope with the martial arts fights that often occur during lion dances. Traditionally, there are three types of lion heads: "Liu Bei", "Guan Yu" and "Zhang Fei". The three types of lion heads not only have different colors and decorations, but also have different dancing styles according to the characters of the three ancient people. South Division of the dance of a lot of shapes, there are: start, normal, rise, doubt into, scratching, welcome treasure, salute, jump, review, sleep, out of the hole, the mighty, over the hill, on the platform and so on; dancers through different horse stance, with the lion's head movements to the various shapes of the abstract expression. Therefore, the Southern Lion emphasizes on the meaning and resemblance. The Southern Lions perform in a variety of ways, such as going out of the cave, going up the mountain, meeting the lions on patrol, picking up the green, and entering the cave. Among them, the "Caiqing" is the most common. According to legend, "Caiqing" was originally meant to "oppose the Qing Dynasty and restore the Ming Dynasty", but nowadays it is generally taken as a symbol of "vigor" and prosperous business. Lettuce is used in "Ching Ching". Lettuce and red packets are hung up, and the lion dances in front of the "green" several times to show hesitation, then leaps up and "eats" the lettuce in one gulp, then "bites up and spits out" the lettuce, and then pays tribute to everyone. In order to make the dance more entertaining, it is sometimes used to perform stunts, such as the "Shoulder Up" (where the head lion dancer stands on the shoulders of the tail lion dancer), the "Pile Up", the "Up the Pole" (climbing up a bamboo pole), and the "Plum Blossom Tsubaki" (passing through long wooden tsubakis of varying heights), among other feats. The lion dance is accompanied by large gongs, drums and cymbals. The lion dance is synchronized with the rhythm of the music. The lion dance is sometimes led by a man dressed as "Big Head Buddha" holding a sunflower fan. The lion dance is usually preceded by an eye-dotting ceremony. The ceremony is performed by the officiating guest, who applies vermillion sand to the eyes of the lion to symbolize the giving of life. Lion Dance: Bai Juyi's "Biography of Xilang": A fake lion with a masked hu man, carving wood for the head and silk for the tail. Gold-plated glasses with silver teeth, Fenxun sweater swinging both ears. As from the quicksand to ten thousand miles, purple beard and deep eyes two Hu children. Dancing beam before the speech, should be like Liangzhou has not fallen day. When the Anxi Protector came in. The lion dance originated in the North and South Dynasties, that is, the era of the rise of Buddhism.