Although the lion is not native to China, it was introduced to the country a long time ago. In my mind, the lion, like the dragon, is a symbol of might and dominance, so the Lantern Festival will choose to celebrate with a lion dance. Of course this is my subjective conjecture, the following we together with the information to understand why the Lantern Festival lion dance it!
A lion in China's "entrepreneurial history"
We all know that the lion is an exotic species, native to most of Africa and Asia, India and other places. Want to know why the lion as an outsider, will become the main character of the Lantern Festival, it is also necessary to understand the lion in our country's "entrepreneurial history".
It came to China "business" can be traced back to the Western Han Dynasty, rumor has it that after Emperor Han Wu Di opened up the Western Region, the lion began to enter our field of vision. As early as in the Eastern Han Dynasty, the lion was given to the emperor as a gift by the king of the Sabbath. It can be said that it started from a very high starting point, and the latter career is also very successful
Then, the number of lions in China is very rare, and only the emperor and his close friends can have a glimpse of the lion's honorable appearance. Lion image is good, good temperament, so the lion in China's "fans" a lot, folk even if they have not seen the lion, just listen to the expression of others, the lion road to powder, lion even shook the king of beasts of the tiger's position .
The Tang Dynasty, due to the strength of our country, the ordinary people can also see the real lion. While there were no lions in the early years of folklore, legends of lions had been circulating, and thus the lion was deified from a common fierce beast to a precious one. Can you not be excited to see your idol? Whether it is a temple or a big family of Zhu Men, they all like to collect lions around, such as two stone lions at the entrance.
The image of the lion is powerful and domineering, the king of beasts, a symbol of power and auspiciousness, so it is not surprising that it appears on the Lantern Festival.
Second, the Lantern Festival why the lion dance
China's record of the lion dance can be traced back to the Three Kingdoms period. Wei Meng Kang in the "Han Book - Rituals and Music" mentioned in the notes, then there (Nuo opera) actors wearing masks playing fish, shrimp, and lions. By the Tang Dynasty, the lion dance became a must for our folk Lantern Festival.
The festival should always have a little special activities to celebrate, the lion dance is a good activity, not only good meaning, and look lively. Lion is a symbol of courage and good luck, and I believe that the ability of such a powerful lion to drive away evil spirits is not bad. Many of our festivals are related to praying for blessings and avoiding disasters, so it can be said that the lion dance is also a ritual to hold this kind of praying for blessings and avoiding disasters. With the development of society, the entertainment function of the lion dance has become more and more prominent.
In summary, although China does not have a lion, but the lion as early as the Western Han Dynasty was introduced to China, and the image of the mighty, excellent temperament, in the folk by the people like. And because it was deified as a precious beast with the function of warding off evil spirits, the lion dance became a ritual for praying for blessings and warding off evil spirits, and then the lion dance slowly evolved into a permanent program of the Lantern Festival.
Personally, I feel that the image of the lion is indeed very pleasing, but the gap between the reality of the lion and the image of the lion in traditional culture is still very large. I don't know if it's because you can now watch lions through movies and TV or just go to the zoo, which leads me to think that lions seem to be nothing more than that, a bit unusual ah. But when I think of the experience of our national treasure pandas abroad, I suddenly understand why people in ancient times sought after lions.