Do you know the origin of the Spring Festival lion dance?

What is a lion dance master The lion dance is China's excellent folk art, every Lantern Festival or assembly celebrations, the folk are lion dance to come to cheer. This custom originated in the Three Kingdoms period and became popular during the North and South Dynasties, and has a history of more than a thousand years. 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 during the Chinese New Year or major festivals, they will celebrate with lion dances all over the world. History of Lion Dance The Lingnan Lion Dance, also known as the Southern Lion, is famous for its difficult maneuvers. According to legend, it was first imported from the Western region, where 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, together with the peacock, etc. The lion dance was introduced to China by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. 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. The lion dance has a long history, and it is a product of cultural exchanges between China and the Western regions. As early as 1,900 years ago, Persia conducted commercial trade with China via the Silk Road, which also promoted 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 affected by the lion disease, 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 shape 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 significance 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 variety of opinions. Connoisseurs all over the books, in the end can only be traced from a variety of records to realize some clues, which includes a variety of legends. Among them: the origin of the lion dance Han Dynasty origin said: According to legend, the Han Emperor Zhangdi, the western region of the country tribute to the Han Dynasty, a golden male lion, the emissary threatened the field, if someone can tame this lion, 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, all 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 move 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 wooden and stone carvings, sewed the lion's body with golden silk and hemp, and sent good dancers to Wei to pay tribute, intending to assassinate the Emperor of Wei during the lion dance, but fortunately, they were recognized by the loyal officials, so they retreated under difficult circumstances. 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's "Luoyang Galaxy Records" described that when the Buddha statue traveled in Luoyang Changqiu Temple at that time, there were words of "warding off evil lions and guiding them in front". The 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, large nose of the unicorn to the Tang Ming Huang no harm, and in front of the steps to the rolling ball, gesture of majesty. 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 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"). Visible in the Tang Dynasty has been a lion dance. Records about the lion dance, the earliest in the "Han Shu - music", which mentioned "elephant man", according to the Three Kingdoms, Wei Meng Kang's interpretation, "elephant man" is to play the fish, shrimp, lion entertainers. From this we can see that as late as the Three Kingdoms, there has been a lion dance. North and South Dynasties, folk dance lion. To the Tang Dynasty, the lion dance has developed into a collective performance of hundreds of large-scale song and dance, but also as a Yanle dance performed in the court, known as the "Taiping music", also known as the "five party lion dance". At that time, the lion dance was also spread to Japan. Japan's a "letter to the west of the ancient music" in the picture, there is an ancient Japanese Zuo music dance scene, similar to the Tang Dynasty, just much smaller. After the Tang Dynasty, the lion dance was widely spread in the folklore. The Song Dynasty "Tokyo Dreams" records that some Buddhist temples in the festival of the lion, monks sitting on the lion to do ministry, preaching to attract visitors. In his Taoan Mengyi, Zhang Dai of the Ming Dynasty describes how during the Lantern Festival in Zhejiang Province, the sound of gongs and drums is heard in the streets and alleys, and people gather everywhere to watch the lion dance. Internationally recognized Foshan origin 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 a unicorn horn. Southern Lion This strange beast appeared on New Year's Eve night, coming and going like the wind, specializing in destroying folk crops including rice, vegetables and so on. Villagers and townspeople are not tired of it, because he appeared every New Year's Eve, so people called "New Year's Beast", the townspeople will discuss the elimination of the "New Year's Beast", a wise man offered to use gabions and paper, tied into the shape of a strange beast and colored with colors. 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 "clanging" 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 fortune. 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 the Birthday of the God 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, there are two main types of lion dances: the Southern Lion Dance and the Northern Lion Dance. 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 are also dances that combine 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". Northern Lion The Northern Lion is modeled like a real lion, with a simple head and golden yellow 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 soundtrack is mainly composed of Jing cymbals, Jing gongs and Jing drums. Southern Lion 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 to the opera mask for reference, colorful, manufacturing sophisticated; eye curtains, 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 character of the three ancient people. Zhanjiang Suixi lion world famous South Division of the dance modeling a lot, there are: momentum, normality, rise, doubt into, scratching the itch, to meet Po, salute, startled leap, review, sleep, out of the hole, the mighty, over the mountain, on the platform and so on; dancers through different horse stance, with the lion's head movements to a variety of shapes to abstractly show. 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 "Pole Up" (where one climbs up a bamboo pole), and the "Plum Blossom Tsubaki" (where one passes through long wooden tsubakis of varying heights), among other feats. The lion dance is accompanied by 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. Lion dance originated in the North and South Dynasties, the era of the rise of Buddhism. China's lion dance hometown "China's lion dance hometown" --- Suixi County, Zhanjiang City, Guangdong Province Suixi County Government decided to start from 2005, December 8 every year held "Suixi Lion Dance Festival". "The Suixi Lion Dance Art Festival was held once in 2005, but has not been held since. In 2004, the first Suixi Lion Dance Festival was held on November 26th. On the same day, in the cultural square and the main street of the county, a wonderful lion show and the "Night of the Lion Country" cultural evening, from November 27 to December 8, the lion team from all over the round performances, to practice their skills. In addition, calligraphy and photography exhibitions related to the lion dance were also held. Suixi's folk lion dance activities have a long history. In recent years, the local government follows the principle of "active protection, rational development, effective utilization and encouragement of competition", adheres to the idea of "giving equal importance to modernity and tradition, and promoting the overall development of cultural undertakings", actively develops the folk lion dance art, and the lion dance team continues to grow, and there are 255 folk lion dance teams. Folk lion dance team has 255 teams, including 28 high pile lion, 227 ground lion, performers over ten thousand people. Lion dance is a comprehensive art that combines martial arts, dance, and gongs and drums. Suixi's lion dance teams include men's and women's lion dance teams, single and double lions, ground lions, high pile lions, high pile single lions, high pile double lions, etc., forming a unique style of lion dance, and a number of lion dance teams have won prizes in national competitions, among which, the Wenche Lion Dance Team has also participated in the "Year of Chinese and French Culture" exhibition in Paris, France. In December, 2003, Suixi County was named the "Hometown of Chinese Lion Dance" by the Chinese Folk Literary Artists Association. Suixi Lion Dance belongs to Southern Lion, enjoys the reputation of the Lion Dance Hometown, and has visited many countries on behalf of China. It has represented China to visit many countries and was the special guest of honor for the lion dance performance at the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Yangjiang Lion Dance - Clueless Lion Dance is known as Lion Dance in Jiangcheng. The word "dance" is pronounced as "懵" in Yangjiang dialect, while "lion" is pronounced as "是子", which has the same meaning. This is taboo, because the "lion" Yangjiang sound with "lose", inauspicious. Jiangcheng in the old days, there will be celebrations will be firecrackers and lions, especially the Spring Festival to celebrate the New Year. Early in the morning on the first day of the Lunar New Year, there are lions to worship the house. The world believes that the lion in front of the door open mouth and tongue wagging head and brain some, those hiding in the nooks and crannies of the house in the evil spirits will be swept away, and therefore regard this as a "prosperous house" role, are respectful and solemn to the lion dancers to send "red envelopes". Just built a new house, the family will deliberately invite the lion dancers into the house, floor by floor dance worship. Newlyweds who want to give birth to a boy early will also invite the lion to enter their bedroom and let it roll over in their bed. Because the Yangjiang language "lion" and "is the son of" consonant, "lion on the bed" is also a metaphor for "is the son (boy) on the bed! "This is a good omen. Wealthy families and stores will invite the lion dance team to give special performances. They are usually performed in an open space with a large number of onlookers. The lion dance is usually accompanied by a variety of martial arts performances, the climax of which is the "Lion" and "Caiqing". The host family in the upstairs with a bamboo pole high up a big red bag, next to a bundle of greens, the lion dance team on the ground to set up a ladder, so that the "lion" side dance along the ladder to climb up, climb to the top, open the mouth to the red bag and greens "eat" in the mouth. The most wonderful "picking green" is "picking coconut", that is, the leaves of the green vegetables are replaced by coconuts. "The lion must open the coconut hanging above it. The lion dancers often have to use their teeth to tear off the outer skin of the coconut and use their fists to burst the coconut, which is not possible without some real skill. Today's Jiangcheng lion dance activities, not only for the Spring Festival, usually business celebrations, promotions, often invited the lion team to help, the lion team has become an advertising practitioners, skills than the Tang Bai Juyi described "gold plated eyes and silver paste ear, Fen Xun hair body swinging ears" much more superb. Xushui County, Hebei Province, North and South Village Lion Dance Introduction Xushui Beili Lion Dance Xushui County, Hebei Province, Beili Lion Dance can be said to have a long history and a long history, known as the northern lion lion lion dance of the township. In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it was performed at the Zhangjia Temple on the occasion of New Year's festivals and major events in the form of a flower show. The whole village up to the elderly, down to the childish children, everyone hanging, each practicing. Create a lot of stunts, our village lion dance art troupe was formed in 1925 on this basis, so far there have been more than eighty years of history. In the 1950s, the village lion dance troupe went to Romania with the Central Song and Dance Troupe to participate in the Fourth Youth Festival of the World, won the gold medal; visited six countries in Eastern Europe and went to North Korea to perform a great success, by the party and state leaders of the high praise; since the reform and opening up, the village lion dance is more such as a wood in the spring, such as a tiger to add wings, achievements, has participated in and won the Beijing eight, nine, twelve Longtan Cup Invitational Folkloric Games of Excellence The highest award - the winning award; Hebei Province, the best award of the Spring Festival of Music; 94 years Shenyang International Folk Dance Art Competition Jinjiu Award; the Fourth Ministry of Culture Star Award; the fourth and fifth Qingdao Folk Art Festival performance special award; 97 years China Tianjin Dragon and Lion Dance Golden Award; the Ministry of Radio, Film and Television, the first prize of the Golden Splendor; and successively participated in the Hebei TV Station And has participated in the recording program of the Spring Festival Gala of Hebei TV, the CCTV, is a great variety show, the fortieth east and west, south and north, and the tenth anniversary of the opening of the broadcasting; performance of a hundred lions roar in spring, the grandeur of the magnificent, wonderful skills, known as the lion intimidating, full of reputation in Beijing and China. In celebration of the return of Hong Kong and the fifteenth anniversary of the convening of the National People's Congress, the troupe was invited to Beijing to participate in large-scale programs organized by the Beijing Municipality and the National Tourism Administration, by the party and state leaders Li Ruihuan, Li Tieying, Qian Qichen, array of Muhua, Lei Jieqiong, etc., but also by the countries of the ambassadors of the highly acclaimed and highly praised, the troupe over the years the city, the provincial level performance of hundreds of performances, footprints all over the country in more than a dozen cities and regions, full of reputation in China! Well-deserved reputation in China. Lion dance is divided into the lion and the lion dance, the lion lion static and character of the lion's gentle side, intimidation of fear, mutual intimacy when the kiss, looking forward to when the hope as well as scratching, licking the hair, stretching, rolling, pulling out the ears, playing Shu Zhang, etc., the form of delicate and realistic, naive and can be restrained, it is really a perfect example. Lion dance is to skillful, through the lion's outstanding, resulting in, over the mountains and streams, climbing upright, jumping, turning, pouncing and other actions, showing the lion's dynamics and character of the ferocious side, especially Plum Blossom Zhuang, three lions stepped on the ball of the show, it is a unique, fine, dangerous into, and other people marveled at. From the past to the present our village still insist on every good year and the New Year, the Spring Festival lion dance to celebrate, when the neighboring villages of the townspeople also come in groups to see the lion dance, these lions bring people hope, bring joy, but also bring happiness. Especially now invite the lion dance troupe lion dance enterprise opening, red and white wedding, etc., the village people are with the group to go out to work, has now formed a lion dance industry. It has been named as a folk art protection program by the state. Over the decades my village's lion dance art troupe in the inheritance, development, innovation, improve the road to greater achievements, and for the country and brother provinces and cities to train and transport a large number of professional lion dance actors and talents, teaching to help teach a large number of lion dance groups, in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area enjoys a unique reputation.

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