The Origin of the Chinese New Year Lion Dance
Lion dancing is a major festive activity during the Spring Festival, and it is believed to herald good luck. There is a tradition of lion dancing all over the country. Lion dancing symbolizes joy and auspiciousness and is recognized by the majority of Chinese people. So how did the Spring Festival lion dancing come about? If you want to know more related content, please search in the 2018 Spring Festival special topic carefully compiled by the Fortune Teller website!The legend of the Chinese New Year lion dance:Legend 1: Folk creation.Lions, which live on sandy plains with few trees, were originally a commodity in West Asia and Africa. About 2,000 years ago, during the Han Dynasty, after Zhang Sai's diplomatic mission to the Western Regions, the "Silk Road" for economic and cultural exchanges between China and the West brought "exotic animals" such as "giant elephants, lions, and large birds" to China. Initially they were kept in the palace as royal pets, and ordinary people had no chance to see them. The creative Chinese people created dances imitating lions from traditional lion art forms such as door piers, eaves, stone railings, seals and New Year paintings. Lion dance art has since become popular among the Chinese people. Legend 2: The beast "Nian" eats green. According to legend, plagues often occurred in ancient China, and many people died, but fortunately, a divine beast would appear shortly after each plague. This mythical beast was called "Nian". Its movements were like thunder and lightning. Once it appeared, the plague would disappear quickly. Because the mythical beast “Nian” was so helpful to humans, during the slack season, we would use bamboo strips and colorful cloths to make the shape of the beast “Nian”, accompany it with majestic drums and music, and shake them in front of each household to ward off evil spirits and bring good luck. Because the beast "Nian" likes to eat vegetables, every household puts a plate of vegetables in front of the door in preparation for the beast "Leng" to eat. As time goes by, we find that the shape of the "Nian" beast is very similar to a lion, so we renamed this auspicious creature "Lucky Lion" and eating vegetables "Picking Green". After that, lion dancing to ward off evil gradually became a custom, and lion picking green evolved into a plot in lion dancing. In order to prevent the lion team from missing the "green" and not picking it, some families also hang green vegetables high in front of the door with bamboo poles and attach a red envelope to thank the lion team for their hard work in dancing. Legend three: Lion dance to celebrate the New Year. In the early Ming Dynasty, a monster appeared in Foshan, Guangdong. It would appear at the end of every year, wasting crops everywhere, destroying people and animals, and causing great suffering to the farmers. Later, we thought of a way to make many lion models with fungi, paint them in various colors, and arrange them one by one beforehand. When the monster appeared, gongs and drums sounded and lions danced. The monster was terrified and turned around and ran away. From then on, the local villagers believed that lions had the power to exorcise evil spirits and were a sign of good luck, so they all hoped that lions would come to their doorsteps and shake their wings to eliminate disasters and herald good luck. So every New Year, it became a custom to go from house to house performing lion dances to wish a happy new year. In order to welcome the arrival of the auspicious lion, every household hangs a red envelope on the door. After the lion dances, it raises its head and takes the red envelope, which is called Cai Qing. There are several types of Caiqing, including Gaoqing, Diqing and Shuiqing. Gaoqing is to hang the "red envelopes" on the door, or on the second or third floor, and let the lion dancers try to get them; Diqing is to put the "red envelopes" in a place with many obstacles, and let the lion dancers try to pick them up; Shuiqing is to put the "red envelopes" in a bowl and float them in a water tank. The lion dancers stand on the edge of the tank and pick the red envelopes while dancing, in order to test their skills. |
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