The Development of Folk Lion Dance Skills in tengxian

Lion dance is a traditional folk entertainment activity with a long history and unique folk customs in China. The tradition of lion dance in China originated from the trade between Persia and China more than 900 years ago, when Persian merchants transported lions and other animals to China. Historically, there were no lions in China's natural environment. Because of its magnificent figure, the lion is called the king of beasts, and the people of China have not been hurt by the lion, so people have a friendly feeling towards the lion.

Legend has it that a monster appeared in ancient times. It appeared at the end of the year, smashing crops everywhere and harming people and animals, and rural farmers suffered greatly. Later, people thought of a way to tie bamboo sticks into the shape of many lions as a symbol of courage and good luck, and hoped to use the powerful image of lions to drive away and suppress evil spirits or demonstrations. As soon as the monster appeared, everyone beat gongs and drums, and the lions danced vigorously. The monster was frightened and turned around and ran away.

Since then, local villagers think that lions really have the power to ward off evil spirits, which is auspicious. They all hope that lions can dance in front of the house to eliminate disasters and bring good luck in advance. Therefore, every Spring Festival, door-to-door lion dancing has gradually become a routine. In order to welcome the arrival of the lion, every household should hang a red envelope on the door. After the lion dance, raise the first title to remove the red envelope. Because China people are all over the world, lion dancing is loved by people in many countries.

The history of lion dance in tengxian is closely related to the spread of Central Plains culture to the south. Almost every village in tengxian has a lion dance team. There are loose temporary lions and fixed lions. An organized lion dance team and a "Tang" club were formed based on the village or club and surname, and the "Tang Master" was selected to organize the training and liaison performance of the lion dance team. Being a hall master is a reflection of a person's fame and ability, and people are often willing to take on this responsibility.

The famous lions in Tengxian include the Lions of Tengcheng Fishery Association, Tengzhou Town Qing Ji Hall, Mengjiang Descendants Hall, Ying Shao Hall, Sizhitang Hall and Guo Peitang. The lion dance team of Mengjiang Children's Hall has a history of more than 200 years. At present, Maozhou Lions Team is well-known at home and abroad for its superb lion dance skills on the heap, but they only started learning from Mengjiang Children's Hall in 1997.

People who perform lion dances are folk artists whose lives are not rich. They usually organize people to work and take vacations to train lion dancing, and participate in local festivals, full moons, birthday celebrations, opening ceremonies and other performances during festivals to increase celebrations for their families, bring good luck and get paid.

When a guest performs a lion dance, both parties will agree on the amount of reward, and the host will give the corresponding reward for the lion dance performance. The famous lion dance hall is often the object of high reward invitation from big families, and big families often give high rewards to show their wealth.

In addition, there are also lions who take the initiative to come to the door to dance lions for reward. They first sent someone to the door with a red sticker, which read: "The Spring Festival is a festive day, and the sun god and the lion celebrate the New Year. The words "Pangu Temple Lion Worship Team" were written, and then the lions were awakened to dance at the door, which added joy and auspiciousness to the host family and "benefited the market". For the sake of good luck, the host family generally won't refuse, and then set off firecrackers and send red envelopes to greet them.

At the beginning of the reform and opening up, there were few mass entertainment activities during the Spring Festival, and lion dancing in tengxian flourished for a while. The main cultural and sports activities of the Spring Festival in the county are all invited by economically affluent units to win the silver medal by the lion at a high price. At that time, the streets and alleys were full of people, and firecrackers, gongs and drums and cheers were mixed together, which was very lively.

The county sports department also held several years of county-wide traditional lion and dragon dance competitions during the Spring Festival. 1997, there was a lively scene of "a hundred lions making a scene in Mengjiang Town". In the past two years, the dragon and lion parade held in the county on the third day of the Spring Festival attracted many people who like lion dancing.

In 2003 and 2006, Mexicans Marin, Liao Ning and Swede Ngapoi crossed the ocean to study on an island in tengxian, which became news in Wuzhou.

In July, 2004, Maozhou Lion Team won the 6th Genting Cup World Lion Dance Championship in Malaysia, and won the reputation of "World Lion King" and "Oriental Lion King". Farmers in tengxian spread Chinese culture through lion dancing and won glory for their country, which is even more legendary in Guangxi and Wuzhou.

Liao Jinsheng, former deputy director of the county sports bureau, also served as the chief referee of 1999 Guangxi First Lion Dance Competition, and formulated the competition rules and scoring standards. Maozhou Lion Team, the champion team of the 6th World Lion Dance Competition of Genting Cup in Malaysia in 2004, was trained. In August 2004, he passed the international lion dance referee and coach examination of the State Sports General Administration and the Social Sports Center. At that time, there were only two people in Guangxi and only 35 in the whole country. He was awarded the title of "National Advanced Individual in Mass Sports" for training Maozhou Lion Team. He was the referee of international and world lion dance competitions held in Miri, Malaysia, Genting and Foshan, Guangdong. In September 2006, he was appointed as the deputy referee of the 4th Wuzhou International Lion Dance Festival by the Social Sports Center of the State Sports General Administration and the National Dragon and Lion Association, and was known as the "Lion King".