How did the Hakka Qilin Dance evolve?

The Qilin Dance is a folk art performance form brought to the south by the Hakka people from the north, accompanied by gongs and drums plus suona, with the style of the Flower Party in the northern part of the Yangtze River, different from the music of Lingnan in Guangdong Province, and is an art and culture that has been passed down from generation to generation by the Hakka people.

It is said that Qilin Dance began in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, and it was performed in the form of a totem dance, an anthropomorphic animal dance, a folk dance, a court dance, and then back to a folk dance.

The two great migrations during the Ming and Qing dynasties allowed the Hakka ancestors to bring the Qilin Dance from the Yellow River Valley in the Central Plains to northern Guangdong, central and western Guangdong, as well as parts of Guangxi, Hunan, Sichuan and even Tibet.

There is also a beautiful legend about the creation of the Qilin Dance: Legend has it that a long time ago, there was a year of great drought and plague, and there was no harvest, so the people did not have enough to live on. The Duke of the land was so anxious that he immediately sought out the Laughing Buddha to discuss ways of warding off the evil spirits and saving the lives of the people.

But the smiling Buddha also helpless, he only knows a kind of divine beast called Kirin has this kind of magic power, but do not know where to find. At this point the Land Lord remembered the Monkey King, so they sought him out.

The Sun Wukong was really powerful, just see him a somersault leaped up to the clouds, four directions a look, pressed down the clouds and said, "There there, I'll take you there!"

Under the leadership of the Monkey King, they finally found the Qilin Cave. They told them what they came for, and the unicorn immediately agreed to follow them down the mountain. The land lord brought the unicorn to the earth, the unicorn that is, cast a spell, spitting fire to offer end. The unicorn was able to bring the people and the animals back to life, and there was a great abundance of food and drink.

Since then, people have worshipped the Qilin as a good-luck charm, and the story of the Qilin's visit to the mountain to quell disasters and ward off evil spirits has been turned into a dance called "Three Stars - Qilin's Visit to the Cave", which is performed at every New Year's festival.

Kirin Dance at Festivals