? What is the significance of the Chinese New Year lion dance

The Spring Festival is a traditional festival of the Chinese people, during the Spring Festival is a lot of unique features of the game and traditional customs, which is a very lively dragon dance lion dance activities. So what is the origin and significance of the Dragon and Lion Dance during the Spring Festival.

The origin and significance of the lion dance

Lion dance is a traditional Asian folk performing arts, performers in the drums and drums under the music dressed as a lion, to make the lion's various forms of action. Chinese folklore traditionally believes that lion dance can drive away evil spirits. Therefore, whenever there is a festive occasion

such as a new opening ceremony or a spring festival, lion dances are performed to celebrate the occasion. The lion dance has also become famous worldwide with the migration of Chinese overseas,

Malaysia, Singapore and other places and Chinatowns in various countries are quite prevalent in the lion dance. However, the number of lion dances in mainland China is actually decreasing. Overseas Chinese living in Europe and the United States also formed a number of lion dance clubs, every year in the Chinese New Year or major celebrations,

they will be around the world to celebrate the lion dance.

Lion dance is a traditional Chinese folk art with a history of more than a thousand years. The Xushui Lion Dance, the birthplace of the Northern Lion, was founded in 1925 and was listed as one of the first national intangible cultural heritages in 2006.

Origin of the Dragon Dance at the Spring Festival

The Dragon Dance, also known as the Dragon Lantern Dance and Dragon Lantern Dance, is a unique Chinese folk entertainment activity. From the Spring Festival to the Lantern Festival, the custom of playing dragon lanterns is practiced in a wide range of urban and rural areas in China. Legend has it that dragons can move clouds and rain, eliminate disasters and bring down blessings, symbolizing auspiciousness, so the dragon dance is a way to pray for peace and a good harvest has become a custom of the Han people all over the country.

The dragon dance originated in the Han Dynasty and has been practiced through the ages. The dragon dance was initially used as a ritual to worship ancestors and pray for sweet rain, and then gradually became a recreational activity. To the Tang and Song dynasties, the dragon dance has been a common form of expression during the New Year's festivals. The dragon appeared very early in the historical records, and the "dragon dance" contains the "wind and rain country prosperity and people's peace", the original "pray for the New Year" meaning.

The ancients were not open to the people's wisdom, probably due to the dragon in the myth is the master of the sea, the power is infinite, and the sea is the main water, the dragon is also very natural to do the crops of the rain god. People to food for heaven, grain is the fundamental life-sustaining, indirectly also manipulated the human life. According to this meaning, the importance of the dragon is even more important than the ancestors - Emperor Shun, Qi and Houji.

So, it is not surprising that the dragon was regarded by the ancients as an "auspicious object" that appeared in celebrations and sacrifices. The "Rites of Kings" said: "the temple sacrifices, spring is key, summer is 衤帝, autumn is tasted, winter is baked". The reason why people want to dance the dragon is related to the lack of scientific knowledge of natural phenomena by ancient working people in agricultural production. They fantasize that the dragon is the pipe rain, want to dance to pray for the dragon, to ensure that the wind and rain, grain harvest.

The main prop of the dragon lantern is the "dragon". Dragon with grass, bamboo, wood, paper, cloth, etc. Tied and become, the number of sections of the dragon to the odd number for good luck, most often see nine sections of the dragon, eleven sections of the dragon, thirteen sections of the dragon, more up to twenty-nine sections. Fifteen or more sections of the dragon is more bulky, not suitable for dancing, mainly for ornamental purposes, this dragon is particularly concerned about decoration, has a high craft value. There is also a "fire dragon", with bamboo gabions woven into a cylinder, forming a cage, paste transparent, beautiful dragon clothes, burning candles or oil lamps, night performances are very spectacular.

The "dragon" of the dragon dance is usually placed in the local temple of the Dragon King, the day of the dragon dance, with flags, drums and gongs, horns as a guide, the dragon body from the temple to come out, connected to the dragon's head and tail, the eye-dotting ceremony. The body of the dragon is made of bamboo in the shape of a round dragon, with joints connected, covered with a huge red cloth painted with dragon scales, and there is a person holding the pole every five or six feet, with the head and tail about ten feet apart. The dragon is led by a person holding a pole, and a huge ball is erected at the top of the pole as a guide. When the dance, the huge ball before and after the left and right around the swing, the dragon's head as a ball grabbing, causing the dragon body wandering flying.

Legend of Dragon Dance in Spring Festival

Legend of Dragon Dance 1: The Dragon King was rumored to have unbearable back pain. In the dragon palace there is no medicine can cure back pain. So the Dragon King disguised himself as an old man went out to seek medical help. The doctor diagnosed the pulse, felt the dragon king's pulse is abnormal, said: "not a mortal". The dragon king was horrified, but he could not hide the truth. So he told the doctor the truth and the reason why he had come to seek treatment. The doctor then asked the Dragon King to change back to his true form, and then pulled out a centipede from underneath the dragon scales at the Dragon King's waist. After the centipede was caught out, the doctor applied some ointment. The dragon king was then cured. In order to thank the doctor for his treatment, the dragon king said to the doctor, "The dragon dance will bring a good harvest". This story spread among the people, and the dragon dance was performed every spring to pray for a good harvest in the coming year.

Legend of the Dragon Dance II: In ancient times, Pangu, Shennong, Fuxi took turns in charge of the treasure of the town of heaven - a dragon walking stick to the first day of the first month of each year for the shift. This day Fuxi just on duty, suddenly saw five plague children into a black gas, to the earth. Fuxi fear of five plague children to go to the earth for sin, busy hands of the dragon-headed walking stick to the air a throw. The walking stick immediately turned into a golden dragon, open mouth, a plague child cast all the plague swallowed, and then caught the plague child, will be imprisoned. Because the dragon walking stick made of jade bamboo, and then people will follow the jade bamboo dragon, bamboo as a skeleton, made of wax lamps inside the fire dragon, their own dancing and circling, in order to eliminate the plague immunization.