History of heather

Lion dance, also known as "lion dance", "lion dance lantern" and "lion dance", is often performed in festivals and festive activities. Lions are regarded as auspicious animals in China, symbolizing good luck and good luck. Therefore, in the lion dance activities, people are entrusted with the good wishes of eliminating disasters and seeking good luck.

Lion dance has a long history, and the "elephant man" recorded in the History of Rites and Music in Han Dynasty is the predecessor of lion dance. There are many vivid descriptions of lion dancing in Tang and Song poetry. In recent years, with the development of China's economy and the promotion of its international influence, the lion dance has spread to the world under the spread of Chinese people all over the world, and there are lion dance performances and competitions in places where there are Chinese people all over the world. Lion dance has become an outstanding intangible cultural heritage and folk sports art of the Chinese nation. There are many theories about the origin of lion dance.

According to the earliest legend, the lion is the mount of Manjushri. With the introduction of Buddhism into China, the lion dance has gradually sprung up in China. Therefore, lion dance is the product of cultural exchanges between China and countries in West Asia and South Asia.

According to more legends, lion dance originated in China. Because the lion is powerful, and is known as the king of all animals, China is generally not harmed by the lion. Therefore, the people have friendly feelings for the lion, and regard it as a symbol of strength and good luck, hoping to drive away evil spirits with the help of the powerful image of the lion. China society has always been dominated by agriculture. With the changes of solar terms and farming life, various festivals or ceremonies to greet the gods came into being. In these festivals, in order to pray for a peaceful and peaceful life, people use gods or auspicious beasts to exorcise ghosts and entertain gods, and this form gradually has the significance of entertaining people. With people's love for lions, people are not satisfied with the still image of lions in doorways, eaves, stone fences, seals and New Year pictures. They want to make the lion alive, so they create dances that imitate the lion's behavior, and then improve and develop them to become a unique art of the Chinese nation. There are mainly the following sources:

On the origin of han dynasty. Written records about lion dancing were first found in the Music Book of Han Dynasty, in which "elephant man" was mentioned. According to Meng Kang, a Wei national in the Three Kingdoms period, "Elephant Man" is an artist who plays with fish, shrimp and lions. It can be seen that there are lion dances in the Three Kingdoms. According to legend, during the reign of Emperor Gaozu Zhang, Yue in the Western Regions presented a golden lion to the Han Dynasty. The emissary threatened that if someone could tame the lion, he would continue to pay tribute to the Han Dynasty, or he would sever diplomatic relations. After the messenger of the moon left, Emperor Zhang Han chose three people to train the lion, but none of them succeeded. Later, the golden lion violently attacked and was killed by the imperial secretary. In order to avoid the punishment of Emperor Zhang, the imperial secretary peeled off the lion's skin. The two brothers dressed up as golden lions, and one teased them, causing dance. This not only fooled the Moon's emissary, but even Emperor Zhang believed it. After this incident, it was reported that the folk thought that lion dancing was a symbol of national glory and auspiciousness, so they imitated lions and performed lion dancing. Since then, lion dancing has been very popular.

On the origin of the southern and northern dynasties. In the Northern and Southern Dynasties, lion dancing was also very popular among the people. According to legend, during the Northern Wei Dynasty, they were repeatedly harassed by Xiongnu. On one occasion, the Huns specially carved a lion's head, sewed it into a lion's body with golden silk hemp, and sent good dancers to the Northern Wei Dynasty to pay tribute, with the intention of assassinating Wei Emperor during the lion dance. Fortunately, the loyal minister saw through, and the Xiongnu messenger gave up. However, the emperor of the Northern Wei Dynasty fell in love with the lion dance and ordered it to be imitated. The lion dance was passed down to later generations. It is also said that the origin of lion dance is related to religious activities. One of the most representative and convincing is that in the 23rd year of Yuanjia in the Northern and Southern Dynasties (446), the secretariat of Tan in Jiaozhou (now Guangdong and Guangxi) was ordered to conquer, and Wang Fanyang of Lin Yi commanded soldiers to ride on the back of a tall and big elephant, holding a spear, which made Song Bing helpless. Song Xianfeng thought that all animals were afraid of lions, and elephants were no exception, so he ordered soldiers to make many fake lions. Each fake lion is dressed up by two soldiers, one jumping on the lion's head and the other jumping on the lion's tail, hiding in the grass. When the two sides were at war, Song Jun released many fake lions, bared his teeth and went straight to the elephant. The elephant turned around in fear and Linyi was wiped out. Since then, lion dance has spread in the army, and later spread to the people. After the Five Dynasties, it spread from the Central Plains to Lingnan.

Origin theory of Tang dynasty. Legend has it that Emperor Tang Ming dreamed that a colorful unicorn with a wide mouth and a big nose was facing him. This monster is harmless, rolling the ball in front of the steps, and its posture is terrible. When Emperor Tang Ming woke up and wanted to see this phenomenon again, he asked his ministers to make it according to the auspicious beast in his dream, and at the same time asked the music department to make up a dance with gongs and drums. Since then, lion dance has flowed into the people. By the Tang Dynasty, lion dance had developed into a large-scale song and dance performed by hundreds of people collectively, and it was also performed in the court as a musical dance, which was called "Taiping Music" and "Five-party Lion Dance". At that time, lion dance also spread to Japan. A Japanese painting depicts an ancient japanese pop and dance scene, which is similar to that of the Tang Dynasty, but on a much smaller scale.

After the Tang Dynasty, lion dancing was widely spread among the people. The Song Dynasty's Dream of China in Tokyo records that some Buddhist temples hold lion clubs during festivals, and monks sit on lions to do things and give lectures. In Dream of Tao 'an, Zhang Dai, a member of Amin Dynasty, introduced the grand occasion of Zhejiang Lantern Festival. People gathered to watch the lion dance performance, and gongs and drums resounded through the streets. The land of South Guangdong, with its special geographical position of five mountains in the north and the sea in the south, has nurtured Lingnan culture with distinctive local characteristics, such as daring to be the first, seeking truth and being pragmatic.

Influenced by Lingnan culture, the lion dance in Lingnan area has distinct regional characteristics. The southern lion was born out of the yellow lion (the northern lion) in the north, similar to the northern lion. The South Lion has horns on its head, which is bold and rugged, with delicate spirit and exciting drum music, which is alarming. So the southern lion is also called the lion awakening.

Legend has it that in ancient times, there was a grotesque beast in the South China Sea of Guangdong Province. It was eight feet long, with a big head and a small body, eyes like two bells, a green face and sharp teeth, and a unicorn on its head. This strange beast appears on New Year's Eve, coming and going like the wind, destroying crops, including rice and vegetables. Villagers and villagers are bored. Because he appears every New Year, people call him "Nian Beast", and the villagers discuss to destroy it.

A wise man put forward a plan to tie bamboo sticks and paper into the shape of a strange beast and then dye it. He wove the bodies of wild animals with various shapes of cloth, then gathered a dozen warriors, holding pots and other rattles, and one of them stood by the circular anvil with a double kitchen knife ready to be beaten. According to the plan, they ambushed in the place where the "Nian beast" must pass.

When the "Nian Beast" appeared, all the warriors rushed out and struck the musical instruments with the sound of "clang" and "drumming", like thunder. Hearing this, Nian Beast was frightened, ran away, disappeared and never appeared again. In order to celebrate the success of driving away strange animals, and to commemorate the contribution of paper-tied animal heads, the villagers are convenient to take them out for dancing during the Spring Festival. Someone suggested naming it Lion Dance: because the lion is the king of beasts, a representative of courage and a symbol of good luck. Later, in addition to the lion dance during the New Year, the villagers also performed lion dances in celebrations to increase the lively atmosphere.

According to historical records, Nanhai, Guangdong Province is the earliest and truest birthplace of heather. In the early Ming Dynasty, there were skilled craftsmen in Nanhai who specialized in making lion dances, gongs, drums and cymbals. Lion dance is bound to be staged in nearby markets, villages, festivals or major festivals and become a traditional folk sports activity. Most of the four townships and neighboring counties buy lions and gongs and drums in Foshan, which makes the lion dance skills in Nanhai spread and popularize.

After years of development, the South Lion can be divided into four schools, including the South Sea Lion with Big Head, the Duck-billed Lion in Heshan, the Chicken Lion in Qingyuan and the Parrot Lion in Leizhou Peninsula. Local characteristics are different: the big-headed lions in Guangzhou and Foshan are commonly known as "Buddha Villa and Laughing Lion". Its shape takes the essence of the stone lion in the Tang Dynasty, which is characterized by high forehead, thin eyebrows, big eyes and a charming smile. Heshan has a slightly longer duckbill lion head, commonly known as "Hezhuang, painted, bird-shaped or leopard-shaped". It is characterized by eyes, hanging eyebrow, duckbill and frog mouth. The rooster lion in Qingyuan Yingde and the parrot lion in Leizhou. There are big, second and third lion heads, and their appearance shows their character through color.

The most striking feature of the Southern Lion is its likeness. If Nanshi emphasizes the word "awake", it must work hard in three aspects: jumping, jumping and tying. Skilled lion dancers dance the lion, achieving the goal of sleeping lion awake, clear movement, combining rigidity with softness, both form and spirit, and the unity of man and lion.

Inheritance and Innovation of Southern Lion Culture and Skills

In Guangdong, whenever there are festivals or major events, lion dancing is an essential program. Every natural village holds a lion dance parade, sets off firecrackers and plays martial arts every year. * * * I wish you all the best and a happy New Year. Guangdong Southern Lion, born out of the Tang Dynasty's court lion dance, easily filtered out the decline of court art and injected grassroots enthusiasm into the self-entertainment in Guangdong fields.

Since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, as people from the Pearl River Delta went to Nanyang to make a living, the Southern Lion was taken across the ocean like a family member, which became an important cultural link to maintain the Chinese world today and the most vivid sample for the world to understand Chinese culture. Now, "Where there are China people, there are lion dances". Lion dance is a compulsory course for boys in Chinese school in Zhonghua Street, Yokohama, Japan. In 2007, "Lion Dance" was officially listed as one of the top 50 national cultural relics in Malaysia, and received fixed funding from the government, which became another link to maintain the Chinese society in Malaysia.

On the other hand, the lion dance spread overseas is also promoting the renewal of the lion dance in China. At the end of the 20th century, the lion dance circles in China, Malaysia and Singapore made a thrilling and more ornamental lion dance by studying the lion dance in China. The high-stakes lion dance, which was born out of Guangdong Southern Lion, returned to China and gave birth to the present "Competitive Southern Lion". Nowadays, in various lion dance competitions, performing thrilling action scenes on 2.5 -3 meters high piles has become the most powerful magic weapon to win gold medals. Lion dance troupes such as Xu Wu and Taiping Town in Zhanjiang have even developed the unique skill of "flying the fire circle" with high piles and single lion. Zhu Weiguo, curator of Zhanjiang Mass Art Museum, is always filled with emotion, because he knows that this is a great leap in the development of lion dance.

Heather culture is an outstanding representative of Lingnan culture. It has a history of more than 1000 years and has been handed down from generation to generation. It is a wonderful flower among many national sports in China. Lion dance culture is rich in connotation. The lion is a symbol of heroism, fearlessness, courage and strength, and also a carrier of culture. This sport is a combination of martial arts, dance, knitting, embroidery, painting and music. Through the collocation and close cooperation between human bodies, it imitates various animal forms of lions to express their body and mind. It is one of the traditional sports that can best reflect Chinese folk customs.

The profound cultural heritage of Nanshi determines that it deserves to be one of the first national intangible cultural heritages in China. It can not only set off the lively atmosphere of the festival, but also show the martial and patriotic spirit of our people. Its profound cultural heritage and connotation are unmatched by contemporary western popular sports.

The South Lion contains the unique spiritual value, mode of thinking and cultural consciousness of the Chinese nation. Heather culture is also an organic part of Lingnan culture, which embodies the innovative spirit and perseverance of Lingnan ancestors. We can even see the track of continuous progress, conflict and integration of Lingnan civilization from the evolution and development track of heather. Heather culture has widely absorbed various cultural characteristics in the process of development, forming an advanced and distinctive cultural character of Lingnan culture and becoming the epitome of Lingnan culture.

Since the 1980s, after more than 20 years of development, heather culture has been brought to Southeast Asia, Europe and America by overseas Chinese, representing the cultural core of the Chinese nation and becoming the "adhesive" for overseas Chinese at home and abroad, making outstanding contributions to promoting national identity, national reconciliation, cross-cultural communication and interaction, human civilization progress and enriching the cultural diversity of the world.

The South Lion contains the unique spiritual values, mode of thinking and national complex of the Chinese nation. At present, the cultural construction represented by the South Lion is under increasing impact, which needs to be rescued and maintained urgently. It is our bounden duty to protect and inherit the culture of Nanshi. We should establish a sports intangible cultural heritage protection center and a special research and protection institution for the South Lion from the height protection movement of intangible cultural heritage, and gradually realize the scientific, standardized and legal protection of the South Lion culture, so as to make the economy and culture of all ethnic groups in China prosper and develop, complement each other and maintain the glory of Chinese civilization forever.