Contradiction between tradition and reality of Lantern Festival

Although the lion is not native to China, it has been introduced to China for a long time. In my impression, lions, like dragons, are symbols of strength and domineering, so the Lantern Festival will be celebrated with lion dancing. Of course, this is my subjective guess. Let's combine the information together to understand why the Lantern Festival is a lion dance!

First, the "entrepreneurial history" of the lion in China

We all know that lions are exotic species, native to most parts of Africa, India and other parts of Asia. To know why the lion, as an outsider, became the protagonist of Yuanxiao, we must first understand the "entrepreneurial history" of the lion in China.

It can be traced back to the Western Han Dynasty when I came to China to do business. It is said that the lion began to enter our field of vision after Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty opened up territory. As early as the Eastern Han Dynasty, the lion was given to the emperor as a gift by the King of Rest. It can be said that the starting point of his debut is very high, and his subsequent career is also very successful.

At that time, the number of lions in China was very rare, and only the emperor and his cronies could see the faces of lions. Lions have a good image and temperament, so they have many fans in China. Even if people have never seen a lion, just listening to other people's statements will turn to the lion road, and the lion even shakes the status of the tiger, the king of beasts.

In the Tang Dynasty, ordinary people could see real lions because of our strong national strength. Although there were no lions in the early years, the legend of the lion has been circulated, so the lion was deified from an ordinary beast into a Swiss beast. Can you not be excited to see your idol? Whether it is a temple or a big family in Zhumen, they like to collect the surrounding of lions, such as putting two stone lions at the door.

The image of a lion is powerful and domineering, and it is the king of all animals, a symbol of power and good luck, so it is not surprising that it appears in the Lantern Festival.

Second, why do you want to dance lions on the Lantern Festival?

The record of lion dance in China can be traced back to the Three Kingdoms period. Ren Wei Meng Kang mentioned in "Notes on the History of Rites and Music" that there are Nuo opera actors wearing masks to play fish, shrimp and lions. In the Tang Dynasty, lion dance became a necessary program for the Lantern Festival in China.

There are always some special activities to celebrate the festival, and lion dance is a good activity, which not only has a good meaning, but also looks very lively. The lion is a symbol of courage and auspiciousness, and I believe that such a mighty lion's exorcism ability is also good. Many of our festivals are related to praying and avoiding disasters. It can be said that lion dance is also a ceremony to hold this kind of blessing and avoid disaster. With the development of society, the entertainment function of lion dance is becoming more and more prominent.

To sum up, although there were no lions in China, lions were introduced to China as early as the Western Han Dynasty, and they were deeply loved by the people for their majestic image and excellent temperament. Being deified as a beast with exorcism function, lion dance became a ritual of praying for good luck and exorcism, and later gradually evolved into a regular program of the Lantern Festival.

Personally, the image of the lion is really pleasing, but there is still a big gap between the image of the lion in reality and the image of the lion in traditional culture. I don't know if it's because now I can watch lions through film and television works or directly go to the zoo, which makes me feel that lions seem to be nothing more than that, a bit unusual. But when we think of our national treasure panda's experience abroad, we suddenly understand why the ancients pursued lions.