Where is the most famous lion dance?

Lingnan lion dance, also known as the Southern Lion, is famous for its various difficult movements. In fact, it was first introduced from the western regions. The lion is the mount of Manjushri. With the introduction of Buddhism into China, lion dancing was also introduced into China. The lion is a tribute brought back with the peacock after Emperor Wu of Han sent Zhang Qian to the Western Regions.

However, the skill of lion dance originated from Xiliang's "masked play". Some people think that lion dance originated from the army in the fifth century and was later introduced to the people. Both statements have their own basis, and it is difficult to judge whether they are right or wrong today. However, by the Tang Dynasty, lion dance had become a popular activity in the court, the army and the people.

There are different opinions about the origin of lion dance. According to myths and legends, lions appeared in the mountains before and ate the villagers in the village. Later, the villagers learned martial arts and killed the lion. The villagers imitated the shape of a lion and became lion dancers. There is also a myth that the Tathagata leads the lion away, so there is often a "big head Buddha" among the southern lions to lead the lion. There is also a legend that some villagers used paper lions and gongs and drums to drive away Nian animals and turned them into lion dances.

It is more reliable to say that China itself has no lions. In China culture, lions were originally mythical animals like dragons and unicorns. It was not until the Han dynasty that a small number of real lions were introduced from the western regions for the first time. At that time, people imitated its external shackles and movements to play games, which developed into the lion dance in the Three Kingdoms period. With the rise of Buddhism in the Southern and Northern Dynasties, it became popular. In the history books, the "Elephant Man" mentioned in the Book of Rites and Music in the Han Dynasty is an artist who plays the role of "fish, shrimp and lion". In the Tang Dynasty, lion dance was a large-scale court dance performance. At that time, "Taiping Music", also known as "Five-Party Lion Dance", originated from Tianzhu and Lion Country [1]. The description of lion dance in Bai Juyi's poems is: "Masked masked Ren Hu masked lion, carved with wood as the head and tail, with gold-plated eyes and silver teeth, wearing a sweater and ears", which shows that the lion dance at that time was very similar to what we see today.

Today, there are two kinds of lion dances in China: Southern Lion and Northern Lion. At first, the northern lion was popular in the north of the Yangtze River. Nanshi is very popular in South China, Southeast Asia and overseas. In recent years, there is another dance method that combines the two, mainly using the image of the southern lion and the footwork of the northern lion, which is called "Southern Lion and Northern Dance".

Beishi

The northern lion looks like a real lion with a simple head and golden, orange and red fur. The clothes, trousers and shoes of the lion dancer will be covered with fur, so the lion who has never danced looks like a wonderful lion. Generally speaking, two people jump a lion, but if it is a little northern lion, it is one person. The flexible movements of the Northern Lion are different from those of the Southern Lion. The Southern Lion mainly pounces, falls, turns, rolls, jumps and grabs, and even uses props such as benches, stepping on the ball and shaking the board.

Lions in the north usually appear in pairs. The red lion on the lion's head is the male lion and the green lion is the female lion. ; Dressed as a warrior, the master holds a lion ball with ribbons in his hand. Sometimes a pair of northern lions will match a pair of little northern lions. The little lion teased the big lion, and the big lion teased and showed his family. The performance of the northern lion is closer to juggling. Musically, Beijing cymbals, Beijing gongs and Beijing drums are the main instruments.

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South Lion: Foshan Pile Lion

Nanshi, also known as the lion awakening, is powerful in appearance and pays attention to martial arts when dancing. Southern Lion shows a vigorous lion style mainly through the movements of dancers, and generally only two people dance at one end. The lion's head is based on the face spectrum of China traditional opera, which is colorful and beautifully made. Eyes, mouth and ears can move.

Heather lion head

Strictly speaking, heather's lion head is not like a lion's head, and some people even think that heather is closer to the "Nian" beast. Heather's lion head also has a horn, which was even made of iron in his early years to cope with frequent fights when dancing lions.

Generally speaking, heather's lion head can be divided into Heshan lion costume and Foshan lion costume.

Foshan lion's head is big and round, with a broad and powerful forehead and a flat mouth.

The lion head of Heshan is flat and long, and its mouth protrudes like a duckbill, so the insiders also call it "duckbill lion".