What is the origin of the Dragon and Lion Dance of Chinese Folk Culture?

The "dragon" of the dragon dance is usually placed in the local Dragon King Temple, and on the day of the dragon dance, with flags, gongs and drums, and horns as the guide, the dragon body is invited out of the temple, and the dragon's head and tail are connected, and the eye-dotting ceremony is held. The body of the dragon is made of bamboo in the shape of a round dragon, connected to the section, covered with a huge red cloth painted with dragon scales, every five or six feet there is a person in charge of the pole, the head and the tail are about a dozen zhang long from each other. 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. During the dance, the ball swings back and forth, around and around, and the dragon's head snatches the ball, causing the dragon's body to wander and fly.

The Dragon Dance is a big festival, and the dragon will be entertained wherever it goes. The dragon dance team can sometimes have five or six feasts a day, which is called "dragon for wine". When the dragon dance is over, the head and tail are burned and the body is returned to the temple to be used again next year.

The Festival of Lights began in the early Han Dynasty and flourished in the Tang and Song dynasties, but the custom of "Dragon Dance" is believed to be inherited from the legacy of Yin and Zhou's "Sacrifice to Heaven".

The dragon appeared very early in the historical records, and the "dragon dance" contains the "wind and rain, the country and the people in peace", the original "pray for the New Year" meaning.

The ancients were not open to the people's wisdom, probably because the dragon in the myth is the master of the sea, the power is infinite, and the ocean 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 ---- of Emperor Shun, Qi and Hou Ji. In this way, the dragon is the ancient people as "auspicious" in the celebration of sacrifice, natural is not surprising.

"Rites of Kings" said: "the temple of the sacrifice, spring said key, summer said [衤帝], autumn said taste, winter said baked"

It can be seen that the Spring Festival "light", that is, on behalf of the "spring festival! ". Therefore, the "dragon dance" should initially be a kind of sacrifice, rather than entertainment, to become a celebration of entertainment should be after the Han and Tang Dynasty. Here is a legend, can also show that the dragon dance is pure commemoration, contains a sacrificial component ----

Legends of a long time ago, camas creek bank there is a lotus village, in front of the village there is a lotus pond, the pond is full of lotus flowers. Every summer, the turquoise lotus leaves spread over the water surface, countless out of the water lotus flowers, curling, bright and colorful.