Why do China people have the tradition of lion dance and the tradition of lion gate pier?

The Origin and Development of Lion Dance

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Release time: February 3, 2005 10, 10.

The Origin and Development of Lion Dance

According to preliminary research, it is reliable to say that lion dance originated in the Three Kingdoms period and prevailed in the Southern and Northern Dynasties. It was first popular in military camps and then spread to the people. Yang Xuanzhi's Galand in Luoyang describes "exorcising evil spirits and attracting lions". According to legend, in May of the 23rd year of Yuanjia in Song Wendi in the Northern and Southern Dynasties (AD 446), the secretariat of Jiaozhou was ordered to attack Lin Yi, and Wang Fanyang of Lin Yi fought with elephants and defeated the troops. Later, the pioneer General Gong Zhenwu suggested that all animals are afraid of lions, and elephants are probably no exception. As a result, many fake lions were made of cloth and hemp overnight, painted in colorful colors, and their mouths were particularly wide open. Each "lion" was covered by two soldiers and hidden in the grass, and many deep and big traps were dug around the scheduled battlefield. When the two sides were at war, the enemy rushed to attack the elephant, and the people released fake lions, one by one with their mouths open, and went straight to the elephant. The elephant turned around in fear and ran around. Zong Yi also took the opportunity to command the soldiers in full swing, and the frightened elephants immediately fled. Many of them fell into traps, and people and elephants were captured alive. After the great victory, the soldiers danced lions to celebrate each other. Bai Juyi once mentioned in a poem: "Zhenyuanbian will love this song, and he will not get enough of it." Hospitality banquet army, liger son long in sight. "Since then, lion dance has spread in the barracks as an entertainment activity. When it spread to the people, it was not called lion dance at that time, but called "Taiping Music". According to "Tang Lezhi", "Taiping Music was created in the later Zhou Dynasty, also known as the five ancient lion dances, decorated with feathers, and lived in it. Just like its pitch, two people brush with a rope, just like a habit. "This is similar to the modern lion dance, indicating that this ancient folk art has existed for a long time in the Northern and Southern Dynasties.

There are various legends about the origin of lion dance.

One of the legends: folk creation.

Lions, living in sandy plains with few forests, were originally the products of West Asia and Africa. About 2,000 years ago in the Han Dynasty, after Zhang Sai's voyage to the Western Ocean, the "Silk Road" of economic and cultural exchanges between China and the West turned into "Elephant and Lion". "Big Sparrow" and other "exotic foreign bodies" were introduced into China. At first, it was just kept in the palace as a royal pet, and ordinary people didn't know it. Creative people in China created a lion-like dance from static lion art forms such as gatehouse, eaves, stone fences, seals and New Year pictures, and the lion dance art became popular among the people in China.

Legend 2: Nian animals eat green.

According to legend, plagues often occurred in ancient China, and countless people died. Fortunately, every time a plague occurred, there were beasts. This beast is called Nian. It acts like thunder and lightning, and the plague disappears as soon as it appears. Because the god beast Nian is so helpful to people, in the slack season, people make it look like Nian with bamboo insults and colorful pieces of cloth, and dance in front of each house with magnificent drums to exorcise evil spirits and seek happiness. Because "Nian" animals like to eat vegetables, every household puts a plate of vegetables in front of the door for "cold" animals to eat. With the growth of age, people found that the shape of the tied Nian beast was very similar to that of a lion, so they renamed this auspicious thing "Ruishi" and eating vegetables was called "picking green". After that, the custom of lion dancing to ward off evil spirits gradually formed, and the adoption of green lions evolved into a performance plot in lion dancing. In order not to let the lions miss the "green", some people also hang green vegetables in front of the door with bamboo poles and attach red envelopes to thank the lions for their hard work in the lion dance.

Legend 3: Lion Dance in the New Year.

In the early Ming Dynasty, a monster appeared in Foshan, Guangdong. It appears at the end of every year, destroying crops everywhere, hurting people and animals, and making rural farmers miserable. Later, people thought of a way to make a lot of lion models with bacteria, paint them in various colors and arrange them in advance. As soon as the monster appeared, gongs and drums roared, lions danced vigorously, and the monster turned around and ran away in fear. Since then, local villagers believe that lions have the power to exorcise evil spirits and bring good luck. They all hope that lions can dance in front of their houses to eliminate disasters and predict good luck. Therefore, every Spring Festival, door-to-door lion dancing to celebrate the New Year has gradually become a custom. In order to welcome the arrival of the lion, every household should hang a red envelope on the door. After the lion dance, the mention of red envelopes is called picking green. Green picking includes high green, ground green and water green. Gao Qing hangs "red envelopes" at the door, even on the second and third floors, so that lion dancers can find ways to get them; Diqing put the "red envelope" in a place with many obstacles, and the lion dancers tried to collect it; Water green means putting a "red envelope" in a bowl and floating in a water tank. The lion dancer stood by the tank, picking green while jumping to test the lion dancer's kung fu.

Modern lion dance has developed rapidly. 1985 In March, seven units including Fujian Provincial Sports Commission jointly held the first dragon and lion dance exhibition competition. More than 300 athletes from eight cities in the province 16 teams sent 13 dragons and 9 lions to participate in the competition, which showed the trend of this folk celebration towards sports competition for the first time. At the same time, China lion dance activities in Southeast Asia and Hongkong are increasingly prosperous, and international lion dance competitions are also increasing year by year. The International Dragon and Lion Association was established in Hong Kong from 1995 to 65438+123 October.

1At the end of 1995, the Dragon and Lion Sports Association, led by the Social Sports Guidance Center of the State Sports General Administration, mobilized experts from Guangdong Nanshi and Beijing Tianjin Beishi to draft the rules of the lion dance competition, and began to transform this folk activity into a sports arena. 1996, the association organized two seminars to revise the rules, and also held training courses for coaches and referees in197 and 10 respectively. 1At the end of 997, the first national lion dance championship was held in Panyu, Guangdong Province, and 20 lion dance teams from all over the country participated in the championship in the form of lion king vs lion king. 1998 10 1 ~ 5 at the foot of lion mountain, the second national lion dance championship with the theme of lion was held in Suzhou amusement park. Since then, China has successfully held the first, second and third international dragon and lion invitational tournaments in Guangzhou, Shanghai and Shenzhen respectively, and will hold the third national lion dance championship in Changsha in May 2000.

Lion dance, which has spread for thousands of years, is a traditional folk cultural activity with the characteristics of spontaneity, entertainment and randomness. Nowadays, with the development of history and social progress, the lion dance has developed from a traditional performance form to a sport with fitness function as the main function. Through constant practice and innovation, and constant standardization of techniques and movements, the lion dance has gone beyond the scope of entertainment, and has become the spiritual sustenance of the Chinese nation for beautiful things, showing people's optimism, unity and courage, and has begun to embark on a standardized, scientific, competitive and international development track.