Lion dance" is a traditional folk performing art in China, why is it a lion dance and not another animal dance?

Nowadays, among the folk performing arts in China, the main ones that simulate the appearance of animals and mimic their movements are the dragon dance and the lion dance. The dragon is a totem of Han culture, and the dance of the fish and dragon can even be traced back to the Han Dynasty, but why is there a lion dance?

China did not originally have lions, which were imported from the West during the Han Dynasty. There are two main reasons why the lion dance was performed instead of other animals such as tigers and leopards:

First, the lion was imagined to be one of the most powerful animals in ancient times, which not only made tigers and leopards fearful of submission, but even elephants were afraid of it. Zongcourt of the southern dynasty led an expedition, the enemy sent elephants to participate in the battle, Zongcourt let the soldiers play into the likeness of the lion, and indeed in the battlefield to the elephants scared away. This historical story is also one of the origin legends of the lion dance.

Secondly, although there are no lions in China, they appear as a sacred animal in Buddhist texts, such as Manjushri's mount in Journey to the West, which is a green lion. With the spread of Buddhism in China, the image of the lion as a sacred beast before the Buddha was also recognized. During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, when Buddhism was popular in northern China, people often played the role of lions as guides in front of Buddha statues during Buddhist events. This may be the earliest record of a lion dance used for celebrations.

Of course, the most explicit record of lion dances appeared in the Tang Dynasty.

Bai Juyi's poem "Xilian Kabuki" records such a lion dance: "Xilian Kabuki, Xilian Kabuki, a fake lion with a masked hu man. Carved wood for the head and silk for the tail, gold-plated eyes and silver-plated teeth.

Fenxun sweater swing double ears, such as from the quicksand to ten thousand miles." Whether it is the lion's costume or movement, and today's common folk lion dance activities are quite similar. At the same time, the official performance of the Tang Dynasty, there is also the so-called "five parties lion dance", that is, to the green, red, yellow, white, black corresponds to the five directions to perform, can imagine, the scene is extremely grand and lively.

Summary:

After thousands of years of development, the lion dance activity has gradually combined with regional culture to produce different genres in the north and south. Northern lion dances have more flipping and jumping movements, while southern lion dances emphasize more on the symbolism of the movements. Modern lion dances tend to incorporate the best of both North and South, and have become more varied.