How to awaken the lion

In ancient times, people made lion's heads out of laundry baskets. It is based on putting paper on it and drawing five senses and patterns, that is, the ancient lion's head. Later, people improved it. Bamboo and paper are used as the main materials. First, bamboo is tied into the shape of a lion's head, and the paper is placed on it so that the eyes, ears and mouth can move, and then it is glued with pig beans, horses or plant fabrics.

There are two traditional methods to make lion dance, one is the popular Foshan paper-bound lion head technology, and the other is the endangered paper-wrapped lion head technology.

Lion dance is a cultural activity integrating martial arts, dance and music. During the performance, gongs and drums were loud, and the lion dancer first made a southern fist, which was called "opening the pile". Then, two people play the role of a lion, and the other "Big Head Buddha" with a smile and a sunflower fan attracts the lion to the stage. Most of the lion dancers' movements are "southern boxing" and "horse stance", and the lion dances include "opening eyes", "washing beard", "licking body" and "shaking hair". The main routines are "picking green", "drinking water from high platform", "lion spitting ball" and "stepping on plum blossom piles". Among them, Caiqing is the essence of Wake Up the Lion, which has a process of starting, inheriting, turning and combining, full of drama and story. Cai Qing has undergone changes, and a variety of routines have been derived and widely circulated. The lion dance performance in Suixi has gradually developed from the traditional ground lion to the stool lion, from the stool lion to the high platform lion and the high pole lion, and from the high pole lion to the pile lion. The difficulty of piling lions is also increasing, such as walking a tightrope and jumping in the air. The highest pile is close to 3 meters, and the maximum span is 3.7 meters, which fully embodies the characteristics of "new, high, difficult and dangerous" and is known as "a unique skill in China". The props of Guangzhou Shakeng Lion Dance are characterized by high and narrow lion head, large and rotatable eyes, wide mouth with a pen, wide back, flat nose, full cheeks and exposed teeth. There are three kinds of performances: penny lion, lion dance and little lion. The lion's eight states of joy, anger, sadness, joy, movement, quietness, surprise and doubt are interpreted on the ground or on the pile array through such difficult movements as jumping, moving, flashing, flapping, spinning and jumping, which shows the ferocity and strength of the lion.