The Origin of Lion Dance in China

This custom originated in the Three Kingdoms period and was popular in the Southern and Northern Dynasties. It has a history of 1000 years. According to legend, during the Northern Wei Dynasty (AD 386-534), Emperor Wu made an expedition to Hexi, Gansu, and captured as many as100000 people. Wei Wudi entertained the conference semifinals by dancing.

Hu people carved animal heads, two big and five small, dressed in animal clothes, gathered eight music, and more than 30 warriors danced in front of the command. Liang Wudi was so happy that he was named "Ruishi of the Northern Wei Dynasty" and allowed the prisoners to return home. Lion dance spread in the north and was later called "Northern Lion".

There are several legends about dancing Southern Lion in China. One of the legends is that in the Qing Dynasty (A.D.1644 ~1911), when Emperor Qianlong went down to the south of the Yangtze River, he dreamed that a colorful Swiss beast came to worship. After returning to Beijing, Emperor Qianlong ordered people to make one according to the image of the auspicious beast he saw in his dream. Every time he ordered people to dance at festivals and celebrations, it was said that it was peaceful and auspicious.

Extended data:

Besides the Spring Festival, lion dancing is often used for entertainment on festive days. In the folk lion dance, two people play a big lion (some areas are called Tai Lion), one plays a little lion (some areas are called Shao Lion), and the other plays a warrior, holding a hydrangea as a guide, and first kicking to induce the lion to dance.

With the speed of the drums, the lion suddenly looked up, turned to look down, turned to lie prone, shook his head and wagged his tail in various ways, which was full of fun. In imitation actions, there are actions such as licking hair, wiping feet, scratching head, washing ears, worshipping and rolling. In terms of skills, there are stairs, overpasses, three mountains, caves, downhill, bowling, spitting and picking green.