"Boom boom! Boom boom! "During the Spring Festival, in all parts of urban and rural areas of Guangdong, the heart-warming sound of lion drums can be heard.
Lion dance, also known as "lion dance", "lion lantern", "lion dance" and "lion dance", is mostly performed in New Year's festivals and festive activities. The lion is a beast in the minds of the people of all ethnic groups in China, symbolizing auspiciousness and good wishes, so that in the lion dance activities, the people's good wishes to eliminate disasters and seek blessings.
Waking Lion belongs to the Southern Lion in the Chinese Lion Dance. Historically, the lion dance was born from the Tang Dynasty court, and after the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, with the migration of the Central Plains immigrants to the south, the lion dance culture was introduced to the Lingnan region. During the Ming Dynasty, the awakening lion appeared in Guangdong and originated in Nanhai County. It is now spread among overseas Chinese in Guangdong, Guangxi and Southeast Asian countries, and is mainly distributed in Foshan, Suixi, Guangzhou and other counties and cities in Guangdong.
Since ancient times, Guangdong lion awakening is considered to be an auspicious thing to drive away evil spirits and avoid harm, every festival, or there are major events, there will be "a gong and drum, gold ten thousand two" of the lion to help, long-lasting prosperity, passed down from generation to generation.
Awakening the lion is a cultural activity that integrates martial arts, dance, music, etc. During the performance, the gongs and drums are beaten, and the lion dancers first play a round of southern fists, which is called "opening the pile", and then the two play a lion to dance, and the other wears a smiling face "Big Head Buddha" and holds a large sunflower fan to lead the lion to the stage. Lion dancers mostly take the southern fist and horse steps, and the lion movements include "opening eyes", "washing whiskers", "licking the body", "shaking hair" and so on. The main routines are "picking green", "drinking water on the high platform", "lion spitting balls", "stepping on plum blossom piles" and so on.
The most authentic Cantonese lion awakening New Year celebration is not just as simple as the lion dance, worshiping the ancestral hall, celebrating the New Year performance, the lions making the Lantern Festival, and the lion team visiting the brother village... Not one less. Especially in the Pearl River Delta region, in the South China Sea area of Foshan, the scene is quite lively. So far, among the two major genres of lion head production, there are two major categories of Foshan lion and Heshan lion, of which the Foshan lion is the most famous.
Unlike the northern lion, the awakening lion only has a lion head, the dancer lands on both feet, and the lion's body is made of a lion quilt, covered with a lion's tail, and another actor. The awakening lion pays attention to the god-like, it uses exaggerated techniques, tied into a wide mouth, big eyes, full of spirit of the lion head, the image is colorful. There are black Zhang Fei face, red Guan Gong face, as well as tiger face, erhua face and so on.
In terms of color alone, there are two kinds of lions, colorful lions and black and white lions. The colorful lion is the "lion mother", with bright colors, white eyebrows and red whiskers; the black and white lion is the "lion king", with a green nose and iron horn toothbrush whiskers, hanging full of pompoms, plastered with copper mirrors, shining. The Crane King Lion is commonly known as the "clam mother's mouth", with a flat mouth, short horns, a slightly smaller shape than the Foshan lion, and the dance procedures are basically the same.
As a popular auspicious object during the Spring Festival, the awakening lion is full of good intentions, whether it is props, shapes, action routines, and folk etiquette. For example, the traditional "green" is generally composed of lettuce, celery, oranges, and li is composed, with beautiful meanings such as "wealth, diligence, and auspiciousness"; story performances such as "Backgammon", "Lions Dance to Celebrate Shengping" and "Flowers Blooming and Rich", which help people entertain people on festive occasions; when two lions meet during the New Year's Festival, they must perform a humble and courteous lion ceremony: according to the rules of the trade, in the process of playing, the black and white, colorful two lions meet, and the colorful lions must take the initiative to give way and salute the lion king.
In 2006, The Awakening Lion was selected into the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage lists. Nowadays, Guangdong Awakening Lion has become a well-known folk dance brand unique to Guangdong. The lion awakening activity is also widely spread in overseas Chinese communities, becoming a cultural bridge for overseas compatriots to recognize their ancestors and return to their ancestors, and its cultural value and significance are very far-reaching.
(Image from Xinhua Net)
Editor-in-charge: Jia Tingyi