Origins: During the Ching Dynasty was a time of war and internal problems, the Emperor of China at that time after a day in battle had a vivid dream. The dream was of a strange beast playing. This beast was lager than a dog but smaller than a horse and although it looked fierce its behaviour was unseemlier to a tiger. The next day being very interested to know what the beast was, the Emperor went to consult his official advisers. The advisers explained to him that this beast he saw was called a lion.
Later that day, after a glorious battle, which the Emperor’s armies won, the same dream, occurred to him. This time being very disturbed by the recurrence of the dream he went to consult his senior and most experienced advisers and consultants. These people explained to the Emperor that the lion was a gift from the gods. Since no lions existed within China, the god’s gift to him was to let the Emperor have everything. (This was deemed a good omen from the gods who favoured the Emperor).
On returning back to the palace after winning the battle, celebrations were evident everywhere. But still in the Emperor’s mind was the dream of the strange beast. Here on ‘talking to many of the Emperor’s court advisers they described to him how to go about and construct the features of this mystical lion. They explained how to use paper, cloth and bamboo to make this beast. The next battle the Emperor had, the lion became the symbol of good fortune for the armies. The battle was won and since then the result of this good omen is what we now call the lion dance.
As a result, today we now demonstrate the lion dance at all important festivals and occasions as the lion dance brings happiness, prosperity and good fortune to all the people attending the celebrations.
Southern liondance: There are many regional differences in how the performance is held and the customs that are followed. In the north of China, the lion usually long orange/yellow fur, and performs acrobatics, such as balancing on a ball. The southern lion originates in Guangdong and is the style practiced by our team. It involves the same low stances typical of southern Chinese kung fu and generally has an explosive, martial energy (although there are still acrobatic moves like standing on hips and/or shoulders).
In Southern liondance, the lion can take on many colours, however the most common are 3 “canonical” lions which represent the 3 main characters from the epic Romance of the Three Kingdoms. These are:
Traditional and modern: Today, there are many modern styles of liondance focussed on competitions and showmanship. These styles are mainly practiced in teams in Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Singapore and Malaysia. The lion is a lot lighter with more jumps and acrobatics. Although we seek to bring variety to our performances (which may include a few modern elements), our main aim is to practice traditional liondance based on our traditional style of Chinese kung fu.