"Where there are Chinese, there are lions."
More than 20 years ago, the Hong Kong film Huang Feihong's series of "Lion King Battle" may be a memory that more people cannot erase, and Huang Feihong's image has since been closely linked to the Guangdong Awakening Lion. With the footprints of The Cantonese people, the long-standing lion culture has spread throughout Southeast Asian countries, and even European and American countries.
How did the lion evolve into an awakened lion representing the Cantonese people? What is the difference between the north and the south of the lion dance? Peng Weiwen, a researcher in folklore, invited Peng Weiwen to talk about the uniqueness of the awakening lion culture.
Lion dance, starting from Wei Jin
@Midnight Pumpkin Will Become a Carriage: What was the earliest lion dance like, functional more than performative? Why is the lion dance used for store celebrations and major festivals?
Peng Weiwen: The earliest recorded lion dance appeared during the Wei and Jin Dynasties. Written in the mid-6th century AD, the Luoyang Jialan Chronicle records the lion dance in the ranks of the festival, which shows that it was originally introduced to China with Buddhism as part of Buddhist rituals. There is no specific dance method recorded in the book, and there is a possibility that the function is greater than the performance.
In the later Tang Dynasty, the lion dances performed at the court, such as the "Taiping Music" (also known as the "Wufang Shizi Dance") recorded in historical records, completely evolved into artistic performances as objects of appreciation. Subsequently, the lion dance was gradually accepted by the general public, and eventually became one of the most representative beast dances in the mainland. Since it has existed on the mainland for more than a thousand years and is the most widely distributed dance of the beast, it will naturally become the choice of today's festive occasions.
Wake up the lions
@Watermelon Coke Flavor: What is the biggest difference between the north and south lion dances? Which regions still retain this culture?
Peng Weiwen: Now it is commonly said that the Southern Lion and the Northern Lion, the Southern Lion is represented by the Guangdong Awakening Lion, with the god-like as the main feature, in addition to the lion's head, the shape is relatively simple, and it is based on the routine exercises of the Southern School martial arts. Nowadays, some pants and shoes with fur, tassels and other decorations are only more than 20 years old at most, and they used to be pants and shoes that are easy to wear and move every day.
The Northern Lion is represented by the Hebei Double Lion and the Beijing Taishi, which is heavier and more similar, and the acrobatic color is relatively strong, almost full of hair. However, "Southern Lion" and "Northern Lion" are only very general terms and cannot represent all lion dances on the mainland.
Stills from the movie "The Lion Boy"
@ Paper Bag Rose: Why does Guangdong call the lion dance a wake-up lion? How many people will be needed to complete a show? How many people are still working on it now?
Peng Weiwen: According to Ou Ruizhi, a researcher of local culture in Foshan, it was because the lion dance was originally called "Rui Lion", and the Cantonese pronunciation was the same as "Sleeping Lion", so it was changed to "Waking Lion".
The lion awakening performance requires at least two lions, plus 1 drum, 1 gong, and 2 cymbals (a pair), but the single lion is rare, usually double lions, drum two sides, gong side, cymbal two pairs, plus other auxiliary personnel, a complete lion awakening performance requires at least more than ten people.
If you need to use the pile array, then you need to increase the manpower, plus the chores need at least nearly 20 people. According to a survey two years ago, tens of thousands of people in Guangzhou are said to be engaged in the lion awakening industry, but in fact, there are very few people who can make money on this day.
Is the lion culture gone?
@Qixing: How did the lion dance culture spread overseas?
Peng Weiwen: Mainly the Guangdong awakening lion spreads outward with Cantonese immigrants. Some of these overseas Cantonese immigrants have learned martial arts and practiced lions before immigrating, and there is cultural continuity. Even so, lion dances have really taken root overseas and have an impact on the domestic lion culture, mainly in the Chinese community in Southeast Asia.
@柒星: At present, has the waking lion gradually disappeared in China? Is the difficulty of lion dance training the reason why young people are reluctant to enter the industry?
Peng Weiwen: In fact, there are many types of lion dances in the country, and the nature of the inheritance group is also different. With the flow of people, young and middle-aged people go out to study, work and other reasons, some places have lost the social basis of lion dance inheritance.
Secondly, changes in lifestyles, entertainment styles, and festivals have also led to a much less presence of lion dances in some places. As an amateur activity, lion dance needs to face competitors such as games, and it is not easy to attract young people. If it is a professional lion dance, in fact, there is no real formation of a lion dance market that can feed an industry, and the capacity of practitioners is not large.
Third, there is also a phenomenon that there are still lion dances in some areas but are not perceived by the public. As far as I know, the overall situation of lion awakening activities is not bad at present. With the increasing attention of Cantonese people to local culture in recent years, the public attention received by Waking Lion has not decreased but has risen, and there is no need to worry about the problem of demise for the time being.
But whether "in the long run" may be lost, no one can guarantee. Not only lion dances, but also many folk phenomena are now like this. I hope that more people will pay attention to the culture of their hometown and take the initiative to recognize and feel them.
What else do you want to know about lion culture? Welcome to the surging bar to ask questions, or leave a message to discuss together!