舞狮翻译介绍

Lion Dance

What is Lion Dance?

Lion Dance is a traditional art form that incorporates physical training commonly

associated with martial arts and

ascetic expressions. It is a folk show performed by

one or two persons wrapped around with lion skin costume. Like the dragon lantern

dance, lion dance is usually performed during the Chinese New Year and other

Chinese traditional, cultural and religious festivals. It may also be performed at

important occasions such as business opening events, special celebrations or wedding

ceremonies, or may be used to entertain special guests by the Chinese communities.

The Chinese lion dance is often mistakenly referred to as dragon dance. An easy

way to tell the differences is that a lion is normally operated by one or two dancers,

while a dragon needs many people. Also, in a lion dance, the performers' faces are

only seen occasionally, since they are

inside the lion. In a dragon dance, the

performers' faces can be easily seen since the dragon is held on poles.

History of Lion Dance

There has been an old tradition in China of dancers wearing masks to resemble

animals or mythical beasts. However, lion is not native to China. According to textual

research, lions in China were originally introduced from West Asia through the "Silk

Road".

In Buddhist culture, lion is the animal ridden by Bodhisattva Manjusri that

was introduced to China along with Buddhism, together with the real lion dance

performed by the animal. Since sending lions to China was not an easy job

accompanied by hardships, very few lions finally arrived at the destination. Therefore,

the real lion dance was only limited to the imperial palace and wealthy families, and

common people never had the chance to watch it. Therefore, the folk artists created

idealized works of lions through imagination according to records or legends, and

highlighted the broad forehead, upturned nose and open mouth with traditional divine

and auspicious decorations, presenting the mighty force and liveliness of lions. In the

lion dance, people perform the role of lions.

The earliest use of the word “shizi” meaning lion first appeared in Han Dynasty.

Detailed descriptions of Lion Dance appeared during the Tang Dynasty and it was

already recognized by writers and poets then as a foreign dance. However, lion dance

may have been recorded in China as early as the third century AD where "lion act"

was referred to by Meng Kang in a commentary on Hanshu. In the early periods it had

association with Buddhism: it was recorded in a Northern Wei text, Description of

Buddhist Temples in Luoyang, that a parade for a statue of Buddha of a temple was led by a lion to drive away evil spirits.

There were different versions of the dance in the Tang Dynasty. In the Tang court,

the lion dance was called the Great Peace Music or the Lion Dance of the Five

Directions where five large lions of different colors and expressing different moods

were each led and manipulated on rope by two persons, and accompanied by 140

singers. Another version of the lion dance was described by the Tang poet Bai Juyi in

his poem "Western Liang Arts", where the dance was performed by two Hu dancers

who wore a lion costume made of a wooden head, a silk tail and furry body, with eyes

gilded with gold and teeth plated with silver as well as ears that moved, a form that

resembles today's lion dance. During the Song Dynasty the lion dance was commonly

performed in festivals and it was known as the Northern Lion during the Southern

Song.

The Southern Lion is a later development in the south of China, originating in

the Guangdong province. There are a number of myths associated with the origin of

this dance: one story relates that the dance originated as a celebration in a village

where a mythical monster called Nian was successfully driven away. Another has it

that the Qianlong Emperor dreamt of an auspicious animal while on a tour of

Southern China, and ordered that the image of the animal be recreated and used

during festivals.

Types of Lion Dances

1) Types by style

The gentle style shows the lion’s gentleness and loveliness by grabbing the ball,

playing with the ball, licking its fur, shaking its fur, scratching, rubbing its ears,

caressing the lion cub, etc.

The wild style focuses on lion’s aggressiveness and high skills such as walking

on the ball, scrambling for the ball, rolling the ball, diving the ball, jumping and

turning, climbing, walking on the seesaw, walking on pointed stakes and other highly

skill-demanding feats. The wild style performance can be soul stirring as it displays

the lion’s majesty and wildness.