Chinese Lion Dance has become the visual representative of Chinese Culture internationally as it is quite uniquely Chinese. It is interesting to note that China has no lions. The term lion, “shi” in Mandarin, originated from Buddhist text & also tales of travelers from far away. It was describe to the Chinese as being a magnificent creature, king of all beast, fierce but benevolent. The Chinese thus created an image that combines many Chinese motives which reflects such attributes. In shamanic Chinese society the lion dance was created & used in religious & social function as they believe that it can chase away evil (fierce) & also bring good fortune (benevolent).

There are many forms of lion dance, the most common seen nowadays are the Southern or Awakening Lion Dance and to a lesser degree the Northern or Peking Lion Dance. Both involve 2 dancers donning lion costume (which consists of a paper mache mask & a cloth body) & dancing to music performed live by musician consisting of a drum, a gong & a few pairs of cymbals. But the similarity ends there. The Northern Lion dance originated from the Chinese Imperial court & tells stories of lions frolicking either with its own family or with a lion teaser. The dance is usually performed by a pair of lions (a male & a female) & has a smaller head, a short body with long red & yellow fur. The Southern Lion Dance has its root in Chinese folk art & tells stories that involve the lion performing symbolic rituals. It is usually performed by a single lion, sometimes with a lion teaser, & has a larger head with a longer body with short fur.

The most popular lion dance & more often seen is the Southern Lion Dance. As mentioned it has its roots in the Chinese folk art & has evolved through many forms through many centuries. The form that is seen today was created by the Cantonese Operas (as a form of revenue generating activity during the low opera seasons) & hence a lot of its influence can be seen through the design of the lion costume. During the Manchu dynasty( - 1911) the Chinese were oppressed & martial art groups were forbidden to practice, & many martial art schools then used lion dance for covert martial art practice as well as expressing symbolic defiance to the Manchu regime. It therefore was during this time that the lion dance evolved into a martial art influenced dance centering on the performance of ‘plucking the green’. The ‘plucking the green’ involves a lion journeying through obstacle to get to its food, the ‘green’ which is represented by vegetable leaves, succeeds, eats it & returns. The obstacles are usually symbolic (puzzles with Chinese influence), physical (tall poles etc) or both, giving the performers of the martial art school not only the chance to show off their physical prowess but also knowledge in Chinese matters. In Cantonese, ‘plucking’ sounds the same as ‘stepping/trampling’ & ‘green’ sounds the same as the word used to symbolise the Manchus, ‘cheng’, so in effect the performance was a covert form of resistance. It was also a good way of revenue gathering for the schools too.

Lion dance was brought out of China by the migration of people from Southern China to the rest of the world. As it is an important tradition for festive occasions (most notably Chinese New Year, the most important festival in the Chinese calendar) & events(opening of a business) it was still very popular with these expatriate Chinese.

In the 1980’s as with Chinese martial arts, lion dance started to become organized & competition was being held not only in China & Hong Kong but also in Malaysia & Singapore. It was during this time that the Southern Lion Dance underwent another transformation whereby emphasis was shifted from the martial art aspect towards the dance side. The lion costume was also evolved into a shorter more life-like appearance, borrowing many aspect form the Northern Lion Dance. From the 1990’s International Lion Dance competition has gone international, where numerous competition each year are held in China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, USA & Canada, & attended by teams from these countries as well as Macau, Taiwan, Indonesia, Australia, Japan, France, UK, Vietnam, Thailand, Brunei & others. With the popularisation of competitions, lion dance is slowly evolving into a sport with art & cultural influence. However, the many traditional aspect of the dance are still maintain & preserved.