The Legend of the Lion
For the Chinese, the New Year was a time to make a fresh start. Houses were cleaned before the
New Year, new clothes were worn, and homework was caught up with. Many traditions were
followed during the New Year, one of which was chasing away evil spirits. The Chinese used
everything they could think of to accomplish this task and since the evil spirits were afraid of the
color red and loud noises, fireworks are often burned. But along with the fireworks, a traditional
folk dance was performed to aid in the effort of bringing good luck. This dance was the lion dance.
There are many different legends on the source of the lion. Here are just
a few:
According to one legend, the lion once lived in the heavens where day after day he would run
around playing tricks and being a nuisance. The gods soon became angry at the lion and threw
him to the earth where he broke into many pieces. One piece that broke off was his horn, the
lion's source of power. The goddess of mercy, Kwan Yin, felt sorry for the lion and put him back
together but left his horn attached only with a piece of red cloth to ensure that the lion behaved.
To show his gratitude, the lion now dances on earth scaring away the evil spirits and bringing good
luck to all he meets.
A long time ago a strange creature appeared in China and horrified and ate
men and animals. The fast and fierce creature was called
'nien' (or 'nian'), which sounds like the Chinese word for 'year'. Neither
the fox nor the tiger could fight the 'nien' effectively and in despair
the people asked the lion for help. The lion shook his mane, rushed
towards the creature and wounded it. The nien hurried away with
the tail between its legs. But it announced to return for taking
revenge. A year later the nien did return. This time the lion
couldn't help the people. He was too busy with guarding the emperor's gate.
So the villagers decided to do the job themselves. Out of bamboo and cloth
they produced an image of the lion. Two men crawled inside it and
approached the nien. The 'lion' pranced and roared and the monster fled
away again. This is the reason why on the eve of the Chinese New Year,
lions always dance. They are frightening evil away for yet another year.
Source: Kingdom of Lions
The origin of the lion is also unclear. Some say that the lion is not of
a Chinese origin. It is claimed that the lion arrived to China via the
historic Silk Road. The rulers of what is today Iran and Afghanistan sent
the lions as gifts to the Chinese in return for access to the trade route.
This dates back to 205 B.C. to 220 A.D during the Han Dynasty, and 716-907
A.D. during the Tang Dynasty when it was at it's peak. The lion was
mainly used at the time for religious festivals. The lion was also
introduced to Taiwan and Korea during the same period.
Source Kingdom of
Lions
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