"In Guangdong Province, almost every village has its own lion dance troupe. When I was a child, I looked forward to the dance every year."
The third day of the lunar year is called "Xiao Nianzhao" (the day to worship gods), and is also known as the Grain's Birthday. It is when the Cantonese pray for harvest with lion dances.
Zhong Daoren is the head of the Bei Lun Tong lion dance troupe of Diejiao, Guangdong. He started learning the dance about 50 years ago.
Lion dance is one of the traditional customs during the Spring Festival.
Data shows that since 1978, there have been over 1,800 lion dance troupes in the 17 counties and towns of Nanhai District, Foshan City. The Cantonese lion dance has the awe-inspiring appearance of a real lion. With rousing drumbeats, it is known as the "Awaken Lion" or "Southern Lion."
In history, all the lions in China were imported from Western countries. As the "Book of Han: Volume 96" says – "Since then… elephant, lions, canines and peacocks were kept in the parks. All kinds of exotic animals swarmed in from outside the Han territory."
With the introduction of Buddhism, the lion dance was known by the Han people as a kind of Buddhist ceremony. In the Tang dynasty (618-907), it became a performance for the imperial court. Since then, it was confined to the palace from the public until the start of the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368). In the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), it was introduced to Lingnan Region (now referred to as the area of Guangdong, Guangxi and Hainan Provinces). From then on, it emerged as an important part of the folk activities.
On May 20th, 2006, the "Cantonese Awaken Lion" was approved by the State Council as one of the first batch of National Intangible Cultural Heritage.
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