A Typical Performance

Introduction

Chinese Lion Dance is a staple of traditional Chinese culture. With foundations in traditional Chinese martial arts, historically being performed by Shaolin monks and Kung Fu schools, the Lion Dance is performed as a ceremony to exorcise evil spirits and to bring good luck and fortune. It is performed all year round for many occasions, but is most commonly seen during Chinese New Year.

The Chinese Lion Dance is normally operated by two dancers, one of whom manipulates the head while the other forms the rear end of the lion.
It is different from the Dragon Dance which is performed by many people who hold the long body of the dragon on poles.
The Lion Dance fundamental movements can be found in traditional Chinese martial arts, and it is almost always performed to a vigorous drum beat and brass accompaniment.

Our Style

Our team performs Southern Style Lion Dance, the central aspect of which is the "Choy Cheng".

This style is more tailored to performances for weddings, businesses (including restaurants), and private bookings, while retaining an impressive stage presence for larger demonstrations.

Graphical Beginner's Guide to Lion Dance

All images from irenydraws.tumblr.com

Lion Colours and Names

Lion dance today has emerged into many colours and styles combining arts and creativity to the culture while preserving traditional element and values.

It is often believed that the red lion represents good luck, yellow/gold lion for wealth and silver for good fortune.

Most importantly, regardless of the colour of lion, Lion Dance is believed to have the ability to chase away the bad spirits and harvest good luck.

Different colours are used to signify the age and character of the lions.
The lion with white fur is considered to be the oldest of the lions, while the lion with golden yellow fur is the middle child. The black lion is considered the youngest lion, and the movement of this lion should be fast like a young child or a headstrong teenager.
The colours may also represent the character of the lion: the golden lion represents liveliness, the red lion courage, and the green lion friendship.

There are also three lion types that represent three historical characters in the classic Romance of the Three Kingdoms who were blood oath brothers sworn to restore the Han dynasty. Later on these three along with three additional Lions get referred to as:

The Emperor and his Five Tiger Generals (一王五虎)

Yellow - Liu Bei

The Liu Bei (Cantonese: Lau Bei) lion is the eldest of the three brothers and has a yellow (imperial yellow as he became the first emperor of the Shu-Han Kingdom) based face with a white beard and fur (to denote his wisdom). It sports a multi-coloured tail signifying the colours of the five classical Chinese elements. There are three coins on the collar. This lion is known as the Rui Shi (simplified Chinese: 瑞狮; traditional Chinese: 瑞獅; pinyin: Ruì Shī; lit. 'Auspicious Lion').

The Emperor is believed to have the blessings from the heaven and thus control of the five elements in Chinese Feng Shui that represented by the five tigers (Yellow = Earth, Black = Water, Green = Wood, Red = Fire, and White = Metal)

Red w/Black - Guan Gong

The Guan Gong (Cantonese: Kwan Kung; meaning "Lord Guan Yu") lion has a red based face, black bristles, with a long black beard (he was also known as the "Duke with the Beautiful Beard"). The tail is red and trimmed with black. He is known as the second brother and sports two coins on the collar. This Lion is known as the Xing Shi (simplified Chinese: 醒狮; traditional Chinese: 醒獅; pinyin: Xǐng Shī; lit. 'Awakened Lion').

Guan Gong Lion is a symbol of unity, chivalry and heroism.

Black w/Black & White Tail - Zhang Fei

The Zhang Fei (Cantonese: Cheung Fei) lion has a black based face with short black beard, small ears, and black bristles. The tail is black and white. Traditionally this lion also had bells attached to the body. Being the youngest of the three brothers, there is only a single coin on the collar. This Lion is known as the Dou Shi (simplified Chinese: 斗狮; traditional Chinese: 鬥獅; pinyin: Dòu Shī; lit. 'Fighting Lion') because Zhang Fei had a quick temper and loved to fight. This lion is used by clubs that were just starting out or by those wishing to make a challenge.

Later three more Lions were added to the group.

Green - Zhao Yun

The green-faced lion represented Zhao Yun or Zhao Zi Long (Cantonese: Chiu Wan or Chiu Ji Long). The green lion has a green tail, black beard and fur, and an iron horn.
Often called the fourth brother, this lion is also called the Heroic Lion because Zhao was said to ride through Cao Cao's million man army to rescue Liu Bei's infant and fight his way back out.

Yellow - Huang Zhong

The yellow lion has yellow/orange face and body with white or silver beard and fur, representing Huang Zhong (Cantonese: Wong Zung), who was given this colour when Liu Bei rose to become Emperor. This lion is called the Righteous Lion.

Representing seniority, Wang Zhong was still fighting on the battlefield in his 70’s, he has gained high recognition and respect from the locals.

White - Ma Chao

The white lion is known as Ma Chao (Cantonese: Maa Chiu), he was assigned this colour because he always wore a white armband in his battle against the ruler of Wei, Cao Cao, to signify that he was in mourning for his father and brother who had been murdered by Cao Cao. This lion is therefore also known as the funeral lion, and is never used except for the funeral of a Master or an important head of a group. In such cases the lion is usually burned right after use as it is considered inauspicious to be kept around.
This lion is sometimes confused with the silver lion which sometimes has a whitish colouring.

These three along with Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were known as the "Five Tiger Generals of Shun," each representing one of the colours of the five elements.

The Start

The Lion Dance starts with a bowing routine to the audience, showing respect and the good nature of the lion. This includes a traditional and energetic 'Raising the Lion' (起獅; Hei Si) routine.

This can be followed by blessing doorways & kitchens, bowing to family and deity alters/the business owner/bride & groom etc., and some 'play' between the Buddha character and Lions depending on the situation. These blessings and displays of respect can be performed after the Cheng if the layout of the area requires it.

The 'Goal' - Choy Cheng ("Plucking the Greens" 採青)

The lion then 'spots' the greens, and while being guided by the Buddha character it has to "investigate" the greens - like a real animal investigating an unknown object, the lion will paw at it, smell it, taste it, and guard itself against potential predators. This is meant to convey the animalistic nature of the lion.

It is considered bad form to simply approach the greens and take it. Instead an elaborate story is portrayed as part of the dance of the Lion solving a "puzzle" in order to capture the Greens.

Symbolism of the Greens

When translated, the phrase Choy Cheng (採青) literally means "plucking the greens" - but this phrase has a deep symbolic meaning in Chinese. The "greens" (青; Cheng) are commonly symbolised by a lettuce - in Chinese, the word for "lettuce" is 菜 (Choy), which also sounds like the word for "wealth" (財). Therefore, since the lettuce symbolises wealth, by taking and spitting out the vegetable the lion is spreading wealth and good fortune to the person or business the dance is being performed for. Being hit by the greens is said to bring good luck and is seen as a blessing and/or guard against misfortune.

The Story

There are many options for the story, but most revolve around the Lion identifying the Greens as the goal, and going through three separate approaches.

These approaches typically signify the lion becoming more confident about capturing the Greens, and investigating the puzzle that protects them.
This can be done with the assistance/help of the Buddha character and/or a second lion.

Solving the Puzzle

After the final approach, the lion finally "solves" the puzzle and captures the lettuce, ”chewing“ it and then spitting it over the person or business the dance is being performed for, symbolising spreading the good luck.

Touring the Audience & Establishment

After this the lion and Buddha can roam the performance area, performing additional acrobatic stunts, interacting with the audience members and collecting the hongbao (紅包 red envelopes).

Guests are encouraged to put money in the hongbao to reciprocate the good luck and blessings back unto the Lion Dance team. the wishes of people involved in the booking.

The Finish

The Lion Dance finishes a performance with the same three respectful bows that started the performance, with a final flourish to show off of the performers.

Final Notes

There are a number of special types of Choy Cheng that can be performed, and we've listed our common and specialty Chengs here.

While the layout listed above represents a typical traditional Lion Dance performance there is plenty of room to adjust it to suit the space and layout of the venue, and account for the wishes of people involved in the booking.

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