The Origin of Chinese Lion Dance

The Origin of Chinese Lion Dance

The Chinese Lion Dance goes back some one thousand years.The first record of the performance of an early form of the Lion Dance dates to the early Qin and Han Dynasties（Third Century B.C.）

The lions express joy and happiness.From the fourth day to the fifteenth of the New Year，lion dance groups would tour from village to village in traditional China.

Different Acting Styles

From the perspective of acting styles，lion dance can be categorized into twotypes:gentle style and wild style.The former shows the lion’s gentleness and loveliness by grabbing the ball，playing with the ball，rolling about，licking its fur，shaking its fur，scratching，rubbing its ears，caressing the lion cub，etc.The latter focuses on the lion’s aggresiveness and high skills such as walking on the ball，scrambling for the ball，rolling the ball，diving for 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.

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