Lion Dance (Southern Style) — Folk arts

The smoke of New Year firecrackers has barely cleared when the gongs and drums break out. The red-and-gold southern lion surges up — blinking, scratching, plucking the greens — and leaps several metres between the plum-blossom stakes without a waver. The shopkeeper hangs lettuce and a red envelope high above; the lion seizes the greens in one bite and tosses them into the crowd, and cheers, drums and laughter set the whole old street alight.

Let the lion dance and ill luck withdraw, blessing come in — that leap into the air is the Chinese spirit of seeing out the old year at its most alive.

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Why young people fall for it

Traditions, echoed by a new generation

The drums sound and the lion wakes. Lion dance is the Chinese street battle, and the moment it leaps the high stakes, the whole crowd goes up.

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Blinking, scratching, plucking the greens — fierce and adorable at once, a top-tier generator of atmosphere

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Leaping and twisting on high stakes is close to extreme sport; pulses and applause do not come down

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Warding off ill luck and opening the way for fortune — the plainest, hottest hopes the Chinese carry

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Origins & Practice

History · Customs · Cultural meaning

Lion Dance (Southern Style) · Historical Origins

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Historical Origins

One continuous line · back to the source

The awakening lion, or southern lion, arose in the Ming and is practised across Guangdong, Guangxi and Chinese communities overseas. Legend has it that in the early Qing, men resisting the dynasty used lion dance as cover for passing messages, and that 'awakening lion' carried the sense of awakening the people. The southern and northern lions differ sharply: the northern is realistic, the southern expressive, known for its exaggerated face and wide range of expression.

Lion Dance (Southern Style) · Customs and Practice

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Customs and Practice

Seasonal rites · everyday life

A performance normally uses two dancers to a lion, one working the head and one the tail, and both need solid martial training. The lion's expression shifts constantly: joy, anger, sorrow, delight, movement, stillness, alarm, suspicion. A traditional programme runs through 'leaving the cave', 'crossing the bridge' and 'plucking the greens' — the last the climax, in which the lion climbs to take the lettuce hung out of reach, the word for lettuce punning on 'growing wealth'. The accompaniment is drum, gong and cymbals, at a driving tempo.

Lion Dance (Southern Style) · Cultural Significance

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Cultural Significance

What the heart turns toward · handed down through generations

The awakening lion is a spiritual emblem of Lingnan culture and a focus of Chinese identity abroad. Festivals, shop openings and celebrations are hardly complete without it. With Chinese migration the dance has travelled worldwide, and it has become one of the country's most recognisable cultural calling cards.

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