Monthly Archives: May 2022

Many people have seen the lion dance during Chinese New Year and might be quite confused about what it really represents for the Chinese culture. It is basically two people dancing to the beat of the drum; one person is controlling the head of the Lion while the other person is controlling the tail of the lion. The instruments that are used for the dance are the drum, gong, and cymbals. It originated in Cantonese culture and became popular all around China and across the world. In Chinese Culture, the Lion dance actually represents happiness for all people. The lion dance also gives prosperous Chinese New years to everyone as it states “I was told that the lion dance is supposed to bring good luck and chase away evil, but I couldn’t go any further to explain the tradition and culture” (Kim Hong, 18 April 2011).” In New York City there is always a Lion dance that happens once every year for Chinese New Year. Each year they will perform and there will be a huge audience that either gives them red envelopes or lettuce for the lion to eat. The red envelope will mostly have money inside and it symbolizes good luck for the people. The Lions also go to restaurants and when the owner gives them lettuce they break it into pieces and throw it to the people or the owner to give them a blessing of wealth and prosperity. As we know not everyone celebrates Chinese New Year in New York City so there will be a separate day for the parade compared to in China where they celebrate it the day of New Years.

There is a simple song that is needed to be understood by the dancers and the people who play the instrumentals. There is a certain beat that the lions have to follow or else you aren’t doing the dance correctly. Although some people just put the song and just dance it is different in the Lion dance as the beat has to match with the dance as said “In my interview with Wong, he used his desk as a mock drum to explain the drum beats: In the lion dance, there is only one drum. All parts of the drum–the drumhead, the edges of the drum, and even the drumsticks–are used to make melodic and tonal changes. We have some basic beats in lion dancing. They are three-star beat, five-star beat, and seven-star beat (6)…The three-star beat is basically two beats, but the first beat is divided evenly into two shorter beats. The five-star beat is three beats, but the first two beats are divided evenly into four shorter beats, and the seven-star beat is four beats, but the first three beats are all divided evenly into six shorter beats. (ibid.) Wong continues: To match these beats, there are three basic steps called three-star step, five-star step, and seven-star step. Three-star steps are used when the lion is checking stuff, waking up, and doing things around the original spot it stands. Seven-star steps are used when the lion is doing a long walk. Five-star steps are the most commonly used in lion dancing, and they are used on all other occasions. Of course, there are more variations other than these three steps, but all other steps are based on these three basics. (ibid.) Wong comments, “If you don’t know all these basics, you can’t do the lion dance and you can’t understand it” (ibid.).”

Throughout the years in china, the lion dance was most famous in Southern China but it expanded through the north and eventually through all of China. Migration increased through the 20th century and most people from China moved around the world. As stated, “Along with the emergence of new generations, the Chinese demography became more diverse and the Cantonese proportion of the population declined to less than one third (LI 2014).” People from Canada moved to a new land and the population decreased. When new cultures go to different places they share what their culture does so people from other cultures can learn. For example, when they created the lion dance in Southern China and people adapted to it in the North of China they changed the material of the Lion. The Lion had more fur on the head and on the Northside it was less fur. As said, “However, the abstraction makes the southern lion more aggressive (MATUSKY and TAN, 2004). Moreover, because the body of the southern lion is bigger and longer with more and brighter colors, it is often thought to contain more “strength, agility and power of energy” (MATUSKY and TAN, 2004).”

Each year growing up when it was Chinese New Year my family would bring my brother and I to every lion dance parade. Every time I hear the lion dance music it always brings back memories from my past. I’m always thrilled when I hear the song that plays because Chinese New Year should bring Joy to everyone and not bring sadness. I will never forget my parents being super happy as they were smiling at each other and me being confused because I couldn’t understand what was happening because I was too young. They would be satisfied and all I could hear on the streets were people clapping and cheering. When I first saw the lion dance I was very scared because I didn’t know what it was and I thought it was actually something that could harm me. When my parents first touched the lion I was getting more and more comfortable because they told me to touch it and it will give me good luck and it wouldn’t harm me. When I touched it it was very furry and when I tried to hold it up it was very heavy for me. Since I was very young and weak in strength so it felt like I was trying to hold up the world. When I was older I found out that it was actually around 20 pounds since I asked one of the material artists that were standing outside of the restaurant when they were performing the lion dance.