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Types Of Lion
Chinese Lion Dance is generally divided into two types: northern and southern. Northern lion dance or the Peking lion is popular in the northern parts of china. This type of lion with its mane(long lion like hair)looks more like a real lion than the southern lion. The performers of northern lion dance are dressed head to toe in a bright yellow fury costume with red fur on the back. The gold coloured head of northern lion is smaller than the southern one and has less moveable mouth and a wide square jaw with a read beard. The movements of this lion are smooth and includes many acrobatic manoeuvres. The northern lion is also used in Peking Opera and during a lion dance performance they often appear in groups of three or more.
 Southern Lion Dance is from the southern regions of China , popular throughout south east Asia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macao, Malaysia, Singapore and the rest of the world. This type of lion dance is generally always performed by gung fu practitioners and reflects the gung fu style of the performers, or at least traditionally. Now days a few non-gung fu groups or centres such as Chinese culture centres also perform lion dance. The southern lion can be further grouped into two kinds:Hok-Shan and Fut-Shan. Hok-shan lion is the blend of nortern-Peking lion and popular Fut-shan lion. Hok-Shan lion which is very popular among Malaysian Chinese and in Singapore has a shorter length body than the Fut-Shan lion which is very light coloured. This type of lion is a lot lighter than the Fut_shan lion which makes it ideal for a beginner or younger performers because it is easier to carry and use. Apart from it being very light it is also ideal for a beginner because its footwork and stances are very easy to learn and it doesn't require one to be trained in gung fu.
Fut-Shan lion on the other hand is often performed by the gung fu practitioners. It is routines and movements are heavily influenced by Chinese Martial arts.This lion dance requires strength, stamina,co-ordination, fast foot work and deep stances as well as many other aspects which are part of normal gung fu training. This is the most popular type of Lion dance seen all over the world. It is body is long and multi coloured but unlike its northern brother it doesn't have long hair. Southern lion has a fierce face and big eyes. The head of the lion is quite heavy which requires strong arms and shoulders. It also has a very moveable mouth, eyes and ears. The length of the lions beard represents the character/age of the lion and how long the school it represents has been in existence. A younger lion when dancing with an older/wise lion should always show respect.
There are also different types or colours of southern lions(head) which represents the characteristic and the attitudes of the lion. Each type of lion has significance and different meaning which fit specific lion dancing ceremonies. Although now days there are many different coloured southern lions, traditionally there were 3 different types. Each one of these lions represents one of the three famous Chinese Generals; Liu Pei ,Kwan Kung and Chang Fei.
Yellow or multi coloured lion represents the General Liu PEI This lion which has a long white beard is the oldest and the wisest out of all three. This yellow faced lion shows general Liu Pei's intelligence, bravery and kindness.
The red faced lion with black beard represents the famous Chinese general and leader Kwan Kung. This lion shows General Kwans bravery and righteousness which he is known for. The red faced lion also represents happiness, good luck and prosperity.
The youngest out of all three is the general Chang Fei who is represented by the black lion which looks a lot more fierce than the other two lions. The black lion has a short black beard which shows its youthfulness and combative nature and represents General Chang Fei's bravery and strength. This lion is also known as the fighting lion is very aggressive and strong. It is movements are quick, sharp, energetic and always aggressive. This lion is used by newly established schools which hasn't been around for long.
Lion Dance Team And Equipment
 The lion dance team consists of at least 5 people or 6 people if the team has the big headed Buddha (Dai do fut). The two members of the team perform the actual lion dance. One carries the lion head manipulates the movements of the head, mouth, eyes and ears while the other person portrays the body and the tail of the lion under a long sheet of bright, multicoloured cloth. The other three members of the team plays the musical instruments. One plays the drum, one for the gong and one for the cymbal. Although many teams don't use the big headed Buddha, dai fut is an integral part of the lion dance. Dai fut is usually quiet acrobatic and can be male or female who acts as the caretaker or tamer of the lion. The person who performs the role of dai fut wears a big pink mask with a big smile. Dai fut usually wears a traditional costume and carries a fan which he uses to play with and tease the lion.
Traditionally the lion heads were made out of bamboo and paper mache. However the modern lions of today are made using aluminium or PVC pices which makes the lion head quite light. The head is al so nicely painted and decorated with strings, fringes, tassels and bells. The bright, multicoloured body or tail of the lion is made out of silk or nylon and designed with different colours and patterns.
The Lion Dance - Routines, emotions
As mentioned earlier the lion dance is performed by skilled gung fu practitioners, so the dance itself is heavily influenced by Chinese martial arts. There must be perfect coordination between the two people performing the lion dance. The lion must look alive. There must be perfect synchronisation between the movements of the lion and the music. The drummer must be very skilled and must know which drum beat goes with each part of the lions movements or emotions. The cymbals and the gong follows the beat of the drum. In other words or simply the whole lion dance team must work together.
The lion dance performance usually follows 3 stages during which the lion goes through and expresses many different emotions and displays different routines. The basic stages or parts of a lion dance performance are the opening, eating the green and closing. The lion dance begins with the opening stage where the lion bows 3 times which is a sign of respect and represents good luck greeting as well as showing the good nature of the lion. Traditional the lion is also required to bow to all religious and important figures or statues. The traditional lion dance always begins and ends with the lion bowing three times.
 Eating the green or Choy Cheng is the most important part of a lion dance which is a symbolic gesture that brings luck and prosperity to the occasions. Also during the time when china was ruled by the Ch'ing many martial artist who were also Ming patriots who wanted to overthrow the Ch'ing used lion dance to pass secret messages inside the Choy Cheng or the green. Choy Cheng literally means "green vegetable" which is a form of food(usually lettuce or similar green) for the lion to eat which will normally have a red envelope with money inside attached or tied to the green. Sometimes but very rarely a hard coconut or other type of food are used instead of the green. The choy cheng is usually hung from a doorway or similar places which is high of the ground.Sometimes the cheng might be on top of a very high pole or a building which requires very skilful dancers to get to it. There may also be many different types of obstacles placed before the choy cheng which the lion dance performers must pass through in order to get the green. The most commonly used obstacles are stacks of benches and tables etc..There are also variety of special routines which are associated with the eating of the green such as three stars surrounding the moon "sam sing bane yuet" and seven stars surrounding the moon "chat sing bune yuet". All these obstacles and different routines are used to test the skill of the lion and makes the lion dance more exciting to watch.
 The lion however doesn't eat the green straight away but rather tests it first to make sure it is safe. It will very carefully approach near the green and blink its eyes to see through the green.Then using its head or the leg the lion will touch the green to make sure it is not dangerous and it really is food. It will also make sure there are no others which may want to eat the green. Once satisfied the lion will then take the green in its mouth and starts chewing it, the red envelope attached to the green will be extracted and put in a safe place.After a short while the lion will spit or throw out the green tear by the person carrying the head. This green is thrown first to the left then to the right and finally to the middle to spread wealth and prosperity in all directions. Also being hit by the choy cheng which the lion spits out is said to bring good luck. Traditionally shortly after the eating the green part of the lion dance the firecrackers will be exploded and the lion dance will continue for a short while longer. The final part of the lion dance is the closing part where the lion bows three times which concludes the lion dance performance.
As mentioned earlier the lion dance involves many different routines where the lion expresses different emotions. Some of these are namely, sleepy lion, happy lion, angry lion, suspicious lion, joyful lion, drunk etc..I will write about these in the near future.
Lion Dance Etiquette's: Do's and Dont's
Lion Dance being a chinese folk tradition is surrounded by many suberstitions.So there are certaine rules a lion dance team must follow in order to avoid being insultive or bringing bad luck. Some of these rules or correct ettiquette are:
• A new lion should not be used in a lion dance untill it goes through the eye opening/dotting ceremony.
• A younger lion should always show respect to an older lion and it's head should not be held higher than the older
• When performing during events such as new year and other festivities with other lion dance teams lion heads should be at the same height.Keeping the head higher than the other lions is insulting and offensive and may result in a challange.
• The beard of the lion should not touch the groundLion should bow(kow-tow) in the begining and at the end of the performance.
• If the lion dance takes place inside a building such as a restaurent or a shop, lion should bow 3 times (to the owner) before entering and while inside if there is an altar it is also polite to bow again three times.
• When leaving/exiting a building, lion should exit tail first then the head.
• During Choy Cheng - eating the green stage of the performance the lion should eat the green firts before taking the red envelope.
• Prior to a performance, the lion should lick the drum and the door before leaving the school as well as when it comes back (good luck)
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