Donguang Waking Lion Dance

Donguang Waking Lion Dance

Nominating Unit: Shipai Town, City of Dongguan

Dongguan Waking Lion Dance originated from the Ming Dynasty. It is one type of the lion dances of Guangdong Province. The locals perform lion dances on merry occasions, celebrations, traditional festivals and new years, to pray for safety and good luck. The main locations for this practice, however, are Shipai, Dalang, Chang’an, and Humen townships of City of Dongguan, with Zhongkeng Village of Shipai Township to be most representative.

The lion costumes used in Dongguan Waking Lion Dance specially focus on the ornamental effects of different colors, which give different symbolic meanings. For example, the black, red and silver lions in the early days allegedly symbolized Zhang Fei, Guan Gong, and Liu Bei, with each bearing different characteristics of the person. The black lion was strong and powerful, the red one dignified and the silver one gentle. A gold lion was later added. It is also called the Tai Lion, mainly used on receptions or ceremonial occasions, symbolizing serenity and harmony. The Zhongkeng Village uses red lions to symbolize congratulatory merriness, yellow lions to symbolize harmony, silver lions to symbolize wealth, black lion to symbolize martial arts, with every lion decorated in strong and vivid colors.(https://www.daowen.com)

Dongguan Waking Lion Dance mainly borrows its steps from the South Fist martial art. It features strong stance on the ground and powerful movements. Its moves intentionally, mimicking real lions’walk, sprint, jump, rolling over, body shaking, and mustache cleaning, with vivid effects. There are many dancing routines, such as coming out of the lair, running down the mountain, crossing a bridge, watering itself, picking up the green, drunk and sleeping, drunk and wakening up, climbing the mountain, playing a ball, and being teased by a giant headed Buddha. Among them, picking up the green is actually the climax, it can be divided into “picking up high green” and “picking up ground green”, with the latter in many forms, such as water green, crab green, underbridge green and character-splitting green, all very locality-oriented. During the past 10 years or so, they are also developed into high-pillared lion dance, plum blossom-pillared lion dance, and ropewalking lion dance.

Dongguan Lion Dance has its most broad basis among the locals in Shipai Township. It is a folk art practice there that has withstood time. Lion dance from Zhongkeng Village is the most representative of the special features, developments, and heritage of Dongguan Lion Dance. The lion dance team from this village has won the only special award on the 6th national “All-Star” Square Dancing Competition with their “high-pillared dance”. In 1997, Zhongkeng Village was awarded the title of “Homeland for Folk Art in Guangdong Province” by the provincial Department of Culture. In 2000, it was named “Homeland for Waking Lion Dance in China” by the Ministry of Culture.

With social and economic development, and with the shifting of people’s values, today even in Zhongkeng Village, lion dance enthusiasts are diminishing. Dongguan Waking Lion Dance is already troubled with a lack of transmitters.