Behind the Franken-lion
Updated: Feb 10, 2021
Although its called lion dance, you may have noticed that the design of the Southern lion doesn't exactly resemble a real lion. That's because it wasn't inspired by one! So then... what is it? And how do we bring it to life?
The design of the Southern lion is based on the 4 celestial beasts and the mythical Qilin of the 4 auspicious beasts in Taoism and Feng-shui (Alexa Crawls, 2011).
4 Celestial Beasts
Azure Dragon of the East (青龙 qinglong)
White Tiger of the West (白虎 baihu)
Vermilion Bird of the South (朱雀 zhuque)
Black Tortoise (also called "Black Warrior") of the North 玄武 xuanwu)
4 Auspicious Beasts
Dragon (龙 long)
Phoenix (凤凰 fenghuang)
Tortoise (龟 gui)
Qilin（麒麟)
The lion has a huge protruding forehead from the Azure Dragon, symbolizing intelligence and the teeth of the White Tiger, as it is believed to be able to devour evil spirits and is a symbol of courage and fierceness.
It takes its eyes and horn from the Vermilion Bird, which confers benevolence, virtue and peace (Alexa Crawls, 2011). Some believe that the horn is from the Chinese unicorn, Qilin, as attached by Goddess Kwan Yin (Beyond the Dance 2013, 2013).
The lion also has the shell of the Black Tortoise for the hump on the back of the lion's head, which symbolises longevity. The snake was represented as the futty spine of the lion, bringing the qualities of rebirth, renewal and healing to the lion. Last but not least, it has the ears and tail from the Qilin which provides protection and luck (Alexa Crawls, 2011).
Bringing the Lion to Life
The lion must go through the ritual of “dotting the eyes” (点睛 dianjing), which symbolises giving life to the lion. This is likely related to the story behind the Chinese idiom "dotting the eyes when painting a dragon" (画龙点睛hualong dianjing), which means to put the finishing touches on something.
A famous painter, Zhang Sengyou was invited by the Emperor to paint four dragons on the walls of a temple. He was so skilled, that the dragons looked alive. At first, he refrained from painting their eyes to prevent them from flying away, but relented at the urging of onlookers. When he did, thunder rumbled, the clouds gathered, and the dragons lept into the sky (Chinese Readers' Guild, n.d.).
At events, monks or important guests will do the honour of performing the ceremony. Watch it in action:
References
Alexa Crawls. (2011, August 28). Hidden meanings in the southern cantonese lion dance costume. Wayback Machine. https://web.archive.org/web/20110828021348/http://chineseliondancers.webs.com/Hidden_Meanings.htm
Beyond the Dance 2013. (2013, June 11). The design of the lion.https://beyondthedance2013.wordpress.com/the-design-of-the-lion/
Chinese Readers' Guild. (n.d.) Chinese idiom story: Hua long dian jing. https://www.chinesereadersguild.com/chinese-idiom-story-hua-long-dian-jing/
slfk. (2013, December 21). Nan shi de zhong lei[Types of Southern Lion]. Blogger. http://slfk123hotmailcom.blogspot.com/2011/10/blog-post_7381.html
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