Zhao Weibin

01 · Lineage & Regional School

Zhao Weibin, Male, Han, from Guangzhou, Guangdong, is a sixth-batch national representative bearer of Lion Dance (Ⅲ-5). The tradition is documented in Guangzhou, Guangdong. Within the regional tradition and school record of Lion Dance in Guangzhou, Guangdong: It is now transmitted among Guangdong, Guangxi and the overseas Chinese of Southeast Asian countries; within Guangdong it is distributed mainly in counties and cities such as Foshan, Suixi and Guangzhou. It grew out of the court lion dance of the Tang dynasty; after the Five Dynasties and the Ten Kingdoms, as migrants from the Central Plains moved south, the culture of the lion dance was carried into the Lingnan region. During the Ming dynasty the Xing lion appeared in Guangdong, originating in Nanhai County. Since the 1980s, almost every village has had its own Xing lion team. Throughout the four seasons the sound of gongs and drums rings out at opening celebrations, and at New Year and other festivals the lion teams take to the streets to pluck the greens and tour in procession.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

The bearer record for Zhao Weibin is anchored in the documented technical standards of Lion Dance in Guangzhou, Guangdong. Within the documented technical tradition of Lion Dance in Guangzhou, Guangdong: The lion dance, also called “shizi wu”, “lion lantern”, “wuxi” or “playing the lion”, is performed mostly at New Year and other celebratory occasions. In the minds of all the peoples of China the lion is an auspicious beast symbolizing good fortune and the fulfilment of wishes, so lion dancing carries the people's hope of warding off disaster and harm and of seeking good fortune and blessings. The lion dance has a distant history; the “elephant men” recorded in the “Treatise on Rites and Music” of the Book of Han were its predecessor, and Tang and Song poems and prose contain many vivid descriptions of lion dancing. Surviving lion dances fall into two great categories, the southern lion and the northern lion. The southern lion features many difficult and demanding martial techniques and looks vigorous and fierce; the northern lion is naive and charming and takes playful romping as its main content. Because the materials and binding methods used for the lion head differ, lion dances of many kinds abound in each locality, glittering in their variety. The Xing lion belongs to the southern lion of the Chinese lion dance. The Xing lion is a cultural activity that integrates martial arts, dance and music and the like. During the performance, as gongs and drums are beaten, the lion dancers first strike a set of southern boxing blows, which is called “opening the posts”; then two persons play the part of a single lion and dance it, while another, wearing a smiling “big-headed Buddha” mask and holding a large palm-leaf fan, leads the lion onto the stage. The movements of the lion dancers are based mainly on the horse stance of southern boxing, and the movements of the lion include “opening the eyes”, “washing the whiskers”, “licking the body” and “shaking the fur”. The main routines include “plucking the greens”, “drinking at a high platform”, “the lion spits the ball” and “treading plum-blossom stakes”. Among them, “plucking the greens” is the essence of the Xing lion. It has stages of opening, continuation, turn and conclusion, and possesses dramatic and narrative qualities. “Plucking the greens” has undergone many changes, giving rise to a variety of routines that circulate widely. In performance, the Suixi Xing lion developed gradually from the traditional ground lion to the bench lion, from the bench lion to the high-platform lion and the tall-pole lion, and from the tall-pole lion to the stake lion. The difficulty of the stake lion also kept increasing, with the addition of performance types such as tightrope walking and airborne leaps. The tallest stake approaches 3 metres and the largest span reaches 3.7 metres, fully embodying the characteristics of “new, high, difficult and dangerous”; it is acclaimed as “a unique wonder of China”. The characteristic styling of the props of the Shakeng Xing lion of Guangzhou City is this: the lion head has a high, narrow forehead, large eyes that can turn, a broad mouth traced with lines, a broad back, a flattened nose and full cheeks, and teeth that can be either hidden or revealed. Performance is divided into three major categories: the civil lion, the lion dance and the few-lion form. Through such high-difficulty movements as springing, shifting, dodging, pouncing, spinning and leaping, on the ground or over the array of stakes, the performance renders the lion's eight states of joy, anger, sorrow, happiness, movement, stillness, fright and suspicion, expressing the lion's ferocity and vigour. Since ancient times the Guangdong Xing lion has been regarded as an auspicious beast that wards off evil and harm; at every festival or major activity the Xing lion is bound to appear to add zest, and it has flourished without decline, passed down through the generations. The popularisation of lion arts among the masses in the towns and villages has also been unprecedented. The Guangdong Xing lion has become a nationally known folk dance brand peculiar to Guangdong. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "The Shaken lion head": The Shaken lion's head has a high narrow brow, large movable eyes, a wide mouth with brush, a broad back, a flat nose and full cheeks, teeth that appear and hide. "Civil, martial and young lions": The three categories of southern lion: the civil emphasising expression, the martial emphasising hard technique, and the young lion performed by a single dancer. "The lion's eight states": Through leaping, shifting, flashing, pouncing, wheeling and vaulting on ground or stakes the lion enacts joy, anger, sorrow, delight, motion, stillness, alarm and doubt. "The core actions": The core vocabulary of the southern lion, taken directly from southern boxing footwork and martial body technique.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

In 2025, Zhao Weibin was announced in the sixth batch of national representative bearers for Lion Dance, with Guangzhou, Guangdong as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Lion Dance in Guangzhou, Guangdong: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2006 (batch 1), with Guangzhou, Guangdong as its declared area, and Guangzhou Panyuqushawan Culture Chuanbo Co., Ltd. as its safeguarding unit. Since the project was inscribed in the national inventory, its declared area and safeguarding unit have carried out documentation, transmission and presentation within the national safeguarding framework. Together, the inventory record and the project archive form the public documentary basis for the bearer’s transmission practice.

04 · Associated Heritage Item Dossier

05 · Fellow National Bearers Lineage

National representative bearers recorded under the same item code, ordered from the first to the sixth batch. Batch order is not a teacher–student relationship.

06 · Archival Sources & Bibliography

1. Zhaoweibin (Guangzhou, Guangdong) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Zhaoweibin · China ICH Official Archive