Lion Dance

Ⅲ-5Traditional DanceTeng, GuangxiBatch 3 (2011)Extension Item

01 · Historical Records

Teng County lion dance belongs to the southern lion, or waking lion, system and shares its origins with the waking lion technique of the Pearl River Delta in Guangdong. Teng County lies in southeastern Guangxi, with the Xun River running across its territory; from ancient times it was a key water-route staging point between Guangdong and Guangxi, and since the Ming and Qing dynasties martial arts halls and waking lion artists from Guangdong have travelled along the Xijiang River to Teng County to open schools and teach, exchanging and blending with local lion troupes over a long period, gradually forming a lion dance tradition that combines the Guangdong and Hong Kong waking lion format with local Teng County character. According to the archives of the Teng County Cultural Centre, by the mid-to-late twentieth century a transmission group centred on the lion troupes of the Xuanzhou area had already formed locally, and Teng County has long been known as the 'hometown of lion dancing'. Most lion dance artists also practise martial arts; lion troupes are organised by village, clan or martial arts hall, and appear at the Spring Festival, on temple deity birthdays, at temple fairs and on celebratory occasions such as openings and weddings, with a full set of ritual procedures such as consecration and dotting the eyes of the lion, inviting the lion and retiring the lion. The greens-picking procedure of the lion dance proceeds layer by layer through the process in which the lion seeks the greens, is startled by them, tests them and eats them. The ground-level greens-picking lion completes the whole greens-picking sequence on the ground, while the high-pole lion bounds about on pole arrays of varying heights; the two lines each have their own lineage and often display their skills on the same stage at competitions.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

Teng County lion dance is widely transmitted in Teng County of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Teng County lies in southeastern Guangxi, adjoining Cangwu to the east, Rong County to the south, Pingnan to the west and Mengshan to the north, measuring 86 kilometres from east to west and 112 kilometres from north to south, with a total land area of 3,946 square kilometres. The area has long enjoyed the fine name 'hometown of lion dancing'. Teng County lion dance is divided into two types: the 'greens-picking lion', which concentrates on ground-level technique, and the 'high-pole lion', which concentrates on pole technique.

Cai Qing lion

The ground-skills branch of Tengxian lion dance, built around the full cai qing sequence in which head and tail players work through seeking, startling, testing and taking the greens.

High-pole lion

The pole-top branch, danced on a field of poles of uneven height, where the tail player braces the head player by waist and leg power and both must move as one.

The signature stunts of Tengxian lion dance

A set of high-difficulty feats created by Deng Minghua, blending martial arts, acrobatics, gymnastics and dance, which became the hallmark of Tengxian pole-top lion dance.

The Xuanzhou lion troupe and Deng Minghua

Deng Minghua, born in Tengxian in June 1941, founded the Xuanzhou troupe; his many disciples, some now national-level lion-dance judges and coaches, carry on the art.

The Genting World Lion Dance Championship

An international lion-dance contest held in Malaysia; Deng Minghua led his troupe to first place at the sixth edition in 2004.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

Whether the greens-picking lion or the high-pole lion, each has its own distinctive style in terms of performance form, and both are loved by the local people.

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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

Deng Minghua (recorded in the official archive of associated inheritors): male, Han Chinese, born in June 1941, a native of Teng County, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. He afterwards organised the Xuanzhou lion troupe. He kept exploring the form, movements and psychology of the lion, and independently created a full set of distinctive high-difficulty Teng County lion dance movements that integrate martial arts, acrobatics, gymnastics and dance; feats such as the full split leg over a steel wire, picking the greens from a pole suspended by the lion's tail, and two lions ascending a high pole are nothing short of marvellous. He has led lion troupes many times to major lion dance competitions at home and abroad, achieving excellent results each time. He has taken on many disciples, who are spread across the country, and many of them have become national-level lion dance judges or coaches. Representative inheritor of the fifth national-level intangible cultural heritage project Lion Dance (Teng County Lion Dance). In 2004 he won first prize at the sixth Genting World Lion King Championship in Malaysia.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗

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