Lion Dance
01 · Historical Records
In the early twentieth century, Huang Liansheng of Shangchuan, following the tradition, created the waking lion dance.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The Shangchuan Huang Liansheng Waking Lion Dance is a folk dance handed down through generations in Bao'an District, Shenzhen City, Guangdong Province. The performance of the Shangchuan Huang Liansheng Waking Lion Dance includes two parts, martial arts leading the way and the lion dance itself, and it has two modes of performance, the plaza mode and the formation-breaking mode. Plaza performance includes level ground, platforms, high poles and tall poles. One person plays the big-headed Buddha and two play the lions, performing the big-headed Buddha leading the lion, the lion emerging from the cave and picking the greens. Among these, probing the water from a high platform, tumbling on a high platform, snatching firecrackers and kicking firecrackers are the remarkable skills. Formation-breaking performance includes breaking the seven-stars-accompanying-the-moon array, the crab array, the snake array, the centipede array and the like; it must follow fixed rules and procedures, and at the end it displays couplets or auspicious words. The basic steps of the Shangchuan Huang Liansheng Waking Lion Dance include the level-four walking horse step and more than twenty others; they imitate the lion's designs of lying, sitting and kowtowing, and express emotional states such as joy, anger, sorrow, happiness, movement, stillness, fright and doubt. The gong-and-drum accompaniment varies with the different parts of the lion dance performance, and includes the three-bow lion drum, the high lion drum, the low lion drum and the three-throw lion drum. The Shangchuan Huang Liansheng Waking Lion Dance involves a large number of performers on a large scale, and is thrilling and marvellous, with highly accomplished technique. It requires a high degree of mutual trust and close cooperation between the head of the lion and the tail of the lion, and it makes high technical demands in terms of strength, balance, nerve and skill. The props of Huang Liansheng's martial lion follow the traditional martial lion design; the dance movements take the Hongmen boxing style as their main body, combine the five great southern boxing styles, and incorporate his own self-created 36-point, 72-point and 108-point boxing sets into the lion dance; techniques such as climbing high, jumping, soaring and turning are highly skilful, and the style carries a marked regional character.
The Buddha leading the lion out and taking the greens
The core casting: one dancer as the big-headed Buddha and two as the lion, moving through leading the lion, leaving the cave and taking the greens.
Water-probing and rolling on the high platform, and snatching the firecracker
The troupe's signature feats within a ground, platform, pole and high-pole repertory; probing the water and rolling on a high platform, and snatching and kicking the firecracker, are the hardest.
Breaking the seven-star, crab, snake and centipede formations
The formations set for the breaking-formation show, performed strictly by rule and followed by the troupe spelling out auspicious characters or couplets.
The 36-, 72- and 108-point boxing routines
Boxing routines of 36, 72 and 108 points that Huang Liansheng created from Hongmen boxing and the five southern fists, fused into the lion dance.
Over twenty basic stances including the four-level horse stance
A stance system of more than twenty steps used with crouching, sitting and bowing poses to express joy, anger, sorrow and alarm, matched by drum patterns for different scenes.
The eight teams of Shanghe and the neighbouring communities
The eight teams developed by the Shangchuan troupe across Shanghe, Kaiping and the neighbouring Xixiang communities, with over forty core members and a thousand learners.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The Bao'an District of Shenzhen City has long had a tradition of lion dancing; at every festival, temple deity birthday or other major event, the people perform the lion dance in the hope of favourable omens and auspiciousness.
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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The communities of Shanghe and Kaiping in Xin'an Subdistrict of Bao'an District, as well as the neighbouring communities of Hedong, Hexi, Haoye, Lequn, Yantian and Chentian in Xixiang Subdistrict, are the core transmission areas of this project. The project has since been transmitted through generations in Bao'an, and spread to other places as Huang Liansheng opened a school and taught the art in Hong Kong. The project has always been handed down from generation to generation by master-disciple transmission, relying on folk lion dancing practice, and it has attracted many learners. At present the Shangchuan waking lion troupe has developed eight teams, those of Shanghe, Hedong, Hexi, Kaiping, Chentian, Yantian, Haoye and Lequn, with more than forty core members and over a thousand learners. The Shangchuan Huang Liansheng Waking Lion Dance is the product of the blending of Hakka culture, Cantonese culture, migrant culture and maritime culture; based on martial arts, centred on the art of the Lingnan lion dance and integrating many artistic forms, it is a vivid testament to the self-striving national spirit and to cultural identity in the Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao region; it stands in a class of its own among southern lion dances and possesses high historical, cultural and social value.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Wang Lizhong 02-0345
- Li Dengshan 02-0346
- Wang Yueyou 02-0347
- Li Rongzai 02-0348
- Wang Jianwen 03-0905
- Yin Shaoshan 03-0906
- Li Dazhi 03-0907
- Yang Jingwei 04-1549
- Sun Bingxiang 04-1550
- Xie Daxiang 04-1551
- Li Jintu 04-1552
- Li Daohai 04-1553
- Wen Yansen 04-1554
- Tang Shouyi 04-1555
- Liu Guoping 05-2199
- Deng Yaming 05-2200
- Huang Qintian 05-2201
- Chi Hongqing 05-2202
- Sun Shuqiang 05-2203
- Deng Minghua 05-2204
- Huang Xingliang
- Zhao Xuelin
- Li Zhongchun
- Zhao Weibin
- Li Yongmao
- Mao Yunfeng
- Huang Zhengquan
- Ma Xinjian
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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