As China gains more and more attention from the world, the traditional Chinese art becomes more and more attractive. The dragon and lion dance is among the most unique Chinese art forms. Many foreign friends would think that the dragon and lion dance always appears together; in fact, there are big differences between the “dragon” and the “lion”, including their dances.

The dragon dance is a traditional Chinese custom. When there is a festival, especially during the spring festival, people all over China will do the dragon dance to express their hope for peace and prosperity.

The origin of the dragon dance custom was the Chinese totem of dragon. Chinese people have been worshiping the dragon since ancient time. However, the dragon does not really exist. We can see that a dragon has a deer’s antlers, a horse’s head, an ox’s ears, a snake’s body, a fish’s scales, an eagle’s talon and a tiger’s soles. In fact, the image of the dragon was the combination of animals with power and good auspice, thus it became a sacry beast in the mind of Chinese people.

In the feudal society, the dragon was a symbol of imperial power. The emperor was called “the Son of Heaven” and “A Real Dragon”. There were dragons on the emperor’s clothes and chairs. His body and expressions are all those of a dragon. The dragon’s symbolic meanings showed that it was a perfect and authoritative image in Chinese people’s mind. However, the dragon belonged not only to the emperors. From the beginning of its appearance, the dragon has been the totem for all Chinese people. It symbolized their seeking for peace, justice and self-empowerment.

Chinese people consider themselves as “descendants of the dragon”. Therefore, they worship, respect and love the dragon. They have held different kinds of ceremonies to worship the beast, which has generated the dragon boat competitions, the dragon lantern display, and the dragon dance, etc.

The dragon dance skills and set forms are not complicated. There is no fixed set form besides a few set movements. The dancers can design their movements according to their own understandings. There is no fixed rule. Therefore, everyone can be a dragon dancer, and express himself through the dance.

The flexibility of the dragon dance makes it an activity for men and women, old and young. Moreover, its mobility, and requiring for team work makes it a very popular sport in China. According to some statistics, there are tens of millions of people in China join the dragon dance every year.

In the westerners’ mind, dragons are vicious and terrifying. However, Chinese people consider the dragon as a symbol of power. It can beat down the vicious beasts and terrifying monsters that endangers the human kind. It is a god of peace and stability. Through different kinds of dragon dances, Chinese people express their wishes for happiness and fortune. Thus the dragon dance has been popular in China for thousands of years.

The lion dance always appears with the dragon dance in celebrations as a wish for peace and prosperity. However, unlike the dragon dance, the lion dance is not for everyone to join in. It requires high skills of the dancers. One can not be a good lion dancer without long-time training and practice.

The lion is not a totem of Chinese people. It is even not a Chinese animal. The lion came to China with the spread of Buddhism. Buddhism was born in India, and the lion’s hometown was there, too. Legend has it that the Gotama Buddha had the voice of a lion when he explained the sutra to his disciples. So the lion is a sacred beast of Buddhism. As time goes by, Buddhism declined in its birthplace, but it has become part of Chinese culture by combining with the local customs. The sacred lion of Buddhism has become another god of peace and stability for Chinese people.

The same as the dragon dance, the lion dance was a religious activity in the beginning. However, it lost its religious features as time goes by, becoming a common entertainment and sport.

There are two kinds of Chinese lion dance, that in the north and the south. The northern lion dance focuses on flexibility, likeness, and has many difficult movements. The southern lion dance focuses on the likeness of the characteristics, and does not pay much attention to seemingly-real appearance.

The vivid Chinese dragon and lovely Chinese lion have gradually become popular all over the world. The professional Chinese dragon and lion dancers have been invited to foreign countries for many times, for either performances or lectures. The good wishes in the dragon and lion dance will become a beauty in the world’s arts through the effort of these artists and people all over China. Of course, if you want to really feel the charm of the dance and the Chinese spirit, welcome to China during the Chinese festivals.