10year anniversary Lion Dance

[David Jamieson]

Hey there KFQG staff.

As I was reading your latest article Gene about thye Gala and benefit, I noticed that the Lion Dance used white lions.
What's the story behind that?

I though white = death and therefore, not such a lucky lion.

Has there been a new surge towards using whatever kind of Lion in new lion dancing?

I thought that the breakdown for Lion Dance types was based on the immortals and their qualities i.e

Green and Black is Chang Fei Lion, feisty and ready to fight, representative of a school whos focus is combative arts and is trying to establish itself in a community.

Red Lion is Kwan Gong Lion and is austere and dignified. Used by schools who are established and promote martial arts from an larger perspective than just the combatives aspects.

Yellow/Gold Lion is Lao Bei and representative of an already established school that has significant roots in the martial community. This lion is considered very lucky in it's Gold form and is used for blessing businesses, associations or public places.

Rainbow lion - also often times Lao Bei, but more for ceremonial purposes of a wide variety and representative of all emotions and elements that could be attributed to a given event whether auspicious or just for fun.

Other Lions of recent years are quite different with everything from pink to chartreuse coloring, sometimes for representing female teams and sometimes just for competition shows.

But the White Lion was interesting to see because of the cultural aspect of the colour white in China which is "death".

So, why the white lions?

just curious.
Peace

[Ryan]

Interesting post...I just started learning how to be the butt of the lion...it'll be neat to see what people say.

[illusionfist]

Good question Kung Lek. I saw that and wondered the same thing. The only time i've seen a white lion used was in the Genting tourney in Malaysia, but it had a lot of different colored trim, so it kind muffled out the abundance of white. Still looked weird to me though.

Peace

[Gold Horse Dragon]

Those are Silver Lions and okay to use...notice the colors on the face. Also some have used a 'Snow' Lion which has a faint tint of blue in it. A White Lion is ALL white...everywhere.

GHD