Shaolin Lohan Pai Lion Dance Troupe 少林羅漢派舞狮班

Lion & Dragon Dances for St. Louis, Kansas City, Springfield, Rolla MO and the entire Midwest!

Taipei (Taiwanese) Lion:


                                                    


The green-faced lion with lance-shaped brows lion represents a ferocious, cruel and almost unbeatable variety of the lion species.  It signifies the Manchu Government during the Ching Dynasty.  Fighting the lion meant combating the Manchus.  This particular lion was first thought-up by the patriotic Chinese of the Ming Dynasty who were determined to overthrow the Manchurian rule.  The green faced lion, as the term applies has a green face coupled with projecting teeth, presents a dreadful appearance.

 

This lion illustrates how inhumane the Manchu reign was at that time.  At too many massacres, there were thousands of Chinese murdered without any cause until their blood literally saturated the rivers.  The Chinese, to release their heart-felt hatred, thus invented the green-faced lion dance.

 

The lance-shaped brows of the green-faced lion was made of twin steel swords each measuring 1 foot 6 inches in length, the "beard" was short and black, the mouth closed showing only projecting teeth, and a body length at times measuring 18 feet, to conceal weapons and men.  The tail end of the lion must be coordinated with the lion head during the dance.  Therefore, only men with high dexterity and skill are able to perform the dance properly.

 

Another story about this lion is that after the fall of the “Ching Dynasty”, the idealism of “Dr. Sun Yat Sen” became realized.  During this period, “Grandmaster Kan Teck Guan” gathered a group of experts in Shaolin Wuzuquan at the Chuan District Hockkien Province to hold lion dances and to explain the initial meaning of such dances.  Overwhelming the green lion means overthrowing the Ching Dynasty.  Consequently, they also demonstrated skinning the lion, dissecting the abdomen of the lion, chopping the lion limbs, extracting the intestine, preying on the flesh and consuming the lion blood.  Since the ultimate objective had been attained such green-faced lions are no more in existence.  However, “The Republic of China (Taiwan)” has only recently achieved recognition of their ‘Independence’ from the “People’s Republic of China” across the free-world.  Realizing the growing tensions between this tiny island and their ‘mainland brothers’, the people of Taiwan have used the green-faced lion to represent their fight for independence.

 

The green-faced white brow lion represents an elderly lion with white eyebrows, long beard and open mouth.  This lion is used in ceremonies during the festive seasons and for house to house visit in villages during such occasions. This lion dance is believed to bring luck and prosperity, to drive off devils and spirits, and to bring peace and good harvests to the people.

        
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