Lion dance is a traditional folk sports activity in China, which originated in the Southern and Northern Dynasties. Whenever "firecrackers kill the old year", on the vast land of our country, traditional lion dance activities appear in towns and villages with warm spring breeze and cheerful gongs and drums. For the annual Spring Festival, it adds a rich atmosphere of joy.
Lion dance is a traditional folk sports activity in China, which originated in the Southern and Northern Dynasties. It is said that in May of the 23rd year of Yuanjia in Song Wendi, the secretariat of Jiaozhou in the Song Dynasty was ordered to attack Lin Yi, and Wang Fanyang of Lin Yi also took part in the war with elephant troops. Because this elephant soldier rode on the back of a tall elephant with a spear, it was difficult for enemies with only short weapons to get close to it, and the soldiers in Song Jun began to suffer a big loss.
Later, Zong Yi, a pioneer officer and general Zhenwu, came up with an idea. He said that all animals are afraid of lions, and elephants may be no exception. As a result, many fake lions are made of noodles and hemp overnight, painted in colorful colors, and their mouths are particularly wide open. Each "lion" was covered by two soldiers and hidden in the grass. He also dug many deep and big traps around the scheduled battlefield. The enemy drove the elephant army to attack, and Zong Yi released the fake lion with a bow. One by one, the "lions" turned their mouths and headed for the elephants.
The elephant turned around in horror, and Zong Yi took the opportunity to order the soldiers to put all the crossbows together. The frightened elephants immediately ran around desperately, many of them fell into traps, and both people and elephants were captured alive. ..... From then on, lion dance was first popular in the army, and then spread to the people. Bai Juyi, a poet in the Tang Dynasty, wrote "Missions to the Western Regions", including "Masked Man Zi and Masked Lion, carved with wood as the head and tail; Gold-plated eyes with silver teeth, rising sweaters with ears ... ". It can be seen that there was a modern lion dance in the Tang Dynasty.