In my last post I wrote of how measures to obviate Nian’s attack become incorporated into our customs and practices during New Year, so much so that most are unaware of the painful origin of them all. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, as it serves little purpose to inflict these memories of suffering on the modern generation. So it came as no surprise that our ancients seeking to keep Nian on our mind would transform the much dredged beast into a more palatable form.

stone_lionThere are no detailed description of  Nian [年兽], presumably because no one ever survived an encounter with the beast. So the ancient conjured up a creature that is a direct opposite of what they knew.  So instead of a beast of ill fortune, it becomes a harbinger of great fortune.  Instead of living in remote seclusion and invade our habitat come spring time, it now hibernates in our midst, and comes awake to usher in the annual spring festival [春节 chun1 jie2]. In its presence, crops grow and flowers bloom. Instead of an ugly and ferocious beast, it’s a big, athletic cat with a collar bestowed with bells and plums, implying that it’s somewhat domesticated.

lion_dance2By now you would, no doubt, have guessed what I am describing. Yes, I am talking about the Chinese lion [醒獅 xing3 shi1].  A point of clarification though: As the lion is not native to China, it is unknown to ancient Chinese. Thus the Chinese lion that is being spoken of here is also a mythical animal, quite different from the big cats that roam the plains in Africa. In fact, when the Ming court officials first set eyes on a live lion that Admiral Cheng Ho [镇和] brought back from Africa,  they coined the term 獅子 (little Shi or offspring of Shi) to refer to lion, believing lions are really 獅 in the flesh. (They also believed that giraffes are 麒麟 [qi2 lin2 Chinese unicorns], but that’s another story).

To bring the mythical lion to everyday life, the people carved stone lions to keep watch over entrenches of important buildingslion_dance.  But the most common appearance is the lion dance. In this, the beast is portrayed as a benign and playful creature awakening from a long slumber. And to be absolutely certain that it’s harmless, the dancing lion [舞狮 wu3 shi1] is made a herbivore. So instead of hunting for preys, it scale tall poles to plug greens [采青 cai3 qing1] strung up high (with hidden red packets). The dancing lion is so loved that it is easy to  overlook its origin. But if you pay attention to the head, you will notice that it has retained a distinctive feature of Nian, its horn.