THE LION DANCE

The lion dance is usually grouped into two styles: Northern and Southern. 

Historically, the Northern dance was used as entertainment for the imperial court. The northern lion is normally red, orange, and yellow, shaggy in appearance, with a golden head. The northern dance is more acrobatic and sometimes include dangerous stunts.

Western society is most familiar with the Southern lion dance. The Southern dance is more symbolic as it is usually performed as a ceremony to summon luck and fortune. The southern lion has a variety of colour, has a significant head with large eyes and a single horn at centre of the head.

During the Chinese New Year, lion dancers from martial arts schools would visit houses and store fronts of businesses. 

Businesses would tie lucky red envelopes filled with money to heads of lettuce and hang them above the front door. The lion would initially consume the lettuce but would then spit out the leaves and not the money. Some say the symbolism behind the lettuce ripping is to spread luck. This is because the pronunciation of lettuce and luck in Chinese (Choy) are puns of each other. The lettuce symbolizes luck; when the lion rips the lettuce and throws it back, it is spreading luck to all around.