Cross-century, Together with the Lions Journey: A Case Study of Lion Dance Practice in Wuzhou, Tengxian Secondary School

Abstract

As a traditional Chinese folk art that often appears during important festivals or commercial activities, the cultural value and influence of the lion dance is very far-reaching. In the past 20 years, with the rapid development of society, the protection and inheritance of traditional Chinese culture have become a top priority on the road to preserving historical memory, and the lion dance culture popular in southern China and Southeast Asia, like many other traditional Chinese cultures, is facing the challenge of how to continue passing on. By reviewing the materials, this study learned that there is a lion dance cultural hall in Wuzhou, Guangxi, which has a history of nearly 200 years - Bilin Tang, which has received the support of the Wuzhou Municipal Government to deliberately establish the first professional lion dance major in the Tengxian Secondary School. Out of a desire to gain a clearer understanding of the current status of the preservation and inheritance of this traditional Chinese culture, the author finally contacted Mr. Zhong Dao Ren, the current director of Bilin Tang, and with his support, the author went to Tengxian Secondary School to interview in person. The author communicated with Mr. Deng and the students of the lion dance troupe and obtained a lot of valuable information and materials. Meanwhile, the author conducted more in-depth research under the guidance of Professor Bradd Shore at Emory University, resulting in this paper. The inheritance of the lion dance culture encounters not only the problems of funding, government support, and motivation for an inheritance but also the problem of how to make the inheritance of traditional Chinese culture and the development of the trend of the times mutually integrate into the current social context. To avoid the extinction of traditional Chinese folk art like the Southern Lion culture, it is necessary to attract more attention and resonate the interest of young people in such culture. Only the organic integration of traditional culture with modern elements can be an effective means for the long-term survival of traditional Chinese culture.