The Lion Dance is one the first things that come to mind when speaking of Chinese New Year. However, Lion Dances are not just performed during New Year celebrations, but also for various auspicious events, such as weddings, birthdays, and business openings.
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| The Beginner's Guide to Chinese Lion Dance by Tumblr user irenydraws |
Lion imagery entered China during the Han dynasty through gifts of actual animals brought to the imperial court by emissaries from Persian and Central Asian states, and images of Manjushri Bodhisattva riding a lion which came with the spread of Buddhism.
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| Manjushri Bodhisattva The Met 15.95.154 |
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| 19th C. New Year's print (年画图片) |
At some point (perhaps around the Three Kingdoms period), lions were introduced into Nuo Dance (傩戏) which were performed to exorcise evil influences.
The earliest image I could find comes from a Song dynasty painting of the popular Hundred Children Playing motif.
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| One Hundred Children Playing in Spring (百子嬉春图页) – Su Hanchen (苏汉臣) |
The theme was used for many types of media, including decorative ceramics.
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| Children at Play (婴戏图) |
Similar dances spread throughout Asia with the spread of Chinese culture and diaspora. Lion Dances can be found in Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Korea, and Japan.
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| Children Performing a Lion Dance at a Festival – Suzuki Harunobu, 1760 |
There are no 1/72 lion dancers, but some limited edition 1/64 figures were released by M&J Toys as MiJo Exclusives from American Diorama.
I think the sets were released around the time of the actual Chinese New Year last month, but I didn't get my sets until today.
Set 1 includes a drummer, a drum, a lion head/mask, and a lion.
Set 2 includes a dancer/Big Head Buddha (大頭佛), a Buddha/clown mask, a lion head/mask, and a rearing lion.
The two lions are both of the southern style and adequately painted. The figures are definitely tall for 1/72 scale figures, but I think they can still fit in without too much notice.
The Buddha mask can be placed on the dancer to become a Dai Tou Fut. However, what really surprised me was that all the pieces are made of metal.
Each set also came with a sheet of small round white stickers, but I'm not really clear on what they are for.
4 comments:
by the way, do you already know the new boardgame called "Fantasy Commander"?
It contains many 1/72 miniatures and i'm thinking about buying it just for the minis
Hi Jimmy,
Thanks for the heads up. I'm familiar with Signum from their 3D models, and knew about Fantasy Commander, but didn't realize the figures were 1/72 scale. I myself have bought many games just for the figures, and have been trying to figure out what to do with the rest of game pieces for the longest time...
Are the stickers small pads to protect furniture from the metal scratching?
H
Hi Hugh,
I suppose it's possible they are protective pads, but who knows...
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