Dragon & Lion DanceYong Chun Senior High School, Taipei, TaiwanTeacher: Chen, Qiuhao

Trillium Learning Global 21st Century Schools Project

It has two parts of its origin…

One is the dragon, the other is the Nian Monster which was thought to be a lion.

Origin 1Dragons are the guardian of the “Water.”

When people experienced a drought, the wizard would dance to pray for the rain.

DragonDragon

Mouth

eye

Tail

Origin 2

1. It didn’t harm people and their livestock

2. It always made sounds like ”Nian~Nian.”

3. To sum up, people called it “Nian Monster.”

The word is pronounced ”Nian.”

Nian Monster’s profile :

Origin 2

People considered “Nian Monster” as an angel from the heaven.

The weapons were only used to scare it away.

NOW

To make them not so scary, we use many kinds of shape to deliver the image of “Nian Monster.”

NOWDancingDragon and Lion Dance.

NOWAdults also play very well to keep the bad things away.

NOWThey are often made in cute shape with dolls in order to let the kids know and even to accept the culture. That is because the kids will be scared if they look too scary.

Thanks for your patience.