TO some Chinese Christians, Christian faith and Chinese culture are two different cognitive setups. Hence church celebrations and Chinese Lion Dances lead to the problem of the intersection of faith and culture.

The origins of the Lion Dance
Opinions about the origins of the Lion Dance are widely divided, basically the three main categories are:

(i) Folklores – Ancient myth told that there were mythical creatures called “年” and the make-believe lions were to scare away “年”; or that Cangzhou was infested with wolf packs, and heaven sent lions to wipe out the wolves.

(ii) Historical legends –Meng Kang of the Wei Kingdom during the Three Kingdoms Period explained that “mime people” were artists who dressed up as fish, prawn and lion (written as 师 then). This shows that by the Three Kingdoms Period there were Lion Dances. The word 狮 (lion) was first written as “师”, and is the transliteration of an Indian or Iranian speaking tribes’ word. The Lion is not native to China. The earliest lions imported into China were Asian lions from South Asia and West Asia and not African lions.

(iii) Buddhist ceremonial acts – There were sayings that in Buddhism, the lion seat was treated as the seat of the Buddha depicting the mightiness of the Buddha with the ability to make devils yield. It was also said that the Buddha’s act of delivering all beings from torment was regarded as the “lion’s game”. However some suggested that this was a misunderstanding caused by literal translation because there was no “Lion Dance” in India or in Buddhism.

Of the above three categories of arguments, the second category can be the starting point for study on the subject. During the Han Dynasty, the Silk Road brought about cultural and economic exchange between China and countries of the Western Region .This caused unintentional intersection of religion with things that were foreign to China. It was by this coincidence that lions appeared in China. If there were no lions in ancient China, then the image of the lion and the skills of the Lion Dance must have been imagery created by people or by the authorities in a later age.

The purpose of the Lion Dance
As the Lion Dance is an inconclusive cultural expression, any speculations can just be glorious views, opinions or authoritative expression.

Deriving from the opinions of the origin of Lion Dance, Xiao Haiming believes that the Lion Dance is in fact a mask culture having the special characteristics of exorcising evil spirits and stopping epidemics. At the same time he also believes that the Lion Dance is a combination product of lion worship in the Western countries and Chinese ancient “nuo” dance for driving away evil spirits, disease and evil influences, and also to petition for blessings from the gods.

If we look from the perspective of “leading by example”, we are certain that the image of the Chinese lion originated from a tribute to authority or a foreign product. The Lion Dance was one type of entertainment for the upper class of that age; Strictly speaking this could just be the action of the animal trainer training the lion
or playing with the lion in a circus. So originally this was just “A dance for entertainment in the palace, which became popular among the people, in order to enhance social relationships and as a form of exercise. Before the Qing Dynasty the Lion Dance was a form of dance, during the Qing Dynasty it gradually combined with martial arts, thus it was an edutainment.”

The ordinary people mimicked dance from the upper society and hence Lion Dances became popular customary activities.

Church’s standpoint
If the Lion Dance is related to Buddhist liturgy, can Christians perform it?

If the Lion Dance is related to driving away evil spirits, disease and evil influences, can Christians take part in it?

If the Lion Dance is related to folk culture, how is the Church going to deal with it?

The problem is that we are uncertain what the Lion Dance is associated with.

The Lion Dance Troupe that we see today carries a given precept that it belongs to temple culture and folk belief activities. This is non-Christian cultural cognition and taking part or organizing these can be viewed as committing a taboo in the Christian faith. So why don’t we ask ourselves, doesn’t the “Hymn of Universal Praise” contain Buddhism’s choice of words too? Aren’t some of the Chinese terms or phrases actually terms used in Taoism and Buddhism? (eg: 想入非非to indulge in fantasy, 三生 有幸be fortunate in three lifetimes， 当头棒喝waking up by sharp advice, and etc)?

If we claim “Christians cannot use items that other religions have used” as the logic for deduction, then Christians cannot eat food produced by non-Christians. Christians also cannot say or use words or phrases that non-Christians have said or used. If that is the case, aren’t Christians limiting God’s “holiness”? Won’t Christians find that the availability of resources is getting less and less though they live in the world of the Father?

Christians must believe that God is the omnipotent God of this universe, all things, holy and profane, belong to Him. It is only in Him that one can see the holy process of “consecration”. At the same time Christians should not let culture be tied down by some senseless values, instead we should take up the challenge to redeem and to renew culture.

While the teaching “Everything is permissible, but not everything is helpful” holds true, a Christian should not be a dogmatized Christian, nor be one under a Western theological system. As a Christian one should be able to reflect upon one’s own situation in the context of one’s own theology and thus seek core values of the Christian faith in truth.

Charles H. Kraft argues that in “Godabove- but-through-Culture”, a Christian should be open-minded in facing different cultures, in knowing different traditions and in creating a new situation of culture and faith.

The Lion Dance can be given a new meaning in the Church celebrations as well as in Chinese festival celebrations, in the same way as you and I are new creations in Christ.

Written by Rev Wong King Sing
(Lecturer of Methodist Theological
School, Sibu)
Translated by KT Chew