CultureTV's video: Chinese Lions Eating Money: Lunar New Year in the 2021 Red Envelopes with Checks Not Cash shorts

_dance is a form of traditional dance in Chinese culture and other Asian countries in which performers mimic a lion's movements in a lion costume to bring good luck and fortune. The lion dance is usually performed during the Chinese New Year and other Chinese , and . The lion dance has been part of the Chinese culture for thousands of years and is performed on auspicious occasions. It may also be performed at important occasions such as business opening events, special celebrations or wedding ceremonies, or may be used to honour special guests by the Chinese communities. The _lion dance is normally operated by two dancers, one of whom manipulates the head while the other forms the rear end of the lion. It is distinguishable from the dragon dance which is performed by many people who hold the long sinuous body of the dragon on poles. Chinese lion dance fundamental movements can be found in Chinese martial arts, and it is commonly performed to a vigorous drum beat. There are two main forms of the lion dance, the Northern Lion and the Southern Lion. Both forms are commonly found in China, but around the world especially in South East Asia, the Southern Lion predominates as it was spread by the Chinese diaspora communities who are historically mostly of Southern Chinese origin. Versions of lion dance related to the Chinese lion are also found in Japan, Korea, Tibet and Vietnam. Other forms of lion dance exist around the world, for example Singa Barong in Indonesian . During the Chinese New Year, lion dance troupes will visit the houses and shops of the Asian community to perform the traditional custom of "cai qing" (採青), literally meaning "plucking the greens", whereby the lion plucks the auspicious green lettuce either hung on a pole or placed on a table in front of the premises. The "greens" (qing) is tied together with a "red envelope" containing money and may also include auspicious fruit like oranges. In Chinese cǎi (採, pluck) also sounds like cài (菜, meaning vegetable) and cái (财, meaning fortune). The "lion" will dance and approach the "green" and "red envelope" like a curious cat, to "eat the green" and "spit" it out but keep the "red envelope" which is the reward for the lion troupe. The lion dance is believed to bring good luck and fortune to the business. Different types of vegetables, fruits, foods or utensils with auspicious and good symbolic meanings; for instance pineapples, pomelos, bananas, oranges, sugar cane shoots, coconuts, beer, clay pots or even crabs can be used to be the "greens" (青) to be "plucked" to give different difficulty and challenge for the lion dance performers. But the difficulties of the challenge should come with the bigger the rewards of the "red envelope" given. These events became a public challenge. A large sum of money was rewarded, and the audience expected a good show. The lions had to fight with stylistic lion moves instead of chaotic street fighting styles. The audience would judge the quality of the martial art schools according to how the lions fought. Since the schools' reputations were at stake, the fights were usually fierce but civilized. The winner lion would then use creative methods and martial art skills to reach the high-hanging reward. Some lions may dance on bamboo stilts and some may step on human pyramids formed by fellow students of the school. Eating the lettuce ceremony (Choy Cheng) In traditional lion dance performances, the team gets its payment through money in a red envelope (Lai Si, Mandarin Hong Bao) that’s tied up to a lettuce or suitable green vegetable. The lettuce is then hung up at the top of the doorpost, or in other hard-to-reach places. The climax of the performance is the lion “eating” the lettuce. After “spotting” the lettuce, the lion performs three inspections on it. The first time, it carefully touches it and jumps away, cautious about what it is. The second time, it approaches it from the other side and smells it, retreating once again. Finally it makes up its mind and comes forward with determination to eat it. If the lettuce is in a hard to reach place, this last approach can involve an acrobatic trick, such as the lion’s head jumping on shoulders, or the lion jumping on benches. There may also be “obstacles” the lion must pass through or neutralise before it can access the lettuce. Once the lettuce is in the lion’s mouth, it swallows a bit (once on each side), then spits a small amount (also once on each side) towards the spectators — this is considered good luck. The lion then turns towards the door and spits out the majority of the lettuce, kicking it while in the air. The lettuce shatters and goes over the doorstop and inside the building again this is considered good luck. Dance Routines ’s walk New Year ceremony Chinese: #舞獅 simplified Chinese: #舞狮 ǔshī envelope