Nam Yang's CNY 2008 Demo, Hokkien Green Lion

Nam Yang Pugilistic Association perform the Hokkien Green Lion dance for the first time in the UK. This is the first and so far only time that this rare version of the Chinese lion dance has bee performed in the UK. This is a fighting lion! In Chinese the colour green is pronounced ‘ching’ – the same as the name of the last dynasty to rule China. The green lion dance is aggressive and involves a group of warriors attacking the ‘Ching’. This symbolises the Chinese attacking their Ching rulers. The Ching were Manchurians who had conquered China and overthrown the Ming: the last truly Chinese dynasty.
This dance was performed to recruit people to the cause of taking up arms against the Ching. It was considered so dangerous to perform that anyone who did so was advised to dig their own grave first!
The lion is performed here by Stephen Keen and Jack Fenner and fights with Lawrence Pope, Axel Olsson, David Fidgett and Jack Deadfield, who use the following Shaolin weapons: tiger fork (trident), horse cutting knife, sword and shield, spear.

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