"Zombie Lion" dance & dragon parade during Chinese Lantern festival
Tour Description
D1 Drive to Huangpi- the country side from Wuhan downtown(appro 1.5hr), because it's sstill in the spring festival holiday , the event will be start in the afternoon in some villages, but most of the village will do it after dinner. Drive back to Wuhan in the evening.
ONLY last for 4 days every year.
"Zombie Lion" activity
It was a lively and bustling scene with loud fire crackers, fireworks
sparkling in the sky, and crowds of people watching the Lion show with
music from drums and gongs. The "Zombie Lion", a local custom that
originated from the Tang dynasty (618-917), is played nightly from 1-2
days before to 1-2 days after the lantern festival. It is a very
mysterious activity of sacrifice. The "roler" [I cannot find this word
in the dictionary. Maybe you can define it in the text.], the person
who takes on the role of the sacrificed, performs the ritual ceremony
at the altar table, where he smells the smoke of the incense and burns
the yellow sign paper. Then he enters a trance and goes into a crazy
state. Despite the chilly winter weather, the "rolers" are usually
naked from the waist up while they dance misty-eyed under the lion's
coat. The "rolers" will visit every family, and the family will set
fireworks and firecrackers to welcome them. Usually it's the header's
home [I am confused. The rolers visit only the header's home or visit
every family's home?]. The "header" is the person who arranges this
activity. The header is selected in turn each year from among the
possible headers of which there are currently 8. This village of 140
households is named Peng jia gang or Peng's family because everyone
here has the surname Peng. We interviewed a 59-year-old roler who
started when he was in his 20s. It is said that this role is not
arranged by the people but by the heavens. But how do people know who
will be a roler? A potential roler is one who is normally a strong
man, but who has trouble eating and sleeping during the New Year
holidays. After playing the lion he will be normal again. It is
claimed that there was a roler who recovered even though the hospital
told his family that his condition was incurable. Although these
stories are based on superstition, the tradition remains year after
year. However, this tradition is slowly disappearing because the
younger generation no longer believe the stories, so they are
unwilling to continue the traditions.
