🦁According to legend, on the eve of every CNY, an unknown animal would destroy the fields, crops and animals belonging to the farmers of a village in China. The villagers could not identify the beast and named it 👹 #Nian 👹, which came to mean “year” in Chinese. To put a stop to the ravaging, the villagers made a model of the animal out of bamboo and paper, which was manipulated by two men, accompanied by the loud beating of instruments. According to another version of this legend, the villagers made a model of a #lion out of bamboo and cloth after discovering that Nian was afraid of #lions, and accompanied it with the loud beating of pots and pans. They waited for Nian on the eve of CNY, and succeeded in driving it away. Henceforth, the #liondance was performed annually on CNY with drums, cymbals and gongs. Nowadays, the #lion_dance is performed not only during CNY, but also for opening ceremonies, welcoming of important persons and other auspicious occasions.🦁