Written by Sheema Abdul Aziz on 21 Oct 2005
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"I was six years old," Sifu Siow leans forward and earnestly confides, "when I saw my first lion dance. It was love at first sight, but I had to wait ten more years before I learned how to dance it myself."
It's a blisteringly hot afternoon in Subang, Malaysia, and I'm listening to the world-renowned Master Lion Dancer himself, Siow Ho Phiew, explain his passion for this ancient Chinese tradition in halting Malay. Siow is one of five individuals identified by DiGi's Amazing Malaysians project as important custodians of Malaysian heritage. Addressed by his workers, students and everyone else around him as simply "Sifu", this enthusiastic and prolific lion dancer is keeping alive an unmistakably important cultural legacy. In recognition of his contribution to Malaysian heritage, DiGi has organised a 3-month programme of intensive workshops where Siow and his assistants teach schoolchildren not only how to dance, but also how to make the colourful and festive lion heads.
The lion holds an incredibly resonant position within the Chinese psyche. Just about every positive quality and admirable trait the Chinese aspire to can be ascribed to it - power, majesty, courage, strength, wisdom, happiness and good fortune. An important totem animal capable of warding off evil spirits, it is a guardian creature, known as "the ninth son of the dragon" and "the best employable guard" - hence the ubiquitous lion statues seen in front of palaces, bridges, offices and even wealthy residences.
What makes this all the more incredible, though, is that most people in ancient China didn't even know what a lion looked like - lions aren't found in China. Tales of these wondrous creatures found their way to China from what is today Iran and Afghanistan, via the famed Silk Road, following on the heels of live lions which were often sent to emperors as gifts. Since most of the common folk had never even seen a lion, it took on the aspect of a divine, mythological creature comparable to the dragon, and because no one knew what it was supposed to look like, they put together their own version from a mishmash of animal parts - which is why, if you pay attention, the Southern Chinese Lion has a horn in the centre of its head!
The Lion Dance History
It's difficult to say how lion dancing came about. It's more than 2000 years old and dates back to the Han Dynasty (3rd Century BC), but its true origins are lost in the mists of time. Opinions differ, but the most popular story goes that once upon time, on the eve of the lunar new year, a small Chinese village was terrorised by a strange beast (a more plausible version states that it was actually a group of bandits dressed up as beasts). To fight back, the villagers dressed up in costumes resembling lions, and started dancing to the sound of clanging pots and pans. The strange commotion scared away the beasts/bandits, and ever since then lion dancing is believed to ward off bad luck and usher in good luck.
The earliest record of lion dancing in Malaysia is the official registration of a Penang troupe in 1903, but no one disputes that the Chinese community had been practising it here since long before then. Siow Ho Phiew insists that today, lion dancing is very much a Malaysian art form. Although in ancient times it held a sacred religious significance, today it's evolved into a cultural pastime, and even a sport. It's fun and entertaining, challenging but extremely satisfying to master. With the proliferation of lion dance troupes all over Malaysia, you see young people, sometimes children as young as six, from all ethnic and cultural backgrounds, seriously getting into the lion dance. And Siow believes deeply in spreading it right across the racial divide.
The Lion Dance Master
50-year-old Siow was born in Klang, the site of his fateful first lion dance. When he began lion dancing at 18 it was a hobby, supplemented by training in Shaolin Kung Fu, the martial art form that the dance is traditionally based on. This was to continue for another 12 years or so while he eked out a living as a humble farmer. When Siow was about 30, he gave up farming altogether and began to concentrate full-time on lion dancing. The reason for this?
"Bees. Many, many bees. They attacked me and stung me all over, all over. So many bees." Siow demonstrates the bee attack, hands moving rapidly. With his close-shaven hair and tufted beard the man has the classic looks of a traditional Chinese master. He quivers with energy. According to him, the severity of the bee stings convinced him to give up farming, and he began concentrating his full attention on his lifelong passion for lion dance. And the rest, of course, is ancient history.
Now, Siow asserts, lion dancing has become "like my flesh and blood." His skill as a lion dancer led him to help put together the first National Lion Dance Championship in 1983, going on to organise the first World Lion Dance Championship the following year. This placed Malaysia firmly on the lion dance map of the world. In 1991, while sitting on the panel of judges for a national lion dance competition, Siow accepted an invitation to become chief coach of the award-winning Kun Seng Keng group from Muar, Johor.
"Fifteen times," Siow tells me with a quick grin. "Fifteen times we've won the World Championship. Malaysia as a country has won it twenty times already. We beat China, we beat Hong Kong. We're number one in the world! They all follow us now!"
His pride is obvious, and well-earned. The World Lion Dance Championship has now become a regular fixture on the global lion dance circuit. Held every two years at Genting, it is the most prestigious lion dance competition in the world, and Siow informs me, that Malaysia is now the number one country in the world for lion dance. "You win any other competition anywhere in the world, people will just go, 'hmm...' but you win in Malaysia, at the Genting competition, and people will say, 'Ah! This is one of the best lion dance troupes in the world!'"
And certainly the Sifu has played a huge role in getting Malaysia to the top. His expertise is fiercely sought by troupes the world over - Australia, Canada, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Macao, New Zealand, Thailand and the United States. Not only that, but he has also set up his own lion head making shop, WSH Dragon & Lion Arts, based in Subang. In a reversal of roles, now even the troupes in China import his special lion heads for their dances.
Building the Lion's Head
He's refreshingly candid about his venture into the lion head business. As he tells it, his first ever lion head was a mainland one which he bought from Fuo Shan in China. He used it so often that it became "rotten" and was falling to pieces. "Since I need to buy a new lion head, I thought, might as well make my own. That's why I started to make my very first lion head." The problem was, the mainland design was just a bit too heavy for comfort. So the Sifu took apart his old lion head and spent three days puzzling over how to improve upon it. Finally he came up with an ingenuous improvisation using local Malaysian materials. Instead of using bamboo for the frame, he used rattan. Then he covered it with fabric instead of the more traditional papier-mâché, and voilà - a truly Malaysian design was born.
Siow tells us, "To make your own lion head is an amusement. To make for others is a different thing. So, I decided to establish my lion head making business."
His workshop is a delightful riot of lion heads in every stage of the construction process. Half-finished heads stuck with bits of shiny foil jostle for space next to skeletal rattan frames with bulbous eyes. Another row of heads, painted in all manner of giddy colours, lines the street in front of the workshop, drying in the fierce heat of the sun, and littered all over the place are dozens covered in pristine white fabric awaiting decoration, ethereal and almost ghost-like with their gaping jaws and blank, staring eye sockets.
Inside the cool darkness of the workshop, workers and students are painstakingly adding the finishing touches of paint, or bending pliable rattan into shape. Gray Tan whisks me from one end to another, explaining through show-and-tell. He works part-time for Siow, pretty much any time that he's not at his graphic design job in the city. "I started out volunteering with Sifu," Gray tells me, pointing out that the lion head workshop has become so popular that he's not the only one to donate his time and services. "Many people are so interested in getting involved that they help out for free."
We zip around haphazardly, dodging the clutter and the people, and getting in everyone's way. Deft and quick, Gray hands me one of the rattan frames. "The ones from China, they make them using bamboo and paper. They're heavy to carry around. These are made from rattan, which is lighter so they don't tire you out." I heft the frame experimentally, afraid of dropping it. "Lighter" is an extreme understatement - its weightlessness astonishes me. It's like holding a feather in your hand.
Passing the Tradition to All
Gray uses the rattan frames to take some of the schoolchildren through the nimble moves of the dance. "Stick your backside out," he admonishes, and they go through the routine again. I take the opportunity to talk to one of the schoolboys about his training. Has it been difficult, I ask, privately wondering how well I would fare if I had tried to learn.
He shrugs unconcernedly, more engrossed in sticking rabbit fur onto a newly painted head. "When you first begin, of course it's difficult, but after that it's very easy." No problem, then.
Chee Pok Jin, Chief Marketing Officer of DiGi, shows up later and surveys the activity with obvious pleasure. He's taken this particular project under his wing, and hopes to continue his involvement long after the school programme has run its course. Chee is another enlightened individual who believes strongly that Malaysians should embrace each other's cultural differences.
"The sad thing is, when we implemented this programme, some of the non-Chinese parents thought it was inappropriate, and so some schools refused to participate. People should learn to be more accepting of each other's culture. I do think it's getting better though," he added optimistically. "We're starting to open up to each other now."
Certainly half of the school group at the workshop today are non-Chinese, and they seem to be getting the hang of it. Four of them clash away enthusiastically on the cymbals while another boy beats a huge drum. The sound is thunderous and joyful, filled with young energy.
The Sifu comes up and grabs a pair of cymbals, coaching the boys through it, ever the mentor. They make a poignant snapshot of Malaysianness, the old generation passing it down to the new.
If only more Malaysians cared like this, we'd finally start understanding each other.
Lion Dance Photo Essay
To really get a better understanding inside the workings of this ancient tradition and the people and students behind it, be sure to see the full photo gallery for this article.
Write to Sheema Abdul AzizSheema Abdul Aziz
After graduating with a BA in Archaeology from the University of York (UK) in 2000, Sheema immediately started work as a practising archaeologist at the Department of Museums and Antiquities in Kuala Lumpur. However, after realising that she would much rather work with living things instead of dead ... more inside »
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Seng Heng
Wednesday, 14 July 2010 at 2:14 AM:
To. Wildasia, How are you doing Master Siow Hok San,
I love to see your Drumming, Lion Dance in Youtube, master Siow you very very very good, very Professional for Drumming, Lion dance, performance. Can your company send me one free catalog for Lion Dance, Drumming equipment supplied, wholesale price. Now I teaching Lion Dance in public School, my school name is Rosemead Youth Leadership Center. This my office address is
528 Giano Ave., La Puente, Ca 91744. Thank You !
If write any word it's wrong Please, excuse to me. Thank You.
Seng Heng
Wednesday, 14 July 2010 at 3:07 AM:
To. Wildasia, I just send you the first mesage. How are you doing Master Siow Hok San, if you, your Lion Dance team would like to come visit my School, Please, Call me first or send me e-mail my mobile phone #1 (626) 940-4375. Also my public school big foundation, have student 50 to 100 student from age 5-13 year old. Thank You !
If I write any word it's wrong, PLease excume to me. Thank You.
From: Mr. Seng Heng