Quitayen, Ianna Carmel Yu July 21, 2014

BSAC- 2; RS 20 ACB
Not a day has passed without us experiencing Jesus, without us noticing the importance of
Jesus, and without us calling for His aid amidst our difficulties. Yet, in our lives, we have little
knowledge of the significance of his presence and where might one find Jesus on a daily basis.
As for me, in the Chinese tradition, there’s a festive dance called the Lion Dance usually
done during the Chinese New Year. I’ve witnessed it since I was young and I’ve always felt at
ease to know that in the coming year it will be as blissful and productive as the former year. Several
stories trace back the history of how the lion dance was created, but from all the stories I’ve heard,
the one I’m most fond of is the Legend of “Nian”. In the untold story, "Nian” was a fierce monster,
who especially liked kidnapping children. He terrorized villages year after year. Finally, one year,
a lion defeated and chased the monster away. “Nian” vowed to return next year. This time the
villagers did not have a lion to protect themselves. So, they solved the problem by creating a
costume like that of a lion and two villagers used it to scare “Nian” away. This is the reason the
lion dance is performed every Chinese New Year. The legend also says that loud noises from the
drum, other instruments, and firecrackers helped scare the “Nian” away. And as for the colour red,
it terrified “Nian”, which is why people wear red-coloured attire during the merriment of the
Chinese New Year. As for my experience of salvation, it is similar to that of the lion dance. Jesus,
who always stands in front of me, protects me from the danger that lurks beyond the path I take. I
fear the uncertainty that life brings and am always anxious of the many possibilities that may occur.
But fear or “Kǒngjù” is inevitable, only by conquering it shall it disappear. Like the lion, it wards
off “Kǒngjù” inside the hearts of the people and bring relief or “Huǎnjiě” to them.
The lion is associated with the three kingdoms era, the darkest time in China’s history,
which was unified by the three brothers – Liu Pei, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei. From the three brothers,
Jesus is a mixture of Liu Pei and Guan Yu. ”Liu Pei”, symbolizes the leader and the tamed lion.
He guides and stirs the people in the right direction, so that they will feel at ease and be safe from
harm. And “Guan Yu”, symbolizes the skilled and wise lion. He shares his wisdom and passes into
the people the goodness life can bring. The Lion is still a wild animal and needs to be tamed. In
connection to the Lion Dance, the Gods and the Deities are asked to look favourably to grant and
bestow spiritual life to the Lion. The Lion is now called “Shī jīngxǐng” or the awakened lion. The
Lion now becomes, neither God nor Deity, but agent assigned by Heaven to bestow blessings of
wealth and happiness to the community and to dispel evil forces and pestilence.
In many ways, like the lion, Jesus leads us to “relief” or “huǎnjiě” and provide us protection
and security from any harm. And His wisdom imparted unto us, free us from any “fear” or
“kǒngjù” that life may bring. And in the same manner as the “Shī jīngxǐng”, God delivered His
only Begotten Son into the earth, conceived by the Holy Spirit for which showed the Divinity and
Humanity of Jesus, for us men and our salvation, for us to experience “huǎnjiě” and be liberated
from “kǒngjù”.