I don’t do *all* my traveling between the pages of books. Sometimes I like to explore my own adventures. When it comes to this time of year, there is no where I’d rather celebrate Chinese New Year than Eastern Palace, Reynoldsburg, Ohio with Wah Lum Kung Fu and Tai Chi of Pickerington for a traditional lion dance and martial arts demonstration.
First the lions bow in greeting while the drum rolls. Then they begin to dance as the gong and cymbals beat out a playful rhythm. They do tricks and silly gags while interacting with the audience who feed the lions red envelopes of money called lycee. This is an offering to lure the lucky dragon close to you for a blessing. (The Wah Lum lions are very generous with their blessings, especially to children.) The lions are then lured inside buildings to bring blessings and drive out evil spirits. It is considered especially auspicious for the lion to dance through your kitchen. The Chinese kitchen is the seat of family blessing. All warmth, nourishment, and fortune is generated there.
After everyone has been blessed and there are no evil spirits left, the lions seek out the Hung Bao, a carefully tied tassel made of lettuce greens, an orange and a tied scroll. The Hung Bao will be tied very high, the dancers in the lion often must perform daring maneuvers to reach it. The Wah Lum lion stood on a circle of wood the size of a small table. Kung fu students lifted the table-top with the dancing lion still on it. Finally, with a carefully coordinated effort, they tossed the full weight of table-top and lion high over their heads and held it there while the lion tail dancer lifted the lion head dancer up even higher. The lion head dancer cut the the Hung Bao free and unrolled the scroll so everyone could read the blessing for the new year – well, everyone who could read Chinese anyway.
The lion, having claimed the hung bao from heaven, brought the prize to earth. He scattered the lettuce and showered the crowd with the good fortune it represented. Last the dancers kicked the orange as high as they could. Tradition says that the higher the orange goes, the better the new year will be.
Thank you to Greg Zogonas and the performers of Wah Lum Kung-Fu and Tai Chi for bringing good luck to another year.