Saturday, November 2, 2019

3-2-1-Impact!


Since the book came out it's been great to see what an impact it has had on the lion dance community! The number of people who are interested in learning about the lion dance in general is relatively small when compared to other sports and activities, and of those the number who are interested in learning about building lions on their own is even smaller. Then from those, the ones who are really willing to invest the time and effort needed to really learn and understand the art are even less. By making a resource available I hope to increase that number so the art will have an even greater reach and generate even more interest.

Knowing there was a very limited market for the book, I figured only a few people might be interested in it. I also thought most would be in the US. So far Restore the Roar has exceeded my expectations and has been purchased by craftspeople on five of the seven continents (Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, and South America)! I'm not holding much hope out for Antarctica, but I do know a few groups exist in Africa so there may be an opportunity to expand to one more.

The widespread interest in learning this tradition can only be good for ensuring it continues to grow and thrive into the future. It's honestly a pretty great feeling to know I played a small role in this movement.

So far I've seen some pretty great projects come out of it from other people. If you have your own lion restoration or building project, please let me know. I'd love to see what other people are doing and learning about the craft so we can all learn and grow together.




What started out as a childhood interest and a small side project has really grown. Thank you to the many great people who have become a part of it and keep me inspired to continue working and sharing.


Tuesday, October 29, 2019

A Great Time to be Alive (for Lion Dance Enthusiasts)!

(originally published January 9, 2014)

In case you couldn't tell by my lack of new blog entries, I've been pretty busy lately with my projects. I did want to make a quick update though to let you know about two great new resources that should have aspiring lion dance artists jumping up and down proclaiming it's a great time to be alive! Never before in history have there been resources like this available for people to learn the artistry side of the lion dance, and to have them in English is really good news for those of us whose native language is not Chinese.
The first is an Amazon Kindle e-book called "Lion Dance Drawing: The First Book on How to Draw the Lion Dance" by fellow lion builder Bambang Edison Soekanto from Indonesia. A real steal for only $10. If you don't have a Kindle, there are readers and Apps available for PC, Mac, Android and IOS. Check it out in the Amazon Store here, and preview some of the things the book teaches on his YouTube feed here.

And check out some of Edison's work on actual lion heads here.

Update! Since this blog post was originally published, the paperback version of this book has also been released. A little pricier than the Kindle edition, but sometimes having an actual print version has its advantages. The same link above will take you to both versions.


The second book coming out just in time for Chinese New Year (January 31, 2014) is the lion head build and restore manual I mentioned a couple of posts ago. After three years it's finally ready to go!
You won't find information like this in print anywhere else in the world, and it would cost many times more than the cost of this book if you wanted to travel to Asia to learn the art. I don't want to turn this blog into a commercial, so just go check it out by clicking here. There's sample pages so you can read for yourself what I've put into it.

Click to read the Foreword:
If you like what you, fill out this interest form to reserve a copy.

So, how am I doing on my other projects? Well, I used the measurements and instructions in the building manual to build a lion frame as a way to check my work and make sure everything was understandable. I plan to make one more frame also based on the manual, but with some customizations and modifications, then paper and paint the both of them together. That build should be extra fun with the features I have in mind, stay tuned!

I haven't had time to take as many pictures as I did for the restoration project, but here's one to give you an idea of what I've been up to:

Until next time, happy new year and be safe as you prepare for lion dancing season!


Feel free to comment below, thanks!

Ace in the Hole

(originally published April 26, 2013)

The other day I was lucky enough to have fellow lion restoration artist Ryan Au and UCLA ACA Lion Dance team member Andy Ta come over for a visit after dinner. On their previous visit we were able to spend a couple of hours talking about the art of lion building, discussing techniques and sharing issues. Ryan blogged about it on his own Lionblogs website. Check it out and show him some love.

This time around we were getting together for the sole purpose of celebrating the completion of Ryan's latest project, the restoration of a Liu Bei lion named Ace for the Southern Young Tigers, based at UC Irvine. Being a full-time student, it's taken Ryan several years to complete the job which was a full restoration similar to the project I was working on when I started this blog. He needed to strip the old lion down, repair the frame and build it all back up again. His work is all documented on his website so I won't repeat it here. What I do want to do here is take a closer look at some of the features Ryan built into Ace and give you some food for thought as you consider how you want your own lions to look.

Click any picture for a larger version.
The first thing I noticed was Ace was super shiny. There are many different finishing products you can use after you paint a lion and the level of glossiness is a personal preference issue. It's best to experiment with products from different companies and even different finishes from the same company to see which will give you the results you want. I really like the hihg-gloss finish that makes the painting seem all the more bold and brilliant.

From this side view you can also see that while most of the lion's main hair is traditional bristle, the lower eye lashes under the eye are rabbit fur instead. By using a type of fur with a shorter pile not as much of the painting patterns get hidden underneath. It also gives the lion's look a bit of variety to keep things interesting.

Moving back along Ace's side we come to the soy are and find a double soy each with it's own shape of fins and a red side ball. It's different than the double soy Lo On Kee made so it's interesting to see how different lion makers build the same features in different ways. You can also see the metal discs glued on and incorporated into the painting pattern. Many times these discs are glued on haphazardly with no rhyme or reason so it's nice to see some thought put into this. Ryan says there are over 200 discs on Ace. They're slightly smaller than normal which allows them to blend into the pattern better than large ones which tend to stick out and call attention to themselves. I would've liked to have seen pompoms attached to the triangular fins of the inner soy as well, but costs can be prohibitive and it's a minor thing.
Taking a closer look at Ace's ear you can see that instead of leaving the rabbit fur strips plain Ryan added a layer of gold trim. The thicker, 1/2" gimp trim really makes the gold shimmer and creates a good transition border between the fur and the painting.
I really like the colors on Ace's hero balls (pompoms), they pull from the colors used on the painting and are a deep rich color that photos just don't do justice to. You'll have to see them up close in person to really appreciate them. Ryan also did a great job on the many background blends, orange, pink and green ones are visible here.

Here's a good shot of Andy and Ryan demonstrating stances and movements with the lions. Ace is sporting a really long silky white beard. In traditional lion design the color and length of the beard indicates the age and maturity of the lion. In this case it's very fitting for a Liu Bei lion to have a beard showing his age and wisdom as the first emperor of China.

Andy has his own lion project going on as well so next year I want to see three lions in this picture!

Two More Mouths to Feed

(originally published March 14, 2013)

Well, it's been almost a month and I haven't made any progress on the frames I mentioned in my last blog post, but I did make the mouths for them just so I could report some progress. The mouth is actually a pretty easy part to make and only requires an hour or so. It is a fun area to work on though because it requires a little more skill and challenge than just binding bamboo together.

You get to feel like a lumberjack splitting wood! Well, maybe not quite, but you do start with a strip of bamboo twice the width of a standard framing strip and end up splitting each end into two legs. This makes the mouth base a unified piece while allowing the shape to be more complex than it otherwise could be. One set of legs gets turned into the main curve of the mouth shape and the other set becomes the "wings" on either side.

And you get to play with fire! Knives and fire and building lions?!? Yay! Can this project have any more of my favorite things? (Note: please use all of the aforementioned things responsibly, I am not liable for any injuries if you try this at home.) Getting the right angle for the corner of the mouth requires softening up the bamboo to make it pliable enough to bend like that. Heating it up with a small candle flame is the perfect solution to do just that. Even with the use of heat, bend it slowly and carefully being sure not to break the bamboo or else the whole piece will be ruined. Also be sure to keep the piece moving around when bringing it close to the flame to keep it from catching on fire. A little scorching is normal and won't affect the strength of the corner too much.


Add a few more pieces, then wrap the corners with rattan, and voila! There you have a brand new mouth, all ready for papering, painting and decorating. This probably feels like those cooking shows that show you all of the ingredients and then pull a fully-cooked dish out of the oven. I had planned on photographing each step but then I got caught up in the building process and forgot all about it. Next thing you know I'm looking at two fully completed mouths and only have pictures of the beginning steps of one of them. Sorry about that. Hopefully it's enough for you to understand the process and gives you a good idea for how to proceed with your own project.

Thanks for tuning in, if you're interested in more detailed instructions, including a full set of measurements and illustrated diagrams, check out the soon-to-be-released Lion Construction Manual! I'm working hard to get it done by Chinese New Year, 2014 (January 31) and building these two little lions at the same time. Wish me luck!

Are you working on a lion or dragon project of your own? I'd love to talk shop and see what others are doing, drop me a comment below and let me know what you're up to, thanks!

Back in a Bind Again

(originally published February 26, 2013)

The lion dance is in my blood so even though I'm on sabbatical from performing I've still got a lot of projects to keep me busy and involved in the community. Since I am a family man as well, building lions for my kids is the perfect way to combine two of the most important things in my life. Unfortunately having kids leaves little time for lion building so even though I plan the projects out, actually getting them done is a really long process with huge gaps of time interrupting progress on them.

For instance, my first son was born almost 10 years ago and it took me over 2 years to build his lion. You can read more about it and see some close-up shots here.

By the time I finished that lion it was almost time for my daughter to be born and I started on her lion. And what you see here is still how it looks today. That's seven years worth of work you're looking at, baby.

Fast forward a few more years and number 2 son was on his way into the world. I was working on the Lo On Kee restoration at the time so I didn't actually start building his before birth like the other kids', but I did buy some supplies and start to plan it out. That was a year and a half ago and what you see over there is how far I've gotten since finishing the restoration about a year ago. Most of that amazing progress has happened in the past few days.

So now that I've cleared some other projects off of my schedule I'm ready to buckle down and start working on these two frames again! It feels good to dust off the work bench and start bending and binding again. As with my first son's lion you can see I'm using aluminum for the base and main framing sections of the lion. Kids aren't exactly known for being careful with their things so I figured some extra strong material was in order for their lions. What I learn about using different materials for their frames can be applied to building stronger and better full-sized lions as well.

The reverse is also true, what I learned restoring the Lo On Kee lion has helped me advance in skill and understanding and will definitely come in handy with these two builds. My plan is to start to get the ball rolling but still keep a realistic time frame considering my other obligations. Getting the frames done by the end of the year would be great and hopefully not too lofty of a goal. I'll keep my progress posted here, keep checking back if you're interested, thanks!

Let me know what you think by commenting below, I appreciate it!

Positively Glowing

(originally published January 11, 2013)

As we begin 2013 in the West, the Year of the Water Snake (4711) is rapidly approaching. Along with that will be lots of lion dance performances, including many at night or in other low-light conditions. So how do you make sure your lions are ready? By installing lights of course!

"Bright eyes" is a common expression to describe someone full of life and that's exactly the image we want lions to portray. In Chinese one term for the Southern Lion is "Sing Si" or "Awakened Lion" so anything that helps the lion look awake and alert is a good thing. Lights in the eyes really bring attention to the lions, especially in a darkened room or at an evening performance outdoors.

Here's a shot of the original setup to light the lion's eyes. You can see it was fitted with standard flashlight incandescant bulbs which would be hooked up to a switch and several batteries.

At the time the lion was originally built this was a great solution and worked well for many years. However there were several drawbacks to using it. The main one is that incandescant bulbs tend to use a lot of power so we would drain several sets of batteries over the course of our New Years performances. I remember our group coordinators getting after us to, "Remember to turn off the lights!" after every performance. You could always add more batteries or use a larger size (we had lions that used everything from AA to a couple of D cell batteries) but this would add significant weight to the lions.

For the restoration I wanted to keep the weight down as much as possible. After researching online and asking other experienced people on the Lion Dance Forum I came up with a design I believe is one of the best in use today in terms of weight, light output, ease of installing and durability. I went with LED lights which use energy much more efficiently and reflective chrome lamp holders. Because of the greater energy efficiency and higher reflectivity I could get away with a minimal number and smaller sized batteries while actually over doubling the amount of light output compared to the original lights. To keep the bulbs from burning out prematurely each bulb is protected by an electrical resistor to regulate the current flowing through them.

Since installing them and showing them off I've actually gotten requests to build and sell light sets to other groups and have sold a dozen or so. I never thought there was much of a market for things like this, but what a nice confirmation that the work I put into researching, designing and building them is recognized and appreciated by others and also that my work is going on to help other groups as they help spread the art.

I'm watching you!

Here's the final result. What do you think? Feel free to comment below, thanks!

Reunited and it Feels So Good

(originally published July 12, 2012)

A private collector from Southern California expressed interest in the tail and he had a traditional Liu Bei head that it would match well with it so I met up with him and a friend one Sunday afternoon.

As we unpacked the tail and spread it out for them to inspect we talked shop about different tails we've seen over the years and compared similarities and differences with this tail. The head he had matched colors nearly perfectly as you can see in these shots of the front and back.

Although I'll miss the tail I'm glad to know that it's part of a whole lion once again, and even better it'll be used in actual performances, not just stuck collecting dust in a museum or stuffed in a box forgotten somewhere. What a great ending to this tail's story!

Chasing a Tail

(originally published July 3, 2012)


As I was browsing eBay for interesting things I came across a listing for a "~~CHINESE Ancient Art RARE Handmade Ceremonial Pagent Satin LION DANCING ROBE~~" and lo and behold the picture wasn't of a robe at all but a vintage tail for a Liu Bei lion. From the pictures it appeared to be in great condition, especially considering its age. The description was a bit odd, but I was intrigued--what was the story of this tail? Where was the head? What group did it come from? What maker? So I contacted the lister to find out what I could.

The lister had bought it at an auction and only knew that it came from a group who had used it in the Seattle Seafair Parade (now known as the Alaska Airlines Torchlight Parade) so that really didn't tell me much. My passion for lion restoration was ignited however and I began to wonder about the possibility of reuniting this tail with an old head so it could be properly seen as it was meant to be.

I knew of several lion heads on display in museums around the country that are displayed without tails: (none of these pictures were taken by me):
This lion is in the collection of the Wing Luke Museum in Seattle. 

This lion was rescued from a trash bin in Los Angeles' Chinatown.

A rare traditional Hok San lion made by Lo On Kee.

This lion is currently on display at the Chinese Historical Museum in San Diego.

The asking price of $299 was out of my league though, especially for a tail without a head and considering that a majority of the craftsmanship and value is in the head not the tail. Luckily the lister was open to bargaining and I was able to purchase it for less.

When the package arrived and I was able to inspect it further I found it was in great condition, almost appearing unused. There was no staining, even on the white undercloth where the tail player's sweat usually leaves tell-tale black marks and on the white rabbit fur along the bottom edges that are among the first areas to soil. On a close inspection I ohnly found one are that was slightly tattered, one small metal disc missing and a couple of metal discs that were bent. Other than that everything was intact. One sort of disappointing thing was the description listed it as 15 feet long which would make it really traditional and probably pre 1960s, but when I measured it came out to only 10 feet which was more common from the 70s to 80s. I think the lister didn't know how to measure it and included the back part that drapes down in her calculation. You could also tell the tail had been in storage for a while because of the wrinkles and how some of the triangles didn't lay flat anymore due to the way it had been folded.

There were also some other interesting things I noticed:

All of the discs are gold color, instead of the more common silver used today. The three large discs on the top pink layer were not evenly spaced, I'm not sure if it was meant to be like that or if one fell off and was sewn back on in the wrong place. A series of nylon web loops were sewn down the back of the lion. Obviously a much later addition, it looked like something put on to attach the tail to a pole or tie strings on to hang it for display. On the bottom there were ties sewn in directly under the loops and some additional pieces of nylon webbing. Very curious what these were added for. Under every other triangle brass bells were sewn in. These are usually missing from modern tails but were an important part of the lion's ability to frighten away evil as the sound of bells are said to scatter the spirtis.

All in all it was a rare find and it was great to see it up close and personal. Many lion dancers these days have never gotten to see a tail like this and it brought back may good memories of dancing under the long traditional tails. Hopefully soon I'll be able to post some pictures of it reunited with an old head and people can really see what things looked like "back in the day."

Who's in the House? Zhang Fei's in the House! Well, I'm pretty sure it's him…

(originally published May 30, 2012)

Recently this picture showed up online in a group I participate in on Facebook and it sparked a lively little debate. The original poster was wondering who (which historical general, if any) the lion represented and the answer, according to the lion maker, is Zhang Fei. This made a few people pause a bit because there is a lot of blue and not so much green used on the lion. What does that matter, you might ask. As I mentioned in a previous post, the colors of traditional lions are determined by the colors of the face paint of that general as portrayed in the Cantonese opera. For Zhang Fei this has always been black and white (and/or gray) with black hair and beard. Touches of green are often used as accents.

Here are some examples (all were found online, none of these pictures were taken by me):






As you can see from the other pictures above there is a lot of room for variation even when using the original color scheme. So without a compelling reason to deviate from the tradition, it would be unnecessary to change the overall color pallette for traditional lions. There is even precedent on the Zhang Fei lions to use blue (usually on the eyelids) sparingly as a supporting color, but not a main color.

Although the first picture above is what sparked the debate, it really isn't just about that lion.

At the heart of the debate are questions about the evolution of traditions and the validity of artistic license. Art forms are constantly changing and subject to reinterpretation according to the visions of individual artists. At the same time if there are no overarching guidelines then the results are often unrecognizable bastardizations of the originals. How many times have we sat through a horrible remake of a classic film that completely missed the mark of the original?

So what place do ancient traditions play in modern society? How do we as artists express our individuality while still remaining true to the customs that have been handed down through the generations? Can we disregard the teachings of our lineage and claim artistic differences? Are modern aesthetics more important than historical precedents? These are not easy questions to answer and there are no clear cut lines dividing the camps.

For me, as a performing artist, there are at least two major criteria I would use before changing a standing tradition. 1) Is there a compelling reason for the tradition that would be violated by the change? And 2) Would the intended audience still understand what is being conveyed?

Like it or not, traditions started and became ingrained for a reason; sometimes a good reason, sometimes a more questionable one. Arbitrary, superstitious and no longer relevant practices can be disregarded as we pare an art form down to its essentials. For example the Chinese tradition that says women shouldn't bathe for a week after giving birth was most likely started at a time when river water posed a greater threat of parasites and other illnesses than not bathing. We've luckily advanced as a society to where we can end this practice. We always want to make sure we aren't just blindly holding onto the past without basis. However we also have to recognize that there might be a reason we are not aware of. We need to do our due diligence and consult with others who can give guidance on this rather than just trusting our own, often limited, judgment.

As for the second criterion, the whole reason we perform is not for ourselves but for the audience, whether that's a merchant that's hired our team to bless their business, a couple celebrating their marriage, or the viewers at an exhibition performance. An actor could give the most inspired performance in the history of the stage, but if there is a disconnect with the audience it will all be in vain. So as performers we want to make sure every aspect of our presentation gets our intended message across. In terms of the lion dance, there are several things that a knowledgeable audience would expect to see. As a specific example, let's apply these to the lion pictured above. What are the reasons for the traditional colors of Zhang Fei? Black hair and beard to signify his youth, and black markings on his face to portray his dark complexion. In the Cantonese Opera, each of the Five Tiger Generals was assigned his own color(s) to differentiate him from other characters and make him consistently and easily recognizable even among different acting troops and from play to play. Every actor/troop could apply the makeup in their own style, but all used the same color schemes. Major deviations were liable to cause confusion among an often illiterate audience who relied on visual cues to follow the action.

But is this outdated? Would a modern audience know enough to recognize Zhang Fei in a slightly different color scheme? Given the right context, i.e. sitting next to the other 4 Tiger Generals, an informed audience would probably be able to figure out who was who. Also, given that many people don't know enough about the lions or the generals they represent beyond the main three (Liu Bei, Guan Gung and Zhang Fei) by process of elimination most would probably guess that this was Zhang Fei anyway. But if it appears by itself and even people in the know need to ask who it is supposed to represent, it might indicate that the artist should have stuck a little closer to tradition.

So the jury is still out. Personally I really like this lion. It has the fierce look of a traditional general and it has touches that make it stand out from the usual slew of lions. But whether or not I would consider it a good representation of Zhang Fei is debatable.

As a final bit of food for thought, here is a picture of an opera troop portraying Zhang Fei with a blue headdress:



Want to weigh in on the issue? Feel free to comment below, I'd love to hear your thoughts!