Dragon dance and lion dance

Being an ethnic Chinese who has been deprived of my cultural link to my ancestors for the last three decades, I am indebted to Mr. Edi Petebang who has boldly pulled off the shroud covering the cultural heritage of the Chinese Indonesians (The Jakarta Post, March 6, 1999, "Banned dragon dance reappears amid changing political climate").

Let me point out the discrepancies between the dragon dance and barongsai. Barongsai is what we call the lion dance. Barong is the Balinese word for a mask worn in a dance. Sai is the Chinese word for Lion. As the Chinese used to profess to be descendants of the dragon, they regard the dragon with reverence. To the Chinese it is the most noble of all creatures. It is the symbol of grandeur, hence the formal yellow robes of the emperors worn down to the last emperor of the Qing dynasty from the beginning of Chinese history invariably bore the motif of the dragon.

The lion dance or Barongsai is performed to enliven occasions of a lesser scale, if an opening of a grand ceremony is preceded by the dragon dance. The lion is for the lighter side of an event, more frolicsome, acrobatic and does kungfu acts galore. Therefore angpaws (presents) are handed to the agile lion through its mouth. But the majestic dragon does not accept handouts this way.

WIDIJARTO ADIWONO

Jakarta