獅子採青,含意「反清復明」。清朝期間,文字獄盛行,文人義士多在字裏行間表達反清復明句子,但多被清朝官吏所捉捕,而舞獅這項民間習俗色彩,由義士加插醒獅吃生菜,(採青)因生菜是青色,代表清朝,其意思是將清朝吃掉,使其滅亡。現時舞獅採青,則採其意頭,即生生發發,生意興隆。

The Story of Lion Dancing

During Ming Dynasty, the Central Government forbade people to learn martial arts because she wanted to prevent people from uprising. Some boxers, for sake of practicing their fighting skill, started to learn lion dancing. There was another advantage that could bring joy to people in festivals. In fact, the purpose of having lion dancing was to provide an opportunity for boxers to train themselves for uprising.

In Ching Dynasty, in the lion dancing performance, lions liked picking cabbage. Why was that? Under the rule of Ching Government, people were strictly monitored by the Central Government in order to prevent uprising from Han people. The Han People hated the Ching Government and tried to overthrow her. Actually, picking cabbage meant overthrowing the Ching Government in the past. Nowadays, picking cabbage means getting rich and wealthy.