On a recent weekend, members of the Hong Luck Kung Fu Club travelled to Pelham, Ont., to perform a lion-head retirement ceremony, setting ablaze 10 aging lion heads, which are used for lion dancing. Typically, two dancers perform together; one is the tail and the other manipulates the head. Traditionally, a lion dance was a way for kung fu clubs to demonstrate their members’ strength and martial arts forms.
For Hong Luck, this ritual was more than just a fire; it was about preserving its history while making space for the future.
At top, Hong Luck Kung Fu Club members David Lieu, Don Li, Eric Teng, Sotheara Eng and Danny Teng unload retired lion heads and tuck pieces of joss paper into the the pile ahead of the ceremonial burning.
Founded in 1961, Hong Luck Kung Fu in Toronto’s Chinatown is the one of the oldest continuously run kung fu club in North America and one of the first Chinese martial arts clubs in Canada. Since the death of the its shifu – the club’s master – and founder, Paul Chan, Hong Luck has not had a shifu, instead looking to the past for guidance.
The lions begin their life with an eye-dotting, which animates them. They end their life with a burning ceremony that releases their spirit and starts their journey back to heaven. The rite serves as a funeral for the lions, starting off by putting them in a pile and carefully placing joss paper (or spirit money) inside each head.
“When a person dies, there is a journey; joss is money for the lion’s journey to heaven,” explains one of the club’s leaders David Lieu.
After each member bows before the retired lions and places three sticks of incense near the pile, two of the club’s new lions perform while the other club members play drums and cymbals. The heads are then set on fire, engulfed in flames.
“It felt like a part of me was going away too,” said club member Sachiko Zelene. “We burn those lions to make space for new ones. It’s letting go to make space for something new.”
Mr. Lieu added, “I thanked them for their service.”
Club members volunteer 50 to 60 hours a week while performing during Chinese New Year, weddings and the busy summer season. Preserving the club while maintaining Shifu Paul’s memory. Hong Luck members are a family that shares weekly meals, performances and holidays together.
The burning ceremony serves as a funeral rite for the lions, which releases their spirit and starts their journey back to heaven.
This reporting was supported by the Canada Council for the Arts.