According to the recollections of local folk artists, the hand lion dance has a history of at least three or four hundred years in the local area. The hand lion dance originated from the lion lantern. During the local Lantern Festival, people loved to carry lanterns on the streets. The streets in the town were narrow and crowded with spectators, so the lantern bearers used bamboo poles to prop up the lion lanterns to show off, dance and express their joy. Especially when passing by the door of a wealthy family, they would set up a venue and show off the lion lanterns. As a result, the hand lion dance gradually emerged and became a unique local folk dance. The people of Maqiao brought this dance to the surrounding towns and villages to perform on the streets, making it spread everywhere. Around 1911, in order to celebrate the Revolution of 1911, the people gathered lanterns in the Beiqiao area (then the seat of the Shanghai County government) to celebrate. However, the Beiqiao Police Station strictly prohibited it, which aroused public anger. The lion dancers threw the lanterns into the court, causing a fire. This "burning the police station" became a good story for the descendants of the hand lion dance. The local Yunpai Lion Dance, also known as Taishi Yunpai Lantern, is an extension of the traditional hand lion dance and was first created by the Niu family in Maqiao Town. According to legend, at the end of the Ming Dynasty and the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, a dwarf fled to Maqiao and met the local Niu family. The dwarf claimed to be surnamed Song. Seeing that he was not bad, Niu hired him to teach his children and grandchildren. On the Lantern Festival when the dwarf was 99 years old, the young master of the Niu family (legend has it that he was the 1st elder Niu Yongjian) clamored to be taken to see the lanterns. The dwarf picked up the young master and went out. The young master was so excited to see all kinds of lanterns that he felt like he was stepping on the clouds and dancing with the lions. Unexpectedly, he stumbled and fell into the arms of the master. The young master woke up, but found that the dwarf had his eyes closed and was silent. When Niu Gongzi grew up, he liked boxing and chivalry. He once made a Taishi lantern as big as an ox, and made eight cloud-branded lanterns. When the lantern competition was held in Maqiao Town, he displayed the "Taishi Cloud-branded Lantern" and became the leader of the lanterns. Later, Niu Gongzi became the main general of the Revolution of 1911, and the villagers danced the "Cloud-branded Taishi Lantern" for him during festivals. In the 1920s, Niu Yongjian served as the governor of Jiangsu Province in Nanjing, so the hand lion dance was also popular in Nanjing. After Niu Yongjian resigned, he established the Provincial Yutang People's Education Center in his hometown, and mass cultural activities were quite active. During the Lantern Festival, local lion dancers spontaneously formed teams and performed in the streets with dragon lanterns, clam lanterns, horse lanterns, Danghu boats, stilts, and string and bamboo classes. When spectators set off firecrackers, the performers stayed to perform. This was a happy and enjoyable experience, which lasted until before and after the Qingming Festival, when the "white lanterns" (lights during the day) were put out and the lion lanterns were burned to end. Therefore, there have always been masters of color-weaving in towns such as Maqiao, Beiqiao, and Lao Minhang, and most of the lion lanterns are made by them. They are often lion dancers. After the 1950s, the local lantern festivals and temple fairs were discontinued one after another, and the hand lion dance was gradually forgotten. In May 1983, the Shanghai County Cultural Center visited Maqiao Township while collecting folk songs, and immediately gathered lion dance descendants and folk dance enthusiasts at the township cultural station to organize and rehearse. In February 1984, Shanghai County organized a hand lion dance performance team to go to Jiading County to participate in the street performance of the Shanghai Rural Lantern Festival, which attracted widespread attention. At the end of September, the Maqiao Township hand lion team appeared on the stage of the Shanghai National Day Art Gala and received good reviews. On November 26, 1992, Maqiao Township's "Hand Lion Dance" went to Beijing to participate in the National Folk Music and Dance Festival and won the third prize. Maqiao Hand Lion Dance has been included in the "Shanghai Volume of the Chinese Folk Dance Collection" as a key dance.