The Xishi Dance, also known as "playing Xishi", is a traditional dance form unique to the folks in the suburbs of Meijiang District, Meizhou City. It is an important performance item for the local Hakka people when doing Buddhist rituals at funerals. It has obvious characteristics of religious dance and is closely related to the spread of Buddhism in the Hakka area of eastern Guangdong. As early as the Taihe period of Emperor Wenzong of the Tang Dynasty (about 832 AD), Buddhism was introduced to the ancient Meizhou area and was later called "fragrant flower" Buddhism. The Buddhist activities of monks and nuns were called fragrant flower Buddhist rituals. Because the Hakka people love lion dance, monks and nuns introduced lion dance with Zen instrument percussion in folk funerals. Xishi Dance gradually evolved into a unique dance form in the fragrant flower Buddhist rituals. A major feature of Xishi Dance performance is to use a straw mat to play the lion. At the beginning of the dance, one person immediately rolls the straw mat into a long tube shape, and repeatedly wraps the upper end into a "" shape as the lion head, and the lower part as the lion blanket, and then puts the lion on his body and dances as the actor of Xishi; the other person holds the longevity grass as "green" in one hand and a fan in the other to accompany the dance. The main movements of the performance include shaking the lion's head, stretching the lion's neck, squatting the lion, lying the lion, shaking the fan and jumping, teasing the lion to retreat, etc. The rhythm is relatively free; there are also programs and routines such as leading the lion, taking out the lion, dancing the lion, stealing the green, grabbing the green, teasing the lion, and entering the lion. The whole dance is like a lion but not a lion, that is, the props are not shaped like a lion, but the performance is very similar to a lion, achieving a similar effect. The performance and accompaniment of the Xishi Dance are performed by monks in the temple. The instruments used are all Buddhist Zen instruments such as drums, gongs, and small cymbals. The music is relatively simple and dull, and can be repeated many times. In specific funeral occasions, the performance of Xishi Dance is interspersed in the Buddhist ceremony of transcending the dead souls, which symbolizes driving away evil and evil spirits, bringing good fortune and ushering in auspiciousness, allowing the relatives of the deceased to express their grief and gain spiritual comfort in grief. The Xishi Dance has a strong Meizhou Hakka regional characteristic. As a special activity in the Buddhist ceremony, it has a special function in folk funeral customs and a unique form of expression. It has important historical value for the study of Buddhist propagation, life customs, social psychology and the evolution of the lion dance. In 2008, it was selected into the second batch of national intangible cultural heritage list. With the development of the times, especially the reform of funeral methods, the survival conditions of the Xishi Dance have gradually been lost, and measures are urgently needed to preserve and protect it.