Inheriting the provincial "intangible cultural heritage" Chengdu also has a "lion boy"

Teenagers perform high-stage lions

As soon as the gong and drum sounded, the lion's head was frozen, and on a high platform of more than 7 meters overlapped by five eight immortal tables, folk artists wearing "monk" and "monkey" masks performed various playful and difficult aerial movements in the high air, flashing and moving, climbing high and walking low, you come and go, do not give in to each other. The audience held their breath and looked stunned.

A recent hit movie, "The Lion Boy", has attracted a lot of attention, and the film tells the growth story of several teenagers. In Tuqiao Town, Jintang County, Chengdu, there are also two energetic teenagers, Zhou Caiyuan and Zhou Wenxi, who also have a story about inheritance and love. In order to pass on the intangible cultural heritage of Sichuan Province, the Tuqiao Gaotai Lion, under the guidance of their grandfather Zhou Hou'an, they overcame difficulties, trained hard, and undertook the heavy responsibility of inheritance. The thrilling scene at the beginning of this article is the wonderful scene when they perform the lion on the high platform. Yesterday, our reporter walked into Tuqiao Town, Jintang County, and went to visit the bloody story of the Chengdu version of the "Lion Boy" together.

The Gaotai lion is a folk acrobatic that has been passed down from generation to generation by the Tuqiao Zhou family and has a history of more than 200 years. In Tuqiao Town, Gaotai lion was once an important local folk activity, in the Spring Festival flower fair, temple fair, there is a "Gaotai lion" performance is very lively, the scene is "crowded with people". Through the unremitting efforts of generations of inheritors, in 2007, the Gaotai lion in Tuqiao Town was successfully selected into the list of intangible cultural heritage protection in Sichuan Province.

However, the Gaotai Lion also faced the problem of lack of development successors, which made the seventy-four-year-old Zhou Hou'an feel anxious. Zhou Hou'an is one of the fifth generation inheritors and performers of tuqiao gaotai lions. After much thought, he decided to pass on this skill to his grandson and nephew, Zhou Caiyuan and Zhou Wenxi. The brothers are now junior high school students at Tuqiao Middle School in Jintang County – because they were influenced by their grandfather since childhood, Zhou Caiyuan and Zhou Wenxi had a special love for the performance of gaotai lions. In addition to busy studies, the two brothers took over this heavy burden under the careful guidance of their grandfather.

One minute on stage, ten years offstage. Before you can stand on a high stage to perform, all kinds of physical fitness and skill training must be commonplace. Zhou Hou'an was very strict with his grandchildren, and the skills of carp stiffening, walking upside down, and one-handed somersaurus were all basic skills. Although the training was very hard, the brothers both gritted their teeth and insisted on training. The courtyard of dawn and the square in the evening have left traces of their tumbling and jumping.

"In addition to skill, high-altitude performance also requires excellent kung fu, especially strength." Zhou Hou'an said in an interview with reporters, "You have to have full strength, in the performance, the hand needs strength, the strength is to the hand, the foot needs the strength, the strength is to the foot." "Zhou Caiyuan and Zhou Wenxi, two brothers, began to practice the basic skills of Gaotai lions five years ago, and during the winter and summer vacations and weekends, they all learned cultural courses in one day, practiced the basic skills of Gaotai lions one day, and only performed on stage for the first time two years later. At that time, there were only two eight immortal tables, and with the progress of kung fu, the height of the overlap of the eight immortal tables gradually increased, and now it has reached five. The next step will also reach the height of seven eight immortal tables.

"We hope that through our own performances, more people can see different earthen bridges, and there are wonderful non-genetic inheritances here." Talking about future plans, Zhou Caiyuan and Zhou Wenxi flashed new expectations in their eyes. (Courtesy of Sun Jie, Wen Xinyi, Chengdu Daily reporter, Zhao Yi, Jintang County Rong Media Center)