"One, two, three, jump, spin." In the Bay Area Film and Television City, He Diqiang, who is over sixty years old, watched the movements of the lion dancers and taught step by step.
Recently, the short video of the Lion Awakening Teaching Series "Foshan Awakening Lion Eighteen Style" produced by the Foshan Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese was officially launched in the Bay Area Film and Television City. He Diqiang, part-time vice chairman of foshan Chancheng District Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese and provincial inheritor of the national intangible cultural heritage project (Guangdong Xingshi), will provide technical guidance to the series of short videos.
And this old man has been adhering to the promotion of lion culture for nearly half a century.
Musical instrument factories are married to wake up lions
In 1974, at the age of 16, He Diqiang entered the Foshan Musical Instrument Factory and became an ordinary apprentice. "In addition to making general musical instruments, our factory also makes lion heads and lion drums for lion dances, and my first job in life was with waking lions." In the musical instrument factory, He Diqiang was deeply attracted by the culture of waking lions and decided to vigorously promote it.
After serving as the secretary of the musical instrument factory branch, He Diqiang led several young workers to form a lion awakening team. Although work is closely related to waking lions, this group of young people is "a blank piece of paper" for waking lion skills. Therefore, He Diqiang worshiped peng nan, Ma Cong, and Chen Zao, the lion masters of foshan dance, learned lion head with Chen Zao, learned lion tail with Peng Nan, and learned to play drums with Ma Cong, becoming a three-star lion descendant of Foshan. Immediately after, he joined the lion team and toured the villages of Foshan under the guidance of his master. In the process of "actual combat" again and again, He Diqiang's lion dance skills have also been continuously improved. Since then, He Diqiang's life and work have never left the waking lion.
In 1996, He Diqiang established the Nanguo Xiongshi Cultural and Sports Supplies Business Department in Foshan City, processing and retailing the equipment, clothing, props and other products used in lion dances. While solving his livelihood, he also vigorously promoted the dragon and lion culture with the help of the management department. In 2001, he officially served as the international dragon and lion dance referee and international lion coach of the International Dragon and Lion Federation, and since 2004, he has been the national dragon and lion dance referee of the People's Republic of China.
From the apprentice of waking lions, to the athletes of lion dances, coaches, international referees, overseas promoters of lion culture, and film and television technical guides, He Diqiang, who is 63 years old this year, still spares no effort to promote the culture of lions after being immersed in the lion world for nearly half a century.
Build a bridge of friendship and exchange at home and abroad
Where there are Chinese, there must be lion dances. As a representative of Chinese cultural export, the lion dance was first known for following overseas Chinese and overseas Chinese to emigrate, and was very popular in Malaysia, Singapore and other places. Overseas Chinese and ethnic Chinese living in Europe and the United States have also formed many lion awakening clubs, and the awakening lion culture has gradually been carried forward overseas.
"In the past, lion dance was only an amateur entertainment activity, but now in addition to being used as a sports to enhance physical fitness, lion dance is also a symbol of national culture." The lion dance, the dance is the spirit of the Chinese. He Diqiang said proudly.
In 2003, He Diqiang led the Chancheng Dragon and Lion Sports Association to Medway, England, to spread traditional Chinese culture and teach the art of dragon and lion dance, thus sowing the seeds of friendship between the two cities. Since then, every Spring Festival, He Diqiang has personally or sent apprentices to London to assist in organizing the Chinese New Year "Carnival" activities. In 2010, Chancheng District and Medway City in the United Kingdom officially signed an agreement on the establishment of a friendly urban relationship agreement, and Medway City also became the first sister city in chancheng's "circle of friends" in the world. In 2020, the new crown pneumonia epidemic swept the world, and outbound exchanges were blocked, So He Diqiang organized online lion awakening teaching activities with Denmark and other countries to further expand the platform for foreign friendship and exchange.
He Diqiang conducted a lion awakening performance exchange overseas
"I hope to build a bridge of Friendship between China and foreign countries through the awakening lion culture, unite all the forces that can be united, and make my own contributions to spreading the excellent traditional culture of Lingnan and telling the Chinese story well." In 2017, He Diqiang was awarded the "World Lion Art Culture Promotion Master Award" in Malaysia. Two years later, He Diqiang was awarded the honorary title of "Advanced Individual of Returned Overseas Chinese in Guangdong Province" by the Department of Human Resources and Social Security of Guangdong Province and the Guangdong Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese.
He Diqiang was awarded the "World Lion Art Culture Promotion Master Award"
The culture of waking lions has taken root in the school
Under the insistence of a group of inheritors such as He Diqiang, the culture of waking lions shines on the overseas stage. In contrast, Foshan, as the hometown of China's dragon and lion sports, has a trend of lion dance artists breaking down and competing. "When we learned art, it was dictated by the master, and now the times are different, to change, we must start from kindergartens and primary schools to promote, we must theorize and textualize the skills of waking lions, so that we can pass on the torch." Therefore, He Diqiang mobilized his apprentices and other friends in the lion art community to go to the campus together and teach for free.
In 1997, He Diqiang began to promote lion dance in primary and secondary schools in Foshan, introducing lion dance into the second classroom of primary and secondary schools, popularizing relevant knowledge to students and allowing interested students to receive training in school.
He Diqiang explained the culture of waking lions to the children
Over the years, He Diqiang has held lectures on the inheritance of southern lions and workshops on intangible cultural heritage of southern lions in many primary and secondary schools in Foshan, and actively explored the delivery system of dragon and lion artistic talents. In 2006, foshan Rongshan Middle School Wushu Dragon and Lion Team was established. The martial arts Dragon and Lion teaching and research group, which is mainly based on school physical education teachers and association coaches, actively studies and discusses the direction of the development of martial arts dragon and lion and the essence of cultural skills teaching, and uses modern scientific training methods to combine traditional folk training methods to improve the inheritance of dragon and lion cultural skills and the level of teaching quality. At the same time, the Dragon and Lion Team also repaired bridges and roads for the students with special skills in martial arts Dragon and Lion, and broadened the path of students with special skills in martial arts. According to statistics, since the establishment of the Wushu Dragon and Lion Team, Rongshan Middle School has sent more than 20 outstanding athletes of the Wushu Dragon and Lion to various colleges and universities. In addition, He Diqiang also created and wrote the Cantonese children's song "Lion Dance Boy", which has a catchy tune and vivid and playful lyrics, which is an indispensable part of Ho DiQiang's classroom teaching.
Colleges and universities jointly build to promote the scientific development of lion technology
In addition to the traditional methods of oral transmission and teaching by word and deed, He Diqiang actively explores modern teaching techniques and methods. Nanhai Xiqiao is the hometown of a generation of martial arts masters Huang Feihong, and also the birthplace of the Southern Lion, where the cultural activities of waking lions are frequently carried out. Under the guidance of He Diqiang, Foshan Nanhai Xiqiao Middle School launched the Nanshi Gymnastics for middle school students, which combines lion dances, martial arts elements and music, fitness exercises and other forms of expression, so that children can exercise their bodies and get excellent traditional culture.
In the process of traditional lion awakening green team performance, the wisdom, strength, courage and skills of lion dancers are tested, and modern scientific training methods need to be used to improve the basic quality of lion dancers. In addition to promoting lion dance culture in major primary and secondary schools in Foshan, He Diqiang also pioneered the University Dragon and Lion Talent Reserve Training Base and the College Student Dragon and Lion Internship Industry-University Research Base. The practical teaching base jointly built by foshan Youth Sports Federation and Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications Dragon and Lion Regiment is an important way for He Diqiang to explore the integration model of sports and education.
"The joint construction of an internship industry-university-research base and a practical teaching base with universities can effectively promote the upgrading of lion dance talents, drive the development of the lion awakening industry, and sublimate the intangible cultural heritage project from the considered 'stall goods' to the art and sports products, and thus derive new products and new industries." He Diqiang said that universities have scientific research teams in different fields, and the liberal arts and sciences and engineering can accommodate the study of waking lions, which has a positive effect on the theorization and scientific development of lion awakening skills. Through more than 20 years of efforts, many of He Diqiang's "disciples" have also been admitted to major universities, and they have conducted in-depth research on the culture of waking lions with the help of research resources of colleges and universities, and exported a large number of professional papers and scripts for the culture of waking lions.
The practical teaching base jointly established by foshan Youth Sports Federation and Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications Dragon and Lion Regiment was inaugurated
"If the culture of waking lions is to be passed on, it must not be less young blood, but also requires change and continuous innovation." Although he has learned the traditional lion awakening technique since childhood, He Diqiang has also been innovating the form of lion awakening culture promotion. In 2021, He Diqiang assisted the male singing group INTO1 to shoot the "Dianjing" dance, showing the southern lion dianping culture with the help of young song and dance forms. The full technical guidance of "Foshan Awakening Lion Eighteen Style" is also a new attempt by He Diqiang to film and television the awakening lion culture. At the same time, in the era of the rise of the national tide and the continuous enhancement of national pride, more and more "He Diqiang" have spared no effort to promote the culture of waking lions through the form of animation and so on, telling Chinese stories well, and spreading Chinese voices. In addition, He Diqiang also developed the "moving business" way of thinking through study tours and business research activities, and guided the young people of the Dragon and Lion team to take the road of professional development and win-win cooperation.
Watching more and more children enter the classroom of excellent folk culture, more and more young people choose to take the inheritance of intangible cultural heritage as their career, and more and more forces join the promotion of awakening lion culture, He Diqiang can't help but sigh, "Although I retired at work, I will never retire in the promotion of wake lion culture." ”
Source: Foshan Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese