In the early 90s of the 20th century, the movie "Once Upon a Time" starring Jet Li swept the streets and alleys, with the melody of "men should be self-reliant" and the dancing domineering lion head, which ignited countless enthusiastic youths and awakened the heroic dream in Huang Jun's heart.
When he was a child, Huang Jun liked to watch the lion dance the most, the street was full of people, in the loud and heavy drumming, crisp gongs, the lion dancers would first play a burst of southern boxing "open the pile", and then the two of them played a lion dance, they jumped in the air, light and smooth, making people's blood flow, and the other person wore a smiling face "big-headed Buddha", holding a big sunflower fan to lead the lion to the stage, and the sound of applause resounded in the sky. Huang Jun was touched by the moment when the lion's body swinged its tail in the air, and when he grew up, he became the inheritor of the lion dance. He is now the president of the Saigo Dragon and Lion Sports Association and the fourth generation of the Shangchuan Huang Liansheng Lion Dance Troupe.
Today, every kind of traditional art is facing embarrassment, and the lion dance has encountered it in the transformation. Fortunately, like other intangible cultural heritage projects, the lion dance has regained its vitality after experiencing a difficult transformation and inheritance. The persistence of the inheritor is the key to the tradition from the dark to the bright.
Black and white face, black eyebrows, short black beard, blue nose and iron horns, red eyes, two fangs in the mouth, and a single coin painted on the back of the head...... On the wall of the lobby of a two-story building in Xixiang Bihai Garden, there is a "Zhang Feishi", this "Zhang Feishi" has a history of more than 20 years, and has participated in large and small competitions on behalf of the lion dance troupe, and the shining eyes on the lion's head are the testimony of its "great achievements" , which displays dozens of lion heads from different periods, the championship trophies they won in dragon and lion competitions around the world, and displays a variety of old photos of great monumental significance...... In 2020, Shangchuan Huang Liansheng Lion Dance was awarded this national award, "This is an affirmation of the cultural value of lion dancing and a solemn entrustment of the inheritance of intangible cultural heritage, which is a link between the past and the present, folk customs and history of Lingnan." Huang Jun talked about the meaning of inheriting the lion dance, someone once asked him, learning other sports can also strengthen the body, you can also play with other classmates and friends, what can the dragon and lion dance do? Huang Jun couldn't answer for a while, and then he wanted to understand that "learning to Xi lion dance in addition to strengthening the body, the most important thing is to hone the will, and can cultivate the dragon and lion spirit of self-improvement, loyalty, reverence and patriotism, which has a deep cultural accumulation."
The inheritance and innovation of excellent traditional culture in Bao'an campus is a pragmatic footnote of cultural self-confidence
In recent years, the lion awakening culture has allowed more people to see the great Chinese intangible cultural heritage in a new form, from "Wong Fei Hung: The Lion King Fights" to "The Lion Boy", the art works with the theme of lion awakening are endlessly evocative, and the cultural genes of 5,000 years of the lion dance flow in the blood of every Chinese, more and more people are paying attention to the protection and inheritance of the national intangible cultural heritage item of "Lion Awakening", what can ordinary people do for the protection of intangible cultural heritage?
Twisting, waving, leaning, kneeling, jumping, rocking, rolling. On the campus of Bao'an District, teachers and students can often be seen practicing dragon and lion dances and Xi performing in the school's athletic field, basketball court and other open spaces, and traditional culture is "alive and vibrant" in the school. "Dragon and lion spirit + team spirit", in the repeated matching and running-in of the team members, further understand the deep meaning of "inheritance" and "cooperation". The dragon and lion dance, a traditional folk sports activity, has also ignited the students' enthusiasm for traditional culture, and has become an important starting point for quality education in schools in Bao'an District. At present, the Huang Liansheng Lion Dance Troupe has lion dance teams such as SCO, Hexi, and Yantian, and in addition, the Huang Liansheng Lion Dance Troupe has also set up lion dance teaching in SCO Primary School, Xixiang Middle School and other schools.
The inheritance of Chinese culture has endured for thousands of years, and intangible cultural heritage and inheritors are indispensable, including the elderly who have persevered for half their lives, the young people who practice it, and the young children who are only 3 years old to inherit the intangible cultural heritage. Huang Jun has taken many apprentices, Hua Di has liked to watch lion dances since he was a child, and later formed a lion dance club in Bao'an Vocational and Technical School, and joined the Huang Liansheng lion dance troupe by chance. But most people gradually stay away from this traditional folk sport after working and starting a family, and Hua Di is the one who chooses to stick to it. "Because of my love, I want to use my small strength to promote and spread the traditional culture of lion dancing. Hua Di said that there is no need for everyone to learn lion dance, as long as there are still people willing to understand the Xi and knowledge of lion dance, the culture can be inherited. Traditional cultural skills are not connected, in the eyes of Hua Di, this phenomenon is not uncommon, "now children can play too many things, and it is very hard to learn to wake up the lion, especially the basic skills of Zamabu, these children are not interested in our traditional culture."
In this year's Xixiang March three temple fair lion dance performance, a three-year-old "little lion cub" named Feng Zhenyu is eye-catching, this is not the first time he has performed on stage, one and a half years old can afford to carry the "little lion head", two and a half years old began to dance, three years old began to perform, pick up the drum stick to perform a lion dance gong and drum, he participated in more than 40 large and small activities including Xixiang "March three" temple fair...... Today, Zhenyu, who is young at a young age, has gained a large number of fans. "I don't like to play other things, I love to play lion dance", the soft voice, must be close to the ear to hear clearly, but as long as you pick up the little lion head, a move is a master look, this little pink dumpling is the "group pet" of the lion dance group, in the lion dance training hall, when the other brothers are training, he alone holds the little lion head on the side to practice at a glance Xi "happy, angry, drunk, ......sleeping" As soon as the drumming stopped, the free senior brother would come over to correct his movements, and in the process of teaching and learning, the inheritance began to converge and take shape. "From my grandfather to my dad to me and my brother, we all love lion dances and lion dances, and I hope he will continue to pass them on. Feng Zhenyu's father Wang Houyou said with emotion that intangible cultural heritage is so interesting, if even 3-year-old children like to play, then intangible cultural heritage will not disappear.
In a square near Xixiang Old Street, several teenagers dressed in spirited lion skins danced to the beat of drums. This group of children is a middle school student in a nearby school, holding the lion's head is 14-year-old Zixuan and 15-year-old female drummer Xinying, although Zixuan sometimes feels that practicing the basic skills is quite boring, but when he lifts the lion head, it is like the "seal" has been opened, and he wants to keep dancing, his goal is to be able to perform on the 2.8-meter plum blossom pile. "Playing lion dance is more fun than playing games, and we often meet on weekends to practice Xi, and we hope to have more opportunities to perform on stage, and we feel that playing drums is very handsome." ”
In the cultural performances of major schools in Bao'an District, there are high-level teenagers and children's lion dancing martial arts programs staged in turn every year, and in the name of "lion dancing", the actual activities of cultural exchange are gradually launched in Shenzhen and Hong Kong, and the 2023 Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area "Lion King Competition" was successfully held in mid-December The finals are to further strengthen the cultural identity of Shenzhen and Hong Kong, and promote the young people of Shenzhen and Hong Kong to achieve a vivid two-way journey in the embrace of excellent traditional Chinese culture.
It is precisely under their inheritance that the traditional culture of our nation has not only "woken up", but also radiated new vitality. "In the past 30 years, the country has developed rapidly, and the growth of national confidence has naturally given birth to the people's conscious inheritance of traditional culture. Guo Chenhui, an associate professor at the Department of History at Shenzhen University, believes that "discovering modern ideas and values from the classics is the internal driving force for our cultural inheritance along the way, and inheritance and innovation should also be the best pragmatic footnote for our cultural self-confidence." ”
Become a new "IP" for foreigners to understand Chinese culture, and unlock the "traffic password" for lion dancing to go to sea
Excellent traditional culture embodies the characteristics of a nation. In order for the nation to continue, it is necessary to continue to inherit and innovate our excellent traditional culture. "Making itself is also a culture, and many traditional handicrafts are gradually being replaced by machines. Huang Jun not only dances lions, but also makes lion heads, and he believes that making lion heads is not only a craft, but also a kind of respect and inheritance of traditional culture. Although modern technology can replace many manual operations, the craftsmanship and experience in the process of making lion heads cannot be replaced. Only by hand-making can the elasticity and toughness of bamboo strips be brought into full play, and a more realistic and artistic lion head can be made.
One morning in late autumn in November, when I walked into Huang Jun's lion dance studio, a master was methodically hand-tying a lion's head. Here, you can see how a bamboo strip is transformed into a naughty or majestic lion head.
"The process of tying the lion's head is divided into four steps: piercing, fluttering, painting and loading, each of which is not simple, bamboo to make bones, paper to make skin, ink to add brilliance, fluff to show majesty, well-made lion head is powerful and smart. Hua Di introduced the production process of the lion head, first of all, the skeleton of the lion's head is woven with bamboo strips, this step determines the shape and firmness of the lion's head; flutter is to brush the pasted gauze paper and gauze in order to paste the bamboo embryo, this step pays attention to fast and stable, in order to make the lion head light and firm; painting is to draw different patterns and patterns on the white embryo, painting the lion head, the hand is more stable, the background color can be even, the pattern is more beautiful; the decoration is to use various materials to decorate the lion head that has been drawn, and the lion head is equipped with eyebrows, Eyelashes make the lion's head fuller and more vivid.
Huang Jun has used decades of persistence and exploration to advance his love for lion head into a career. He set up a team to create a traditional dragon and lion workshop, pure craftsmanship to manufacture southern lions, lion drums and other products supporting the dragon and lion, and now exported to Malaysia, Singapore, handmade for competitions, export of high-end lion heads, snapped up orders have been scheduled to the Spring Festival. As a cultural symbol, the lion dance embodies the cultural identity of the Chinese people, and where there are Chinese, there is a lion dance. His team also designed and created a series of cultural and creative products with lion heads as elements, adding a touch of fashion brilliance to intangible cultural heritage.
On August 4, 2023, in the square of the Parker de Lucia Cultural Center in Spain, the traditional gongs and drums resounded through the streets of Madrid, and the two lions of the Huaide Lion Dance Martial Arts Troupe in Fuyong Street jumped up and performed a thrilling performance, winning the local citizens to shout "Bravo!" (Great!) While the superb performance won bursts of applause, the delicate and soft "little lion head" made by Huang Jun's team As soon as it debuted, it made local citizens love it, shined in overseas markets, and circled a large number of international fans, so that these ancient skills and culture continue to bloom in foreign countries.
"As long as the drum beats in our hearts, we are lions." As the movie "Lion Boy" said, the lion's heart has a pot of hot blood. In order to awaken the traditional culture, generation after generation of inheritors have carried the "heavy" lion head, held high the scorching inheritance flag, held the exquisite tie-made skeleton in their hands, stepped on the plum blossom pile, step by step, and brought the lion dance culture to the vast future.
Written by: Nandu reporter Pan Yingyu and Xi student Hao Jianing
Photographer: Nandu reporter Hu Ke
Video Editor: Qian Yi