There is a folk activity in Zhongcun Street, Panyu District, every year on the 18th and 19th of the first month, you can feel the atmosphere of firecrackers and gongs and drums, more than 10,000 citizens and tourists from all walks of life participate in the joy and experience the characteristic folk activities, it is "Kang Gong Festival".
"Kang Gong's Day"
The origin and historical background of "Kang Gong's Festival" can be traced back to a heroic general in the Northern Song Dynasty - Kang Bao. According to historical records, Kang Gong's name was Bao, an outstanding general in the Northern Song Dynasty, known for his courage and good fighting. In the third year of Xianping of Song Zhenzong, the Liao soldiers invaded the Central Plains, and Kang Baoyi served as the commander of Gaoyang Pass, holding his position and taking the security of the country and the people as his own responsibility.
Kang Gong's loyal deeds deeply touched the descendants, and in order to commemorate his bravery and contributions, people began to build temples to worship him, and paraded around the village every year on his birth day to remember. Therefore, every year on the eighteenth day of the first lunar month, Zhongcun will hold a grand ceremony for the "Boss Gong" - "Eighteen Meetings", also known as "Zhongcun Meeting" and "Boss Gong's Day", hundreds of villagers dance dragons and lions, dress up in lineup, carry the statue of "Kanggong" to parade around the local (Zhong 1, Zhong 2, Zhong 3, Zhong 4, Shengshi, Hanxi) six villages, in order to commemorate the guardian saint of Zhong Village, and pray for his protection and safety. This tradition has gradually spread and has become an important cultural activity among the local people.
"Kang Gong's Day"
"Kang Gong's Day" is not only a festival to commemorate Kang Gong's heroic deeds, but also an important embodiment and inheritance of local culture. With the development of the times, the traditional festival of "Kanggong Festival" is also constantly rejuvenating. Modern parades are much larger and more diverse. Dressed in colorful traditional costumes, the villagers put the statue of Princess Kang on a gorgeous car, led by the flag teams of each village, followed by various teams such as dragon and lion teams, martial arts teams, honor guards, gongs and drums, and other teams, parade along the main roads of Zhongcun Street, singing auspicious praises to the citizens, and stopping from time to time to perform for the onlookers. During the parade, the crowd meandered for hundreds of meters, colorful flags fluttered, dragons and lions leaped, gongs and drums were noisy, and the scene was lively and spectacular.
In addition to the vivid and huge "coach" lineup, there are also special teams such as the Dragon and Lion Team and the Waist Drum Team in the team.
Dragon and Lions
The scene of the event
As the "hometown of Chinese dragon and lion culture", Zhongcun Street's dragon and lion performances are particularly eye-catching in the celebration of "Kang Gong's Day". The wonderful dragon and lion dance performance not only demonstrated the profound cultural heritage of Zhongcun Street, but also reflected the local people's love and inheritance of traditional culture.
According to Chen Litao, secretary general of the Dragon and Lion Martial Arts Association of Zhongcun Street, Zhongcun is not only the "hometown of dragon and lion culture in Guangdong Province", but also the "hometown of Chinese dragon and lion culture". At the opening ceremony of the Doha Asian Games, the wonderful performance of the Zhongcun Street Dragon and Lion Troupe in Panyu District won the applause of the global audience. A number of dragon and lion troupes in Zhongcun Street have also actively participated in high-level competitions at home and abroad, such as the "Guangzhou Traditional Lion Dance Routine Competition" and the "2019 Guangzhou Dragon and Lion Cultural Festival 'Haiquan Gong Cup' International Southern Lion Elite Invitational Competition", etc., and have achieved excellent results.
The dragon and lion troupe of Zhongcun Middle School also performed well in various competitions, and won the first prize of the dragon and lion championships at the district, municipal and provincial levels for many times. The achievement of these achievements not only reflects the strength of Zhongcun dragon and lion culture, but also shows the love and inheritance of Zhongcun people for dragon and lion culture.
In recent years, Zhongcun Street has actively carried out the construction of dragon and lion intangible cultural heritage projects, cultivating batches of good seedlings of dragon and lion inheritance, and the parade team has also added Zhongcun Hongxiang School dragon team and little lion team students to parade, showing the style of intangible cultural heritage inheritance into the campus and folk traditional culture "passing on the torch", injecting new vitality into the inheritance and development of traditional culture.
In the view of Peng Deming, chairman of the Kanggong Council, "Kanggong Festival" is not only a festival to commemorate Kanggong, but also an important part of local culture. It carries the villagers' admiration and gratitude to Kang Gong, and also reflects people's yearning and pursuit of a peaceful and peaceful life. Through this festival, people can inherit and carry forward traditional culture, and enhance the cohesion and centripetal force of villagers.
The reporter also interviewed the citizens who had participated in the "Kanggong Festival" folk activities, and their evaluation of the "Kanggong Festival" celebration activities was generally very positive and positive.
"It was my first time to participate in the 'Kang Gong Festival' celebration, and although there were a large number of participants and a spectacular procession, I found the whole event to be well-organized, showing a strong traditional cultural atmosphere and local characteristics, which was very interesting. The citizen said.
"As a traditional folk activity in our local area, 'Kang Gong Festival' not only has a profound historical heritage, but also contains rich cultural significance. By participating in the celebrations, we can better inherit traditional culture and folk beliefs, and enhance our sense of identity and belonging to folk culture. Local villagers said.
"The 'Kang Gong Festival' celebration provides us with an opportunity for leisure and socialising. During the event, we were able to get together with family and friends, share the joy and joy of the festival, and enhance our feelings and friendships with each other. Local villagers said.
Citizens believe that this is a traditional folk activity with profound historical heritage and cultural connotation, which not only shows the local cultural characteristics, but also enriches the spiritual and cultural life of the citizens.
Text/photo: Panyu financial media reporter Dai Rui