Five years ago, a young rock 'n' roll boy named Gu Ya came to Haiga Primary School in Dawan Town, Liupanshui, Guizhou Province. At that time, this rural primary school, located on a hill at an altitude of more than 2,400 meters, had only a dilapidated two-story teaching building, four teachers, more than a dozen students, and all grades were uneven.
Many people know the story later, the principal and teachers persevered, Gu Ya led the children to form one band after another, and millions of people heard their songs through Douyin. Last summer, Douyin held a mountaintop concert for them at Haiga Primary School, invited the new pants band, and broadcast the whole live through Gu Ya's Douyin account "Teacher Gu", and a total of 1.42 million people watched the performance online.
People call the story that took place in Haiga a real version of "Spring in the Cattle Herding Class."
This summer, we went to more mountain villages and found more "cattle herding classes".
What has changed these young people in the mountains is the attention paid to them by the outside world and the changes in the way of communication brought about by technological progress. Through the window of short videos, young teachers find more possibilities in the countryside, and teenagers completely open up another world. This is also one of the most valuable values of short video platforms such as Douyin.
In today's China, between strangers, there is no better way to communicate and empathize than music. If you've heard children sing, if you've seen them sing, maybe you'll share our faith in music, and music brings freedom.
Daliangshan is full of mountains, Puge County is in the southeast of Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, "Puge" is a Yi word, meaning meadow under the mouth of the mountain. Jib Xiaolong and Awu Youfa grew up in these mountains.
Both of these Puge youths dreamed of becoming singers, did not give up music, and finally returned to the primary school in the mountains as teachers. The two teachers discussed that it would be better to bring students who were interested in music to play music together.
More and more children sang and developed into choirs. Xiaolong played guitar accompaniment, and Awu conducted in front. At the height of the crowd, there were more than fifty children in the choir, and even the choir could not stand.
In the Yi people, many girls are called "lady" by their breast names. Xiaolong named the choir "Lady Choir". He and Ah Wu composed more than a dozen Yi nursery rhymes for the girls, taught them to sing, and filmed videos for the children to post on the Internet. In the past, Xiaolong posted his own singing video on Douyin, with only six or seven likes. But the first time he uploaded the "Rispuki" sung by the girls, it was only a day's effort, and he had more than a thousand likes. He excitedly read the comments to everyone.
Today, the Choir has been established for more than three years. Fifth grader "Tease Girl" was the first to join. Her name was Asimo Woogo, and she smiled with her eyes bent. Assi is the third child in the family, and both older siblings have left the house. Usually, my mother works in the fields, my father goes up the mountain to herd sheep, and Assi also has to help with many jobs. She was cooking before elementary school, and when she couldn't reach the stove, she moved a bench to cushion it. Grow corn, grow potatoes, grow flue-cured tobacco, pluck pig grass, she will do anything. Assi said, "If our children here can't work, parents will be told to spoil their children too much." ”
"Blue Girl" is one of the best children in the choir. His name is Baoji Morgo. Baoji's father is gone, her mother is working in Fujian, and she sometimes lives in her grandparents' house, sometimes in the family of her married eldest brother. It takes two hours to walk from my grandparents' house to the school, so Baoji has lived on campus since the first grade. Teacher Gibb specially wrote a song for Baoji, called "Brave Girl", the lyrics said: "Not afraid of the jackals in the depths of the dense forest, dare to talk about snakes and scorpions in the deep sea." "When walking alone on the mountain road, Bao Ji remembered the song, as if the friends of the choir were all around, and she was not afraid.
The oldest person in the group was Chen Jimo, a "big girl", who was seventeen years old and had grown into a young girl. Chen Jimo's favorite song is called "Dandelion", which is a song for his mother. Her parents divorced when she was less than two years old, and she never saw her mother again. Dad later married her stepmother and moved into a big house where she lived with her grandmother.
When she was a child, her grandmother always carried her on her back, and when she was four or five years old, she would help her grandmother go up the mountain to herd sheep. When she grew up, the other children went to school, and she was still herding sheep. She sat in front of the house and watched other people's children go to school with school bags and new clothes, feeling envious, but no one ever mentioned school to her. Until the township implemented the policy of "controlling dropouts and protecting school", many people criticized her father, why not let the children study, and her father led her to the Dachu Township Primary School. She was almost 12 years old.
Chen Jimo's greatest wish is to go out and see the outside world.
At the Central Primary School in Renmin Town, Anda City, Heilongjiang, two young music teachers, Li Ping and Zhang Yu, decided to set up a music class. They found that the children's voices were so clear and pure that they were truly jade.
The music class gradually grew in size and expanded into a choir of thirty or forty people. Two teachers gave the choir a simple and straightforward name – "The Children of the Village".
Once, the choir rehearsed chopsticks brothers' "Father", and the lead singer Liu Xinyue suddenly sang himself and cried. She thought of her own father. Liu Xinyue and her three-year-old brother live with her grandmother and grandfather, and her parents work in Daqing City, and she is not very clear about what they do. She said, "It looks like it's a wall. ”
When Liu Xinyue first joined the music class, she did not fit in well and did not communicate with people. Li Ping soon found that she had a super sense of music, with absolute pitch ability, a song learned, what is the original song Key, she sang, is what Key, more accurate than all children. But Li Ping also felt that she seemed to have no interest in learning at all, and even some resistance. She often makes mistakes, whether it's being named by a teacher in class to answer a question or learning lyrics in a music class. Her classmates called her "little silly child."
Li Ping then selected Liu Xinyue as the lead singer and arranged a solo singing for her. She sang the wrong word, and two teachers told her not to be afraid and to teach it over and over again. When she sang it herself, the teachers brought the whole class to applaud her and congratulate her.
Liu Xinyue loved to sing when she was a child. When she was in kindergarten, she followed her mother, who was a migrant worker, to Tianjin. Mom worked outside all day, and she was always at home alone. It was so boring that she would make up a song herself and sing it to herself. But singing like that is not interesting, too lonely. She likes that now, there are many people listening to her singing, and there are many friends singing together.
After the song "Father" was arranged, "The Children in the Village" were invited to the provincial city of Harbin to record a program. That day, Liu Xinyue, who always made mistakes, performed perfectly. Her clear children's voice had just sung the first sentence, "Always ask for you, but never say thank you", and the audience wet their eyes. Li Ping and Zhang Yu on the edge of the stage looked at them and tried to hold back their tears.
At the central primary school in Daguanting Town, Raoyang County, Hengshui City, Hebei Province, 12-year-old Liu Zeju has a unique natural voice. At first, no one noticed about it.
Dad was a delivery man at the town's supermarket, leaving early and returning late. Mom was also very busy processing clothes for people. He had an older brother who went to middle school far away and only came back once a month. Liu Zeju sang and sang at home every day, and his father, mother and brother either did not hear it or did not care.
In the fourth grade of primary school, a new music teacher named Zhang Yi was added to the school. Once, Teacher Zhang Yi asked everyone what songs they wanted to hear? Liu Zeju immediately raised his hand and lit an ancient song "Youshan Love" that was on the douyin fire. The teacher asked him to sing it to everyone, and Liu Zeju did not twist it, stood up, and sang generously.
As soon as he opened his mouth, the voice not only had the bright and high-pitched voice of a child's voice, but also mixed with the melodic tone of the opera, which was clearly a popular opera singing method. I don't know where this kid learned it from. She took out her mobile phone and recorded a video of Liu Zeju singing and sent it to Douyin. Liu Ze raised a fire.
In the past, if you asked Liu Zeju what he wanted to do in the future? He will answer you perfunctorily: "Be a useful person to society." "For a while, he wanted to be a doctor, because Grandpa's leg was suffering from a blood clot and had limited mobility, and he wanted to cure Grandpa. Later, I thought that when the doctor is too difficult, when the needle is nervous, it is easy to prick the wrong hand, or forget it.
But now, his dream is clear. He wanted to be a singer like Li Yugang, and he even thought that the goal of the future university examination was the China Academy of Performing Arts.
When Liu Zeju sang, there was a kind of singer's self-consciousness, he straightened his waist, picked up the posture, like a mature party singer, slowly spreading an arm with melody and emotions.
But he was still a 12-year-old kid after all. The thing that has made him unhappy recently is that he was beaten by his parents because he was about to eat a fire. This summer, Liu Zeju ran in the field and in the vegetable field, tanning himself black and not slipping in the autumn. He didn't mind basking in the sun at all, anyway, "put on makeup on stage and it was white."
Haiga Primary School is an ordinary village in Dashan, Liupanshui Dawan Town, Guizhou, with few teachers and students, quiet, and somewhat dull. When Gu Ya first came here, he took a guitar with him. As he sang in his office, several students leaned over the window to watch. He called in the curious students and asked them to pluck the strings, listen to the sounds, and teach them by hand. Later, he raised instruments and taught more children.
In 2018, the first band of Haiga Primary School was formed and named "Encounter". The following year, the members of the "Encounter" band graduated, and the next "Unknown Boys" band was formed.
One day, in that old rehearsal room, the "Unknown Boy" performed "A Song for You" by the band. Twenty or so younger children sat on the ground with their legs in their arms, their heads up, and watched intently. Five girls wear school uniforms and wear red scarves around their necks. Teacher Gu Ya took this picture with his mobile phone and transmitted it to Douyin. The next day, the video spread across the internet. Haiga Elementary School, hidden in the mountains, suddenly caught fire.
The Band of Pain Came, wave after wave of video teams, media reporters came, and finally, the New Pants Band also came to Haiga and performed a live online concert with them.
That summer vacation was like a dream. The originally quiet village of Haiga became lively. What's it like to be famous? Bassist Xiong Qiuhua said: "Every day I can see different faces, talk to them about my own affairs, and listen to them talk about things outside." ”
After the summer, it's time for the five girls to go to junior high school. The girls all went to the ten middle schools in Liupanshui City, except for Huang Yumei. She was a girl with thick eyebrows and big eyes, and when she didn't smile, she had a stubborn and genuine look on her face. She stayed at The Great Bay Middle School in town, where both parents said that the band was just entertainment and that learning was the most important thing.
Arriving at Dawan Middle School, Huang Yumei began to live in the school, and felt a sharp increase in pressure. Every day, I get up at five o'clock, run at six o'clock, run 4,000 meters, then eat breakfast and go to class for the day. Everyone is very desperate, and many people will even line up to eat or go to the toilet, and they will carry their textbooks with them. She often misses playing drums at Haiga Elementary School and spending time with the band and Teacher Gu. But all she had left in her life was learning.
This summer, another video team came to Haiga Primary School. Taking advantage of the holiday, Teacher Gu Ya called back the members of the "Unknown Teenagers" to participate in rehearsal and shooting. After receiving Teacher Gu's call, Huang Yumei felt incredible, and she thought that Teacher Gu had forgotten her. She returned to Haiga Elementary School and regained her grip on the drum stick. She hadn't seen a drum in a whole year.
Five years ago, when Gu Ya, a rock youth who played heavy metal in a band, came to Haiga Village in Liupanshui Dawan Town, Haiga Primary School was almost demolished. Many people know the story later. People call the story that took place in Haiga a realistic version of "The Spring of the Cattle Herding Class."
Formed in September 2020, Naughty Genie is the third band at Haiga Elementary School. They were simply lucky enough to have a complete set of instruments, equipment and rehearsal rooms.
The lead singer of the Naughty Elf is called Bear Society, and is the sister of Akihana Bear, the bassist of the previous unknown teen band. The rhythm guitar is called Huang Yulan, and she is the younger sister of Huang Yumei, the drummer of the Unknown Junior Band. The lead guitar is Xiong Tang Yudi and Xiong Hui, these two girls are relatives, on the generations, Xiong Will be her aunt, but the relationship between the two little girls is "as close as sisters".
In addition to the three little girls, drummer Xiong Tangyu and bassist Chen Xinyao are both boys. Xiong Tangyu once studied drum kits at the piano shop in the town, but it was too boring to practice alone in the piano shop, he studied for a year, and when he was about to give up, his father sent him to Haiga Primary School. He joined the band and felt that playing the drums "returned to confidence".
The naughty elves also caught up with a series of opportunities brought about by the fermentation of haiga heat.
They've been to Beijing. It was the first time the five children had gone out, and the drummer was so dizzy that he wanted to throw up. The performance venue is huge, the children stand up to see, the stage is densely packed with people, very nervous. The bear will not be able to let go of his voice and sing out of tune. Xiong Tang Yudi played the wrong sound, panicked and found it again.
They also took the stage at the Lishui Midi Music Festival. This time, the naughty elf completely let go. Xiong Tangyu was sweating profusely as he played the drums, his hands were wet, and when he was excited, he knocked down a drum stick.
They also participated in the tour of the Guiyang station of the band Pain Yang. On the stage of Qingyan Ancient Town, three girls use red silk ribbons to tie up the iconic double pill Nezha head, and the naughty elf finale appears. Gao Hu, the lead singer, led the audience and shouted in unison: "Haiga, bullshit! ”
After the performance, the children sweated and immersed themselves in the high-pitched atmosphere of the scene. They and Gu Ya high-fived one by one. The bear would excitedly raise his face and say to the teacher, "I finally know what rock 'n' roll is." It is to let go of yourself, to be free, to be happy. ”