Some time ago, Guangxi Hechi College launched a special sports course " Duzhu Drifting ", which triggered heated discussions among netizens.
Each student of the school's physical education major held a sliding pole and stepped on a single bamboo, walking alone on the river as if walking on flat ground.
Some highly skilled students even showed off fancy stunts: water one-word horse , water push-ups, and "lion dance version of single bamboo float".
Netizens said: "The "water rafting" skill that I thought would only appear in Jin Yong's novels turns out to be around us..."
Since 2015, Guangxi Hechi College has actively participated in various bamboo rafting competitions at or above the provincial level, and has won more than 20 awards, including 37 first prizes.
It’s no wonder that the students of this college are amazing with their unique skills.
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Single bamboo rafting is a folk stunt originated from the Chishui River basin. It is also known as "drifting a canoe" or "canoe" and has a history of more than 2,000 years.
In ancient times, people in northern Guizhou often used rivers to transport wood. In order to cope with the rapids on the way and catch up with the washed away goods, the locals thought hard and developed this skill. Later, it gradually developed into a unique mode of transportation.
As the times change, the skill of Duzhu Drifting has been continuously improved, and the common people have endowed it with competitive and ornamental , making it a popular sport and performance event among the people.
However, in modern times, Duzhu Piao has lost its original meaning and has gradually become an almost lost skill.
In 2006, the Sports Bureau of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region listed "Duzhu Diao" as a "focus project" in the traditional sports protection and inheritance demonstration zone. Duzhu Diao has therefore become a breakthrough point in the reform of physical education teaching in Guangxi colleges and universities.
In 2009, Duzhu Piao was officially selected into the third batch of intangible cultural heritage list in Guizhou Province; in 2021, Duzhu Piao was officially selected as a national intangible cultural heritage project again.
More and more young people are beginning to work hard to promote this skill.
5-year-old Yangliu has been studying Duzhu Piao for 18 years. With his innovative interpretation of unique Chinese characteristics , he has become popular abroad.
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In the video, she sometimes wears a long white dress, holds her hair in a bun, and holds a sword, transforming into Hua Mulan who joins the army for her father;
sometimes she wears an actress costume, Wearing a phoenix crown on their head, holding colorful sleeves with their hands, they danced on the sparkling lake;
sometimes dressed in traditional Hanfu, with flower mother-of-pearl makeup, holding manzhu and sandalwood, walking smoothly among the green mountains and green waters.
Yangliu cleverly integrated dance elements and traditional Chinese costumes into the Duzhu Diao performance, giving this ancient skill a new lease of life.
Chinese traditional costumes have a strong cultural heritage. Combined with Duzhu Diao, it not only reflects the original characteristics, but also allows people to feel the unique charm of traditional Chinese culture. Coupled with the wonderful dance, this is undoubtedly a successful innovation.
"Chinese people's genes are so good!" "Like fairies descending to earth!" "China's situation is so amazing!" Foreign netizens were not stingy in their praise of Yangliu.
Duzhu Piao has high requirements on people's physical fitness, including strength, skills, endurance and balance and coordination abilities.
Regarding this, Yang Liu always lamented: "Although the Duzhu Drifting performance looks beautiful, there is unspeakable sadness behind it."
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Yang Liu's grandmother is a member of the Guizhou Zunyi Swimming Association, and her favorite sport is Duzhu Drifting.
When Yangliu was a child, she was shorter and thinner than her peers. Her grandmother, who felt sorry for her granddaughter, wanted her to learn Duzhu Diao to achieve the effect of strengthening her body.
Since the first time Yang Liu saw his grandma rowing on a single bamboo raft, a seed was planted in his heart: "What would it feel like if I could stand on it?"
However, this seemingly "cool" sport is far from as easy as imagined.
In order to find the right balance point, Xiao Yangliu needs to keep trying. He falls into the water, gets up, and falls into the water again countless times. He often knocks himself against a bamboo pole and gets bruises all over his body.
When mentioning the hardships of practicing Duzhu Drifting as a child, Yang Liu couldn't help but talk about it: "It's very sunny in summer, very cold in winter, and you have to fall into the water countless times and get up again. Injuries are common!"
However, every time when little Yangliu wants to give up, her grandma will enlighten her and say: "Don't be afraid of hardship, it will become sweet when you eat hard!"
Under her grandma's careful instruction, Xiao Yangliu also developed a tenacity that refused to admit defeat. Although she kept falling on the bamboo pole, she could always get up stubbornly again and comfort herself softly: "I can do it again if I try it again!"
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After practicing hundreds of times, Yang Liu finally mastered the technique of Duzhu Diao and began to seek breakthroughs in the way of expression.
Many people may find "Duzhu Piao" surprising and novel when they see it for the first time, but they will definitely find it boring after watching it more times.
How to seek innovation and adapt to the times has become a headache for many intangible cultural heritage inheritors.
Yangliu once attended an art school and studied folk dance, classical dance , ballet and other dances. By chance, she decided to use her dance skills to create a new way of performance by dancing on bamboo poles.
In 2016, a short video titled "Dude Bamboo - Bamboo Dance Art from China" attracted huge attention on the American social platform Facebook.
In just a few hours, the number of views exceeded 170,000, and more than 4,600 people liked it. 19-year-old Yang Liu surprised everyone with a water ballet.
After that, Yang Liu often tried folk dance, modern dance, , and classical dance. She had to practice a single movement hundreds of times, and injuries were inevitable: "Sometimes I fell on a bamboo pole, and a layer of skin was directly rubbed off my legs. It was really difficult!"
In recent years, Hanfu culture has gradually revived, and Yang Liu, who has a profound dance background, tried to match ancient costume elements into the Duzhu Diao performance.
To this end, she has purchased more than 20 sets of beautiful costumes and accessories, and will put on exquisite makeup every time she performs. This is how we see those mysterious women with power to cover their faces, the dancing Feitian Dunhuang, the graceful and graceful fairies...
After that, Yang Liu posted her performance video to the short video platform, and gained the love of many fans.
Today, 25-year-old Yang Liu has been practicing Duzhu Piao for 18 years. It is these 18 years of tears and sweat that have made her the girl she is today.
It is because of outstanding young people like Yang Liu that traditional Chinese culture can be passed on.
I believe that in the future, more young people will dare to take over this inheritance responsibility and help intangible cultural heritage to go abroad and amaze the world.
References:
Intangible Cultural Heritage Catalog: Duzhu Drifting
CCTV News - "Stunt Skills | "Water Qinggong" Duzhu Drifting Reproduces "Crossing the River with a Reed" and "Lingbo Weibu""
Global Network - "Teaching "Qinggong" in Colleges and Universities? Netizen: Got "scrolled" by the follow-up "
Global Network - "One Bamboo Crossing the River! The post-90s girl's "Double Bamboo Floating" stunt has become popular overseas"
China News Network - "Guangxi Ethnic Minority Traditional Sports Meet presents "Water Ballet" - "Single Bamboo Drifting" "
