On the shimmering water surface, dozens of piles stood in a staggered manner, and two dark and strong teenagers were as light as swallows on the 5-meter-high pile. Tornado, move, flash, pounce, swing, swing, swing, leap... This is their daily routine of training on water piles. They are lion-waking boys from Chongkoutun, Teng County, Guangxi.
Water pile daily training
Tengxian , nestled on the shore of the Xunjiang River, the vast river passes through the middle of Tengxian with Tropic of Cancer , and the water charm that is born from water and depends on water spreads in my heart. Speaking of Tengxian, the most famous one is the only "Xiangzhou Farmer Lion Team" inherited by the "national intangible cultural heritage". This peasant lion team won the title of "Oriental Lion King" in the 2004 "Genting Cup" World Lion King Championship of Malaysia . Tengxian also has the reputation of "Lion Dance Hometown".
In 2007, Teng County's "Lion Dance Skills" were included in the first batch of intangible cultural heritage protection list at the municipal level of , and in the same year it was included in the first batch of intangible cultural heritage protection list at the autonomous region level. In May 2011, "Tengxian Lion Dance" was included in the third batch of intangible cultural heritage list at the national level, and is currently one of the only two listed in the national level "Intangible Cultural Heritage" protection list at the Wuzhou City .
"Go, jump to the plum blossom stake", wearing a short sleeve of the dragon-colored silk, the five big characters "Billing the mouth" and the lower body is paired with trousers corresponding to the lion's head. The 18-year-old lion head Cen Dongfu walked quickly to the training ground, and he is a member of this peasant lion team.
Cen Dongfu (first right) and teammates
"I have loved lion dance since I was a child, and it is the 'little tail' behind the lion team"
"Clangdong dong, clangdong dong dong dong..." The sound of gongs and drums is clanging into my ears, and the white-bearded golden lion is rushing happily. In Cen Dongfu's impression, every time the village has happy events during the Chinese New Year and family, the lion dance team will invite the lion dance team to exorcise evil spirits and avoid harm and pray for good fortune.
The lion's head blinked his eyes, shook his head and tail, kicked his back foot, and lifted his front foot, easily jumped onto the first pile, flew up the pile, rolled up the pile, rolled up the pile forward, rolled up the pile, flipped down the pile sideways, and rode on the steel wire... He was fascinated and followed the lion's team. When the lion team was resting, he touched the lion's eyes and rubbed against the beard, and couldn't wait to put the lion's head on his body and jumped around.
At first, Cen Dongfu followed the drum band to play drums and drums, "I didn't dare to practice lion dance at first, because I was afraid of the tall pillars." 13-year-old Cen Dongfu was in a rebellious period and did not like reading, but was obsessed with lion dancing.
The parents saw his love for lion dance, so they sent him to Tengxian Secondary School to learn lion dance. Tengxian Technical College has established the lion dance major in 2015. The school has trained nearly 1,000 lion dance athletes and sent them to all parts of the country to carry forward the lion dance skills of Tengxian.
Every day at dawn, he gets up early to run, hangs single piles, flys steel wires, and flips the piles on the side... Practice drum music and ground lions in the morning, and trains lion dance skills in the afternoon and evening. He trains for 7 hours a day, almost all year round. Cen Dongfu has been going on like this for 5 years.
In 2018, 14-year-old Cen Dongfu became the actor of the lion head. He held the golden lion head, looked left and right, fiddled his eyes, touched his beard, and was full of joy. "The lion's head is the first priority. The lion's head should show flexibility and convey the plot to the audience through his expression." He has a little more responsibility and responsibility on his shoulders.
"The lion wakes up is a spirit, and you want to show an upward spiritual power."
"When I first started learning, I saw that the pile pillars were so high and so far away, so I didn't dare to jump out." Cen Dongfu introduced that the highest land pile was 2.5 meters above the ground and the lowest was 1.5 meters. He said that he was eager to try at that time, but was blocked by the fear in his heart. With the encouragement of the coach, he took the first step, and the seeds of his dream sprouted.
"There are all kinds of fall injuries, and in recent years, I have many lion tails who have partnered with me, and they have injuries everywhere on their bodies, including feet, waist, hands, and those that have been knocked and twisted." Cen Dongfu's words were a little calm.
"What impressed me the most was last year, coach Deng Wenhai and I cooperated with him. At that time, we wanted to challenge a more difficult move.We each retreated, with a distance of about 1.8 meters and we couldn't see each other. He accidentally stepped on the air, and both of us fell down. My waist hit the pile board. The diagnosis was that three bones of the waist were broken," Cen Dongfu said with a choking.
After recuperation at home for more than a month, he returned to the training ground. He stood on the plum blossom stake again, but he was reluctant to move forward. "Leaving a big psychological shadow on me. I was afraid when I saw the leap movements, I became more and more afraid."
The physical injury and psychological frustration, he became suspicious of himself and wanted to give up. "Slowly I felt I couldn't walk anymore, so I told my family that I didn't want to do it." His parents persuaded him to persevere. His parents' support rekindled his fighting spirit, and more of his love for the lion dance that was hard to give up.
Later, he remembered the coach's words again. The situation of the first standing lion group: there are no plum blossom stakes, and the adults in the village go to the mountain to carry wood; there is no training ground, they build piles in the open space in front of and behind the house; there is no lion dance prop, they use baskets as lion heads and bed sheets as lion body...
"Live wake is a spirit. I put it into the lion head, and I show it as a powerful lion, and I want to show an upward spiritual power." He said emotionally that if you are afraid, you have to practice more and give yourself time to practice slowly until you are fearless.
"I will persevere to the end, and it is my dream to become a inheritor of intangible cultural heritage"
"Red Guan Gong, silver horses, black Zhang Fei, Cai Liu Bei, these are the great heroes in lion dance", Cen Dong Fu said shyly, "I want to be a great hero and will continue to persevere."
Competition, training, and performance have been running through his five years. Tens of thousands of hours of tireless training have accumulated, and finally there has been a response. For the past five years, he has been running at the forefront of performances in various competitions and performances, winning numerous awards, and he can also be seen in various online lion dance competitions.
Cen Dongfu's winning group photo (third from right)
"I used to partner with coach Deng Wenhai, but now I am with a classmate of the same age. I have just worked together for two months, and I still need to get more running-in," Cen Dongfu told Zhengguan News reporters that he is preparing for the 15th Traditional Ethnic Sports Games of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region , the competition time is from October 20th to 25th, and the theme is "Two Lions offer blessings and send good luck".
"I have always felt very sorry for not completing that difficult move with Coach Deng. I hope to challenge this move again with my current partner." His eyes were full of confidence.
"Lion wakes up is a traditional Chinese culture. Our Teng County is deeply influenced by this culture. I want to take over this baton and become a inheritor of intangible cultural heritage. Cen Dongfu said that the movements and routines of lion dance are diverse, and we must continue to innovate on the basis of inheritance. There are not only lion dancers but also lion dance girls in their team, but the color of the lion has also broken the traditional black, red and gold. Recently, pink lion girls have also frequently appeared on the Internet.
pink is a rare color among traditional lion dancers. 17-year-old Li Xiaorong prefers this color of lion head. With a pretty face, she put herself into the pink lion's head, with agile figure and heroic posture. The lion-waking movements were deeply engraved in her mind, dancing youth and vitality.
Li Xiaorong (Previous) and teammates
"Liu Xing, as the name suggests, is a wake-up lion. It has abundant energy and is extremely brave. It will never fall down. I will continue to persevere." Li Xiaorong said firmly that the inheritance and innovation of liu Xing culture cannot be separated from the injection of new forces. Letting traditional culture "awaken" and being well-known to more people is their common vision.
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