Young Lion Dancers Performed “ Battle for The Longan”, Rejuvenateing The Millennia

广东7月的夏天像火一样烈，在茂名高州储良龙眼母树公园内，黄斌武和13名徒弟挥汗如雨，正在创排舞狮节目《龙眼争霸》。就在两个月前，“高州舞狮”成功入选茂名市第七批市级非物质文化遗产代表性项目名录。

The summer of July in Guangdong is as fierce as fire. In Maoming Gaozhou Chuliang Longan Mother Tree Park, Huang Binwu and 13 apprentices are sweating profusely and creating the lion dance program "Battle for Longan". Just two months ago, "Gaozhou Lion Dance" was successfully selected into the list of the seventh batch of representative projects of municipal intangible cultural heritage in Maoming City.

As the inheritor of the lion dance (county and city level) of the Gaozhou intangible cultural heritage project, Huang Binwu hopes to combine the lion dance with the specialties of his hometown to create a program full of "Gaozhou flavor". In Gaozhou, there are longan trees planted in front of every family, and the idea of using longan to cai-qin came to Huang Binwu's mind. A bold idea - the combination of lion dance and longan was born.

"Promot more Gaozhou Longan, good! We really need these young people to join us." Mo Junmou, the guardian of the ancient tree of Longyan, was moved to see this group of lion dance apprentices who were the oldest but 16 years old and the youngest was still in primary school. After planting lychee and longan in Gaozhou for a lifetime, Mo Junmou witnessed the "sweet achievements" of his hometown under the development of the Times. Now his greatest wish is that more young people are willing to stay and develop in Gaozhou, which is also Huang Binwu's wish.

Lions Battle for Millennial Logan

Under the mother tree of Chuliang's longan, two lions met and wanted to compete for the longan on the tree. With high-blooded drums and teased by the big-headed Buddha's jokes, the lion vividly showed the scenes of mutual temptation, hesitation, power and so on through the actions of jumping, flashing, pounce and pedaling.

Meeting the brave on the narrow road, people must compete to pass and the king will win. Chuliang logan mother tree is a famous rare and excellent single plant of Logan. It is also a heroic mother tree that has been popular all over the world from Gaozhou. Lions were also attracted by Logan. As the drum beat became faster and heavier, the lions’ momentum became stronger. Their mouth and eyes opened and closed harder. They sometimes shaked their head and raised their legs to provoke. Let’s see who can take the sweetest fruit from the Logan mother tree in the end.

This is "Battle for The Logan" created by Huang Binwu in order to celebrate the selection of Gaozhou lion dance into the municipal intangible cultural heritage and promote the specialties of Gaozhou longan. “Times are constantly developing. In our creation, we should not only inherit ancient skills, but also constantly add new elements on this basis, so that the precious wealth left by our ancestors can be rejuvenated with new vitality”. Huang Binwu told reporters that the combination of lion dance and longan was to polish the intangible cultural heritage business card of Gaozhou lion dance, and at the same time help the rural revitalization of his hometown.

Gaozhou lion dance is based on martial arts activities and can put on many arrays, which is the unique skill of "Chinese lion dance". The "Wen Shi" is delicate and witty, especially showing fun movements such as playing the ball, grabbing the ball, licking hair, rolling, itching, scratching the ear, dozing off, bowing, etc. The "Wu Shi" pays attention to the difficult movements of martial arts skills, such as jumping, flashing, pounce and kick. With majestic drum music and a person dressed as a "big-headed Buddha" teasing with a sunflower fan in his hand, the atmosphere is vivid and the scene is spectacular.

"I came to see how these children use lion dance to promote Gaozhou longan." On the day of the rehearsal, Mo Junmou, the guardian of the ancient dragon eye tree, came to the scene early. He told the reporter that he also liked to watch lion dance since he was a child. In the past, there were always lion dances to join in the fun during the Spring Festival. “I think it's very interesting to combine cai-qin with longan. Gaozhou lion dance and Gaozhou longan are very authentic Gaozhou culture”. Obviously, "Battle for The Logan" got Mo Jun's full praise.

Combine Traditional Industry with The Young

"Chu Liang's longan mostly comes out of Gaozhou, and Gaozhou's longan is the best in the world." Gaozhou Chuliang longan was named because it originated in Chuliang Village, Boundary Town, Gaozhou City. It has thin pericarp, thick pulp and small core. It is crystal, crisp, sweet and fragrant, and has a high edible rate. Now, it’s a synonym for high-quality longan and it has won many gold medals in fruit awards at home and abroad.

The history of Chuliang Longyan began in the 1980s, from Gaozhou to Maoming and Zhanjiang, from Guangdong to Fujian, Guangxi, Hainan and other places. It was from then on that Mo Junmou began to plant Chuliang longan, and with the recognized excellent planting technology, he became the first guardians of the ancient tree of lychee and longan in Guangdong. After sticking to the longan industry for decades, he now has his own orchard and processing base, and his two sons and daughter-in-law have also returned home to help him do some business together.

"Young people know more. Now they engage in e-commerce, selling longan fresh fruits and processed products on the Internet. After picking fruits in the morning, they can send them out in the afternoon. It's very convenient." The participation of young people has brought new vitality to the traditional Gaozhou longan industry. Now, Gaozhou longan has established a mature cold chain logistics system. If you place an order one day, you can receive the newly picked longan the next day to ensure that you can eat fresh and sweet longan all over the country.

Huang Binwu is also sticking to another traditional industry in Gaozhou, that is Gaozhou lion dance. Huang Binwu, born in 1984, was influenced by his grandfather and father. He has learned martial arts, lion dance and other traditional skills since he was a child. In the past, folk recreational activities were relatively scarce, and lion dance was a good way to make a living. Huang Binwu studied with his elders and earned tuition fees through lion dance for himself to go to school.

At the end of the 1990s, Huang Binwu and his two younger brothers, Huang Binwen and Huang Binhui, took over the responsibility of the Dragon Lion Team from their grandfather and re-established the "Star Emperor Dragon Lion Sports Club" in 2019. However, the lion dance training was difficult because the cycle was long and the performance was dangerous. Also, the income was unstable. As a result, many young people were reluctant to learn, and many lion dance groups were forced to disband for various reasons.

In Huang Binwu's words, today's lion dance class not only can't make money, but also needs to depend on other businesses to make money. “I feel that I can't let go of this thing. I always feel that I have the responsibility to inherit and protect the Gaozhou lion dance”. In 2021, Huang Binwu registered and established a company, focusing on promoting Gaozhou lion dance.

In order to attract more people to participate in the lion dance performance, Huang Binwu led the team to carry out public free training activities and recruited the majority of teenagers to teach for free. "As long as some young people like it, this skill will not be lost." At the same time, he also led the team to organize the lion dance class to enter the campus for publicity. "Going to the campus can explore the inheritors of a new generation of intangible cultural heritage, which is conducive to cultivating a new generation of intangible cultural heritage audiences." Huang Binwu said.

Guardians Rejuvenate The Tradition

In Gaozhou South Lion (high-footed lion) skill, Huang Binwu integrated the dwarf lion skill and created a "new school" Gaozhou lion dance with more ornamental and lighter operation. For the selection of apprentices, he always adheres to his own standards. It is not only necessary to examine the individual's physical quality, but also to integrate their quality and personality. Huang Binwu revealed that after the disciples started, the apprentices even needed to control their diet and rest to keep in shape according to their role positioning.

Lion dance is a very hard job, especially for children. A 10-pound lion's head not only needs to be lifted for a long time, but also requires two people to cooperate and complete jumping, swirl and other postures. In the hot weather, after a performance, the sweat from the body is enough to soak the thick costume.

"In the summer vacation, I will do more training for them. I practice almost every day." Huang Binwu shouted slogans, and the 13 disciples repeated the lion dance over and over again. Among this group of children, there are brothers and sisters who go to class together, young people who come back from summer vacation to study for a short period, and young people who are determined to take lion dance.

Peng Xinjian, who was placed in the center of the team by Huang Binwu, has a cool style that is not match with age of 15. He is like a leader among children, with good movements and meticulous training. When the reporter asked about everyone's future plans, Peng Xinjian said firmly, "I will do lion dance in the future." When the reporter relayed Huang Binwu's words, "We should focus on training Peng to become the next generation of lion dance in Gaozhou", a childish smile finally appeared on Peng Xinjian's mouth.

"I hope more young people will join in us". This has become the long-cherished wish of many practitioners in traditional industries. Over the years, Huang Binwu has painstakingly gathered a group of "lion boys and girls" with love. Mo Junmou also told reporters that he is very grateful for the rural revitalization to promote the rapid development of Gaozhou Longan, which can make his two sons willing to stay at home and develop. "If Longan hadn't been able to make money, they must leave and work outside."

With the help of young people, Mo Junmou can spend more time on caring the longan mother tree. “ The mother tree is relatively old, and the nursing work needs to be more refined. Every year, the fertilization, spraying and deworming of the trees are becoming more and more numerous, and it is necessary to master the time to take care of it carefully”. Now the fruit is ripe and the fruit is full of branches. It’s huge, high-quality and the fruit can be harvested to more than 400 catties.

The sweat of the guardians has rejuvenated traditional industries. After a hundred years, the Chuliang mother tree is still luxuriant, bearing crisp and sweet fruits every year. Under the longan tree, children are eager to see the future, waiting for the day when they really become a “lion”.

【记者】实习生张一之

【来源】南方农村报

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