“Wow ! How is this lion so cool !” The playground of the Meishan Adult School was filled with the sounds of children exclaiming. In the middle of the playground, accompanied by the noisy sound of gongs and drums, a red “lion” was jumping high, while another yellow “lion” is pacing back and forth on a plum blossom pile. It turned out that a study activity on the "MeishanLion Dance", an intangible cultural heritage project, was being carried out here.

In the March of Meishan, enjoying spring breeze and the first blooming flowers, Meizhong Village ushered in two groups of special “guests” - a total of 20 classes of primary school students from the High-tech Zone Experimental School and the No. 2 Experimental Primary School of Yinzhou District. They came to participate in the study and experience activity themed “Feel the Intangible Cultural Heritage Culture and Inherit the Lion Dance Spirit” held by the Meishan “Intangible Cultural Heritage Lion Dance” Gongfu Workshop.

Shen Haidi, also known as “Lion King”, the inheritor of intangible cultural heritage, first introduced the origin and development of “lion dance” to children. It is said that the “Meishan Lion Dance” originated in the Daoguang period of the Qing Dynasty. In order to expel pirates and strengthen the people’s courage, Meishan villagers at that time created a fierce “lion” image with open mouth, exposed teeth and staring eyes, and combined lion dance with martial arts. Today, “Meishan Lion Dance” has been a municipal intangible cultural heritage project. Listening to Shen Haidi's vivid narration, the children at the spot were all fascinated.

At the stage of practical experience, Shen Heidi and the lion dance team members first performed a difficult lion dance, and then taught the children the basic movements of the “two-person lion dance”, including three saluting etiquette, the steps of shaking the head and tail, and the expressions of happiness, anger, sadness and joy, etc., and the children followed the learning to do. In response to the two-person cooperation problem of "two-person lion dance", Shen Haidi has also considered in advance, and reasonably groups and matches students according to gender, height, number of people, etc., so as to maximize the cooperation between children while reducing potential safety hazards. After the teaching, Shen asked all the children to dress up in lion dance costumes one by one and experience being a dancing “little lion”.

At the final stage of the demonstration competition, each class was required to send two children as representatives to compete on the same stage in a "two-person lion dance". For a moment, the children's excited cheers and gongs and drums are intertwined, wave after wave. The red and yellow "Little Lions" on the stage also lived up to their expectations and demonstrated the results of their teaching well. Although the competition results are different, all the children learn the lion dance seriously. Therefore, after the competition, the staff of “Intangible Cultural Heritage Lion Dance” Gongfu Workshop presented each child with a lantern with the LOGO of “Meishan Lion Dance”. And these lanterns are handmade by the retired old people of the Gongfu Workshop.

“I used to be a bit scared when I saw the big lions on TV, but today I learned that lions are the embodiment of wisdom and strength in traditional culture.”“I saw bravery and hard work in the big brothers of the lion dance team. They didn't hesitate to jump onto the high plum pile, they must have practiced for a long time in general.”“I learned the importance of unity and collaboration when I worked with my classmates in a ‘two-person lion dance’.” The children said at the end of the activity. What they took home from the study was not only the beautiful “lion dance” lanterns, but also the pride that comes with traditional non-heritage culture.

Meishan “Intangible Cultural Heritage Lion Dance” Gongfu Workshop was set up by the Party Committee of Meizhong Village in Meishan Sub-district. It adopts the operation mode of “1 + 4 + X”, that is, under the guidance of “Party building”, it implements four main highlights of “full life cycle employment, performance at home and abroad, research and education, and cultural and creative derivatives”. Moreover, it explores innovative modes such as the combination of agriculture and tourism, IP creation, and online live broadcast, attracting young and middle-aged people with strong physique in the village and middle-aged and elderly people with free time to the workshop team, providing them with education and training and employment opportunities to increase their income. (Journalists: Liu Wei, and Wang Zengxian; Correspondents: Shen Qiongyun, Zhang Kaiqi, and Yu Canghai )