Beichen District is located in the north of the central city of Tianjin, which was a place to retreat from the sea in ancient times, and the opening of the Grand Canal has made it a transportation artery for transporting grain from the south to the north and goods from the north to the south, and is known as the "royal granary". Liu Yuan Village on the west bank of the North Canal, with the nourishment of the Grand Canal, gave birth to the national intangible cultural heritage of "Liu Yuan Xiangyin Dharma Drum".
"Liu Yuan Xiangyin Drum" from the Qing Dynasty Daoguang years to the present, has a history of more than 200 years, because of its drum music in unison to send out the sound of elegant rhyme, on behalf of peace and joy, auspicious Kangning, so named "Xiangyin Drum", later evolved into a folk flower meeting, in the festive day or major event day celebration performance, is a collection of folk music, dance, martial arts, art, sculpture and folk customs in one of the square art.
Folk art on the west bank of the North Canal
Liu Yuxin is the fifth-generation inheritor of Liu Yuanxiangyin's Dharma Drum and the current president. "We have the most complete drums here, so many members come to us to borrow them and go back to reproduce them." He said as he placed the other utensils in place.
In the 80s and 90s of the last century, the performance of Xiangyin Dharma Drum was very popular and prosperous, and many places such as Tianjin Gymnasium, "Second Palace", Niangniang Palace, Wuqing, Gegu, Xishuangtang and so on, all left their footprints of competitions and performances.
"I grew up in a good era of folk revival, in the 80s of the last century, when I was still in elementary school, I studied with the club and went to perform outside. At that time, everyone needs to compete for the opportunity to perform, and due to my young age, I finally missed a chance to perform in the city, and I was sad for a while! Liu Yuxin said, as if returning to his childhood.
Later, every Spring Festival, Beicang Town will hold a flower show in Shengcang Xinyuan, of which the first day is to set up a display, and the second day is to hold a ceremony for Dongding Niangniang to go out and scatter blessings. The decoration generally starts from around 2 o'clock in the afternoon, and the other flowers will leave around 5 o'clock in the afternoon.
The evening guild is a beautiful sight: the lit candles illuminate the guild utensils and also illuminate the way forward, and the whole procession is brightly lit and radiant. Gao Zhao is at the front of the team, the nine lotus lantern is at the end of the team, and the marching queue is like a shining dragon, which is beautiful.
Liu Yuxin recalled: "At that time, the contact would be extremely busy, and it had become a common practice for the old guild to visit homes in the community or visit businesses in a pre-agreed order. And every guild, there will always be families, businesses or other units set off firecrackers to "intercept the meeting", and the Dharma Drum Club will sit and beat for a performance, and sometimes get a sponsorship on the spot. This has become a habit and is deeply ingrained in the culture of the local people.
Intangible cultural heritage has been passed on intact
In June 2007, Liu Yuanxiangyin Dharma Drum was listed as the first batch of Tianjin Intangible Cultural Heritage Projects by the Tianjin Municipal People's Government. In June 2008, it was approved by the State Council as the second batch of national intangible cultural heritage projects.
One side of the water and soil to raise one side of the people, one side of the people to inherit the side of the culture.
Liu Yuanxiang Dharma Drum is attached to the traditional community, namely Liuyuan Village, in the planning of the old city renovation of Beichen District, it became the first batch of villages to be renovated from the old village, and it is rare to carry out the overall relocation of the village as a unit, and the Liuyuan New Garden covering an area of 150 acres was built on the original site, and now, most of the villagers live here.
At the same time, the village committee did not disappear with the relocation, but became the manager of the Liuyuan Xinyuan community, ensuring the stability of the old association in the process of transitioning from a traditional community to a new one.
"All of them are back. This is too much credit to our inheritance, if after the demolition is completed, a group of people in the east and west can't get together again, then how can they be inherited? "The old people know that the reason why the Xiangyin Dharma Drum can become the most complete is directly related to this reason.
The story of two generations of inheritors
Tian Wenqi, 74 years old this year, is the fourth-generation inheritor of "Liu Yuan Xiangyin Dharma Drum", since the age of 6 or 7, Tian Wenqi has followed his father to perform in the Xiangyin Dharma Drum Club, and he has become interested in learning Dharma Drums with his father, and has become the fourth generation inheritor when he grows up.
"The Dharma drum is spread in the Liuyuan area, in the past, the Xiangyin Dharma Drum is a family inheritance, and the third or even fourth generation of a family will beat the drum and beat the cymbals, but with the development of the times, young people have less and less understanding of the Dharma Drum, and the inheritance of the Xiangyin Dharma Drum is also facing the dilemma of lack of successors." Tian Wenqi, who is gradually aging, considers the inheritor of the Xiangyin Dharma Drum, and Liu Yuxin is "fancied" by him.
Liu Yuxin lived near the Beichen District Gymnasium when he was a child, and in the 80s of the last century, every night, he could hear the music of Xiangyin Dharma Drum Training in the gymnasium, "As soon as the drum sounded, I put down the dishes and chopsticks and ran to the gymnasium, and I was fascinated by the Dharma Drum." ”
Every year the New Year's auspicious sound drum will go out, it is Liu Yuxin's most exciting day, the team of the auspicious sound drum stretches for two or three miles, it is very spectacular, a group of people shoulder to shoulder, the mighty set off from the gate of the Niangniang Palace, passing through the Lion Forest Bridge, going to the Dongfeng Bridge, stopping and watching many people along the way, cheering and shouting continuously.
When he was a teenager, Liu Yuxin formally learned the Dharma Drum, initially followed the adults to play the small cymbals, after more than 20 years of practice, Liu Yuxin became the "pillar" of the Xiangyin Dharma Drum Club, around 2000, Liu Yuxin took over the baton from Tian Wenqi and became the fifth generation inheritor of the Xiangyin Dharma Drum.
"The Dharma Drum Flower Club is not like anything else, it is not good to learn it when you are old, it is best to learn it from an early age." In order to inherit the auspicious sound drum, with the encouragement, guidance and financial support of the cultural department of Beichen District, Liu Yuxin opened a public welfare training class, teaching students to learn the Dharma drum every winter and summer vacation, and also went to a nearby primary school to teach free classes and train primary school students for free.
"Although Liu Yuanxiangyin Dharma Drum has continued to this day under the careful maintenance of several generations, there are fewer and fewer people who know about Dharma Drums, and it is a precious cultural treasure to continue to pass on Chinese traditional culture." Liu Yuxin said.
Only by adapting to the times can we radiate new vitality
In the past, the membership of the Xiangyin Dharma Drum was relatively strict, limited by geography and gender, that is, it must be a villager in the village, and the male is not passed on to the female, and people regard membership as an honor. With the change of lifestyle, there are fewer and fewer old members in the club, and the inheritance has been in crisis. As a result, restrictions on membership were relaxed, girls could practice playing cymbals, and young and middle-aged women could hold the front court deacon's guild when there was a shortage of manpower.
Liu Yuxin plans to start from the children, and often uses the time on Friday and Saturday nights to train children, and its strong sound attracts the attention of children, and it is naturally easy for them to have a strong interest in the Dharma Drum, and gradually reserve new forces.
During the winter and summer vacations of the students, the members will organize short-term training courses to teach the skills of the Dharma Drum to the younger generation of Liu Yuan Village, and this has become a new tradition of the Liujiayuan Xiangyin Dharma Drum Association. At the same time, in order to encourage the children to learn more, the members also came up with a variety of methods, such as for the current children are in primary school or about to go to primary school, as well as their personality characteristics, the members in the training class for each child to participate in the training to prepare a beautiful schoolbag, and printed on it the words "Liu Jiayuan Xiangyin Dharma Drum Association", so that the children can not only have a new schoolbag back, to meet their wishes, but also to Liu Jiayuan Xiangyin Dharma Drum Association to play a role in publicity.
"No matter how good this will be, no matter how old it is, no matter how high its prestige is, if a person dies, no one will operate it, it is equal to zero." In this regard, the village supports the establishment of classes, and two classes were held in the first two years, when the children are on winter and summer vacations, the old members come forward to teach, and the grandfather leads the grandson, and the father leads the son, and a group of young people are cultivated. "In the past, little girls rarely participated in this meeting, but now they can participate in both men and women, as long as they have hobbies."
It is precisely this kind of thinking and practice that constantly caters to the needs of the times that makes it still have a different kind of artistic and cultural charm today.
For thousands of years, the flowing Grand Canal has been like a river of life, giving birth to a unique canal culture and forming special production, life and festival customs along the canal. The intangible cultural heritage represented by Liu Yuanxiang's Dharma Drum Club has been passed down in the big waves and sands, and it is worth paying attention to and protecting.