Wuzhou "Island language" Lion King residence-- Luozhou Island

The stronghold of the world-famous Luozhou Wushu Lion Dance Troupe is located on Luozhou Island, Tengxian County. Deng Minghua, the 72-year-old founder of the Lion Dance Troupe, and his family live here. At 7 o'clock every morning, after running around the island, the students beat gongs and drums on time to practice the basic skills of lion dance. The jubilant sound of gongs and drums broke the tranquillity of the island, and a busy day began on the island.

Collected and written: our reporter Quan Ganmei correspondent Xu Jingcai

Photo: our reporter Mai Chaoshu (except for signature)

Chaozhou Island surrounded by Cui Bamboo. Xu Jingcai photography

Luozhou Island is the resident of the Luozhou Village Committee in Tangbu Town, Tengxian County. It is located in the Xunjiang River and is about 10 kilometers away from Tengxian County. The island is 5 kilometers long and 1.5 kilometers wide. There are more than 1, 000 households and more than 5000 people on the island, making it the second largest island in Guangxi. The island is surrounded by water, surrounded by bamboo, with patches of green cash crops in the center, and modern cement buildings among the swaying green bamboo trees. According to legend, the name of Chau Island comes from the surname of the first resident on the island.

The hometown of melons and fruits

Deng Minghua, a native of Kuizhou Island, helped others sail and support his family when he was young, but his unstable life on board finally made him give up this high-paying job. When he was in his prime, he returned to the island and took his whole family to set up a martial arts lion dance troupe on the island to live and work in peace and contentment. Deng Minghua said that every plant and tree on Pengzhou Island is full of temptation to him. "the island I remember is full of melons and fruits." Deng Minghua, dressed in a gray-blue shirt and pigtails, sat down casually and began to talk about the island in his heart.

Paozhou Island is rich in fertile land and rich in fruits and vegetables. It is known as "Fat but Chaozhou". Deng Minghua said with a smile that when he was a child, what he loved most was the red and green melons and fruits on the island. "the fragrance of melons and fruits in Kuizhou can be smelled at home." Fragrant agricultural products such as sugarcane, tomato and wax gourd accompanied Deng Minghua through his youth. "in the 1970s, sugarcane from Luzhou was famous in the whole of Wuzhou. In the 1980s, tomatoes grown in Luzhou occupied the urban market in Wuzhou, and wax gourds were welcomed by everyone in the 1990s."

The Tropic of Cancer happens to pass through Paozhou Island, which is surrounded by rivers. Paozhou Island, surrounded by rivers, provides superior farming conditions for villagers. The fertile land and pleasant climate make Paozhou Island green all the year round, and different melons and fruits are planted all the year round. Standing on the ridge of the fields on Paozhou Island, we can see that there are all kinds of melon vines swaying in the wind. Each field is well taken care of by hardworking villagers, and all kinds of crops grow against the sun on large and small rectangular plots. Neatly built melon sheds are covered with black wax gourd, balsam pear and beans, and the full melons and fruits are quite attractive.

Black-skinned wax gourd is a specialty of Naozhou Island.

The fertile land nourishes the people of Kuizhou, but they are not satisfied with only farming the land, but also learn to "draw by water". "in the past, there were not a few people living by boats on the island, but now there are no less than 1000 residents who are still sailing for a living." Deng Minghua was the first resident on the island to help people sail to make a living. he said that the people of Paozhou Island are famous for their sailing skills, and their wages for sailing are relatively high. in the 1980s and 1990s, many villagers chose to do shipping business, some helping people sail and some being sailors. "at present, the villagers on the island have basically built modern small foreign buildings with several storeys high and chic decoration, and many of these buildings have been built after the villagers have gradually raised their income by making a living by boats. some villagers have not only built buildings on the island but also bought houses in the county seat."

Lion King residence

Deng Minghua's home is reflected in green trees and green bamboo, two modern concrete buildings, one new and the old side by side, and a plaque with black characters on the yellow bottom, "Fuzhou Wushu Lion Dance Troupe" hangs at the doorway. In front of the door is a simple lion dance training ground built of iron sheet. The staggered iron stakes, red, yellow and black lions are placed in the venue, and the young students yell at each other and dance lions in a manner. The training ground is simple, but the equipment is well-equipped. This is the stronghold of the Oriental Lion King who is stationed on the island. The fragrance of plum blossoms comes from the cold winter. Behind the Lion King's honor is hard training. Students spend the rest of their time on training except eating and sleeping every day.

The lion dance on Paozhou Island has a long history. During the holidays, the villagers always dance the lion to every household to celebrate. After giving up his job of sailing and returning to the island, Deng Minghua saw that the children in the village always wandered in the alley when they were not in school. He thought: since there is a tradition of lion dance in the village, and his father knows martial arts, why not gather the children together and form a lion team. So, after thinking twice, he decided to gather the children of Murakami and several of his own children to play the lion dance. In July 1997, the Lion Dance Troupe of Taizhou Wushu was officially established. No one thought that this lion dance team from scratch would become the Lion King of the Orient and even the Lion King of the World. In 2000, the Lions team became the National Class A Lion team. In July 2004, Taizhou Wushu Lion Dance Troupe won the championship in the sixth World Lion King Competition of "Genting Cup" in Malaysia, and won the title of "Oriental Lion King" and "World Lion King", which caused a great sensation at home and abroad.

"learn the lion before you learn etiquette, and learn martial arts before you learn virtue." This is what Deng Minghua often says to the students. He said that lion dance depends not only on technology, but also on the moral character of the team. Etiquette is more important than technology. Although he is more than 70 years old, he is energetic and insists on personally educating his students about moral character every day. "my father is a very simple man. He values morality more than anything else." Deng Yu, the eldest son of Deng Minghua, said that his father always matches his words with his deeds. once in a big competition, other teams told his father that they would give his father 100000 yuan as long as the Lion Dance Troupe was willing to lose the game on purpose and let them win the first place. But the father flatly refused.

In Deng Minghua's eyes, the title of the Lion King is not simple. He said that Paozhou Island is a place with simple folk customs, which allows students to settle down and practice conscientiously, and the Lion team has always attached importance to learning from their strong points to make up for their weaknesses and constantly learn from excellent teams. "I have always told the students that the main purpose of the competition is not to compete for the first place but to learn." Deng Minghua said that the fact that the Lions team has achieved what it is today is the result of the team members' continuous efforts to win over others and train assiduously.

Deng Minghua gave a demonstration for lion dancers.

At present, the Lion Dance team of Luozhou Wushu has trained more than 500 lion dancers, which has gone to all parts of the world, and more and more people have known Lion Island through the Lion team. The sound of gongs and drums sounded on time every day and the lion dance on the iron stakes have become the unique scenery of the island.