Shanghai Aid Tibet Cadres Help Snow Plateau Intangible Cultural Heritage Go Global | Culture | Plateau
On June 5, the performance "Meet | Yajiang, Riverside, Shanghai Tibet Cultural Exchange", sponsored by the Lazi Group of the Liaison Group of Tibetan Aid Cadres and Talents, and the Cultural and Tourism Bureau of Lazi County, Shigatse City, Xizang, entered the new landmark of Yangpu culture, "YOUNG Theater". The melodious sound of chanting the zither, the fast and slow "tap" dance, the mixed traditional Tibetan tunes, the laughter and applause of the audience added a touch of light to the colorful Shencheng in early summer.
The reporter learned that since joining Tibet, the Lazi Group of the Shanghai Aid to Tibet Cadres and Talents Liaison Group has focused on "raising the flag, gathering people's hearts, nurturing new talents, promoting culture, and showcasing image", leveraging its advantages and characteristics as the "hometown of harmony", telling the story of Lazi well, and promoting the deep integration and development of local culture, tourism, sports, and education. The success of this performance connects the profound friendship between Shanghai and Xizang, Yangpu and Lazy, enhances national unity, promotes resource sharing and complementary advantages, and creates a new situation for the development of both sides.
Intangible cultural heritage needs to be inherited, but more importantly, it requires innovation
In the wonderful performance of the opening dance "Singing Mountain Songs to the Party Again", the performance of "Encountering the Yajiang River and the Riverside Scenery - Shanghai Tibet Cultural Exchange" kicked off. Duihe's "Crazy Dance on the Ground", duet of male and female voices "Sending Off Aid to Tibet", Duihe's "Flying Strings Stepping on Spring", quartet of male and female voices "City in My Heart", Duihe's "Wonderful Sound Tapping Dance", duet of male voices "Auspicious Shigatse", Sherpa Dance "Spring of Sherpa", quartet of male and female voices "Love of Mount Everest by the Riverside", Huqin's "Rhyme of Harvest", female voice solo "Qinghai Tibet Plateau", Tibetan opera "Zhaxi Xueba"... The entire performance is rich in content, diverse in form, and captivating.
Among them, "Flying Strings in Spring" with strong Tibetan characteristics immediately attracted the attention of the audience upon its debut. It has walked out of the deep mountains multiple times, appearing on the CCTV Spring Festival Gala in 2007, performing at the Shanghai CICA Summit in 2014, and at the "Youth Carnival to Realize the Asian Dream - Asian Civilization Dialogue Conference" in 2019.
"Lazi Duixiang is the second batch of national intangible cultural heritage list projects. Intangible cultural heritage needs to be inherited, and more importantly, innovation, so that intangible cultural heritage can make a difference in modern society. Only with innovation and creation, can culture develop, and will always maintain a vibrant life and vitality." As the lyricist and choreographer of "Flying Strings in Spring", Zhaxi Wangla, the inheritor of Xizang Autonomous Region level intangible cultural heritage, head and director of Lazi County Art Troupe, has innovated in music and dance expression while preserving the original materials of Duixiang, so that Duixiang can become a stage art for the public to enjoy from a casual personal dance.
Li Zhifeng, a member of the Standing Committee of the Lazi County Committee and Deputy County Magistrate, is the overall planner of this performance as a Shanghai aid to Tibet cadre. After entering Tibet, he went to villages and households, repeatedly staying in local art troupes and conducting thorough research on the promotion of the Lhasa Dui culture. In his view, over the years, the art troupe has been committed to the inheritance and promotion of the humorous culture, and has also created many popular works. However, as a national level intangible cultural heritage, its popularity in large markets and platforms is not yet strong enough, and there are still many unfavorable factors for its inheritance and development. At this point, integrating the aforementioned masterpieces is beneficial for re polishing the "business card".
"The key lies in 'leveraging'. Our program integration, on the one hand, leverages the overall presentation of Lazi culture and art through stacking and harmonizing; on the other hand, under the leverage of local programs, 12 excellent programs from Shanghai and Tibet are jointly performed by Lazi Art Troupe, Shigatse Art Troupe, Lhasa Song and Dance Troupe, and Yangpu Art Troupe, and a special performance is held in Yangpu to achieve cultural integration and exchange." Li Qianfeng said, "The beauty of national art brought by this overall presentation is rare. As a national intangible cultural heritage, stacking and harmonizing has become the true protagonist."
After the performance, the audience applauded warmly and expressed their dissatisfaction. "This is the first time for me to watch Tibetan songs and dances on site, which is very shocking."
"Shanghai's support for us is too great"
Lazi is truly the "hometown of Chinese folk culture and art". Local people of all ages and genders are skilled in singing and dancing, and they have a special fondness for dui xie. They perform dui xie during major festivals and events, expressing people's admiration for real life through their performances. Duihe thrives on this fertile land, passed down from generation to generation, forming a beautiful artistic landscape. On June 2nd, the performance of "Encountering the Yajiang River and the Riverside Meaning - Shanghai Tibet Cultural Exchange" had already entered the Yangpu Riverside, bringing a feast of ethnic cultural characteristics to the citizens.
Zaxi Wangla, who is nearly sixty years old, has never considered retirement. He jumps less, so he puts more energy on inheritance. When guiding rehearsals in Shanghai, seeing the Tibetan girl in front of him, his thoughts sometimes return to his hometown 5000 kilometers away.
Every day in Lazi, Zaxi Wangla either stays at the county mass cultural station or provides cultural guidance in the village. He devoted a lot of energy to the "National Intangible Cultural Heritage Project Lazi Dui Harmony Protection and Inheritance Activity" training course held in the county. This training course not only aims to cultivate a young generation of dancers who love the culture and performance of Duihua, but also requires the trainees to create 4 to 6 new Duihua songs. "I have now taught over 300 apprentices, created over 20 new songs, and innovated around 100 old songs," said Zaxi Wangla.
With the support of Shanghai's aid to Tibet, the local government has proposed multiple policies to encourage young people to join and use their leisure time to learn and rehearse traditional Chinese opera pieces, promoting the inheritance of Chinese opera. Gesangzhuoma, born in the 1990s, is one of them. She is the youngest daughter of Raba, a national representative inheritor of Lazi Duihe, and the fifth generation inheritor of the Piji family. Before her father passed away, he solemnly entrusted her with Duihe, saying, "We must pass on Duihe, even if one day you are gone, the dance will still be there." Now, at the age of 30, she is a professional actress in the Lazi County Folk Art Troupe, often coming to the grassroots to guide members in practice.
Zaxi Wangla said, "Shanghai has provided us with too much support. Last year, the Lazi Dui Song Studio was put into use. This year, with the help of the East Wind that entered Shanghai for performances, our equipment has been updated to be 'adaptable'. The dance shoes of young actors used to be different, but this time they changed to new ones. The clothes on our bodies were mostly brought from Lhasa in the past, which were relatively heavy and suitable for the local soothing court style, but not suitable for the cheerful field style of Lhasa. Jumping was very difficult, and now the fabric has been added with fibers, making it much lighter. The most crucial qin, which was made of goat skin in the past and deformed and changed its sound after going out for performances, this time it is not suitable for the cheerful field style of Lhasa. It is now very lightweight." Using snake skin ensures the authentic presentation
In his heart, there is still a dream of Lazi Duihua going global: "By gaining the recognition of the Shanghai audience and establishing a foothold in the 'City of Performing Arts', we have greater hope in going global."
Shanghai's Aid to Tibet Helps the Development of Lhasa's Cultural and Tourism Industry
How to transform the profound historical and cultural accumulation and rich cultural resources of Lazi County into a powerful driving force for rural revitalization? Li Jianfeng stated that as an intangible cultural heritage project, Duihe Culture belongs to both the "golden signboard" of Lhasa and the cultural heritage of all mankind. It should be promoted and promoted from a global perspective, and efforts should be made to form a three-dimensional model of integrated development of industry, academia, and research.
"Production" refers to industrialization, relying on the County Duixie Culture Company and leveraging the power of the market to package and develop a series of high-quality programs, cultural and creative products, etc., which not only creates market value but also expands coverage. "Learning" means going out and relying on the "Three Communications" project of aiding Tibet culture, organizing comrades from the cultural system of Lazi County to Shanghai and other places for learning and inspection through programs, performances, academic exchanges, and other forms, thereby expanding the thinking and vision of cultural creation. "Research" means scientific research. At present, it has carried out cooperation with the School of Economics and Management of Xizang University. On the one hand, it has set up a theoretical research fund for the Hexie Culture in the College, encouraging teachers and students from Shigatse and Lazi to carry out research projects and write academic papers, so as to consolidate the cultural foundation of the Hexie Culture in Lazi; On the other hand, the college has established a cultural discipline observation point in Lazi County and arranged experts to participate in Lazi cultural scientific research and other work, helping to promote the in-depth development of Lazi culture.
Vice Minister of the Propaganda Department of the Lazi County Committee, Secretary of the Party Group and Director of the County Cultural and Tourism Bureau, Ciren Zhaxi, stated that with the assistance of Shanghai's aid to Tibet funds, resources, and concepts, Lazi County has combined the protection of intangible cultural heritage with the integrated development of cultural and tourism, making intangible cultural heritage projects "lively" and "more popular".
At the broader level of comprehensive tourism, the Lazi Group of the Shanghai Aid to Tibet Cadres and Talents Liaison Group has strengthened the function of "Mount Everest Front Station" in the three-year plan and actively integrated into the construction of regional tourism loops in the five counties. Organize the overall planning, design, and demonstration of cultural tourism in Lhasa County, promote the formation of Lhasa cultural industry project driving strategy, assist in the preliminary research and demonstration of cultural tourism circle projects with "intangible cultural heritage" as the core, form a Lhasa cultural tourism route map, and help Lhasa build a cultural tourism pillar industry. Relying on tourism resources such as Peng Cuolin Temple murals, Lazi Mangpu Tourist Area, Xiqin Hot Springs, and Lazi Zongshan Ancient Fortress, we guide and organize enterprises and social funds to participate in the development of tourism resources in Lazi. Strengthen the follow-up support for the relocation and centralized resettlement site of Xiga Village in Liuxiang, and rely on the transportation location advantage of National Highway 318 to create a livable and business friendly gateway village that integrates industry, culture and tourism, and services.
Through the assistance of Shanghai's aid to Tibet, Lazi has found a suitable path for the development of its cultural and tourism industry, and the vision of transforming characteristic resources into industrial advantages is gradually becoming a reality. This is also a microcosm of the Lazi Group of the Shanghai Aid to Tibet Cadres and Talents Liaison Group's insistence on strengthening the awareness of the Chinese nation's community as the main line, and placing the promotion of extensive communication, exchange, and integration among all ethnic groups in a more prominent position.
Peng Yihao, the leader of the liaison group for the 10th batch of cadres and talents in Xizang, the director of the Xizang Office of the Shanghai Municipal People's Government, and the deputy secretary of the Shigatse Municipal Party Committee and the executive deputy mayor of the Shigatse Municipality, said that Shanghai's assistance to Tibet values the cultural resources of Tibet, relies on the "Yabu" working method of grass-roots party building, and actively promotes the exchange and mutual learning of the outstanding regional culture of Shigatse, Xizang, and the outstanding culture of the various ethnic groups in the mainland, so that the distinctive culture on the ancient land can be inserted with the wings of modern take-off. In the future, the Shanghai Liaison Group for Aid to Tibet Cadres and Talents will continue to assist excellent traditional cultures such as Lazi Duihe to step out of the snowy plateau and spread to the world, allowing the main theme of "Shanghai Tibet family" to sing together on the banks of the Pujiang River and the snowy plateau.
