|
Zhengding Changshan War Drum Team [File Photo: zd.gov.cn]
 The Changshan war drum is representative of folk art performances in Zhengding county, northeast of Shijiazhuang, the capital city of Hebei province. With its presence in Olympic-related celebrations in Beijing over the past few months, more and more people began to learn about this exciting folk sports event.
The war drum performance boasts a team of nearly a hundred people playing traditional Chinese percussion instruments including big drums, small drums, cymbals and gongs. It is usually used for performances during the spring festival and other celebrations. In July this year, it was included in the national intangible cultural heritage list by the state council.
According to historic records, the Changshan war drum had its beginnings early in the Warring States Period some 2,300 years ago, and was prevalent during the Ming dynasty some 700 years ago. Local folklore tells of a famous general Zhao Yun who directed his soldiers to beat drums to boost morale in the battlefield, finally frightening their enemies away. Zhao Yun was thus known as "General Invincible". Called Changshan in ancient times, Zhengding rose to fame as the hometown of General Zhao. The war drum's reputation and popularity as a folk art treasure in Zhengding quickly spread wide and far.
Nowadays, most of the villages in the county have formed their own drum teams. Dongyangzhuang village is perhaps the best known. Feng Ailin is the head coach of the village war drum team. His father and grandfather were both drummers. Growing up in such a family, he naturally became interested in drumming at an early age and when he was 13 he started learning to play.
Every year, Feng would gather more than 80 villagers to participate in the county and city folk art performances and drum competitions, with his team successful on many occasions. When performing, drummers in military uniforms strike their drums in unison, forming an exceptionally overwhelming scene.
Due to their impressive performance, the Changshan war drum team was selected to take part in the opening ceremony of the 11th Beijing Asian Games in 1990 and the celebrations marking Hong Kong's return to the motherland in 1997. These two performances won them high praise. However Feng said at that time they used old-style drums with old content and form. Nowadays, these have all changed.
From July to September this year, they have come to Beijing to perform in a series of Olympic related celebrations, playing in a number of tourist attractions and public places. This time they have added more dance and martial arts movements as well as some Olympic elements in their performances.
As the war drum gradually expands its influence throughout Beijing, it has also attracted an increasing number of young learners back home. Feng himself has organized drum teams in middle schools, factories and enterprises. He hopes he can work together with his students to expand this ancient art to the world.
"I want to make the war drum team younger, more professional and more modern. We will work hard to keep creating and upgrading our performances and maintain our vigor and vitality. After performing at the Olympics, we want to further develop and eventually expand to every corner of China and the world."
|
