Guangming Daily reporter Wu Xiaoyi Ma Yuehua Guangming Daily reporter Ouyang Guilian
It is the Dragon Boat Festival, the phoenix is blooming, and the Jimei Dragon Boat Pool in Xiamen, Fujian Province is very lively during the holidays. In the hot summer, citizens flocked to watch the “Dragon Soaring Tiger Leaping” 2022 cross-strait dragon boat race held here.
Young people from both sides of the Taiwan Strait gathered together to participate in the annual event. This year’s event attracted more than 1,000 players from 41 teams from both sides of the Taiwan Strait, including 24 teams from mainland China and 17 teams from Taiwan compatriots. Huang Jianjian, president of the Minnan Culture Research Association, Jimei District, Xiamen City, introduced that dragon boat racing, as a traditional Chinese folk activity with a long history, is deeply loved by the people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.
The little dragon boat is the bond that unites the two sides of the strait, and it is also a common memory that connects the two sides of the strait. Lin Yile, a member of the Taisheng Dragon Boat Team of Xiamen University, experienced dragon boating in his hometown of Taipei. Now that he is a member of the campus dragon boat sports, Lin Yile immediately felt the kindness of his hometown. “Dragon boat seems to link my hometown and Xiamen, and my childhood and now.”
On June 2, a folk dragon boat show competition was held in Miluo City, Hunan Province. 11 dragon boat teams competed on the Miluo River.Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Chen Zhenhai
The most prominent feature of the dragon boat race is that the drum beats, and everyone follows the drum beat, making concerted efforts and moving forward bravely with neat and uniform movements. There are 10 Taiwanese team members and 10 mainland members on a boat of the Xiang’an Taiyuan Dragon Boat Team. During the first training, they encountered a bottleneck: everyone rowed desperately, and the boat not only failed to move forward, but spun in place.
After discussion, the team members found that they tried their best without fully listening to the drummer’s beating, resulting in the dragon boat spinning in place. After realizing this, Hua Ruilin, a Taiwanese student studying at Jimei University, said: “Unity is the magic weapon. As long as the rhythm or posture is slightly off, the overall speed of travel will be greatly affected.”
Finding the crux, the Taizhiyuan dragon boat team continued to adjust and improve, and finally followed the drumbeat and moved in a uniform manner. Drummer Chen Shengyuan said that each team member thinks in one place and works hard in one place. The oars were unrestrained and neat, and the boat was flying like a natural boat. With the slogan of “Join Hands, Ride the Wind and Waves”, it shouted a magnificent momentum.
Every team participating in the competition can see the same spirit of cooperation as the Taizhiyuan Dragon Boat Team – the sonorous and powerful drum beats and the neat and uniform movements connect the young people on both sides of the strait together, help each other and move forward. .
These details all reflect the same strain on the cultural core of the two sides of the strait. At the scene of the “Dressing Ceremony” of the dragon boat held during the dragon boat race, the guests “pointed the eye” to the dragon head on the dragon boat, and “pointed” the best wishes of the Chinese people on both sides of the strait.
The Jimei Dragon Boat Pool in Xiamen, where the event was held, was established by patriotic overseas Chinese Tan Kah Kee. At that time, Tan Kah Kee loved dragon boat sports very much. He believed that dragon boat racing is an excellent traditional Chinese culture and a mass sport, which can condense the consciousness of helping each other in the same boat and strengthen the people’s physique.
This cross-strait dragon boat race is also supported by a number of cultural activities, including the 18th Cross-Strait Dragon Boat Festival Cultural Forum, the Cross-Strait Traditional Sacrifice Ceremony, the 17th Jimei (Dragon Boat Festival) Poetry Festival, the Cross-Strait Youth Poetry Society, and Southern Fujian Quyi. Special performances, intangible cultural heritage handicraft market, cross-strait rice dumpling activities, etc.
“We also make rice dumplings during the Dragon Boat Festival in Taiwan. The food customs on both sides of the strait are very similar.” Zheng Menghuan, a Taiwanese member of the Jurong Cross-Strait Workers’ Team, said that he was very happy to have the opportunity to participate in this large-scale event and experience the common culture of both sides of the strait. core and cultural foundation.
Since the first cross-strait dragon boat race was held in 2006, the layered and more solid cultural core and the cultural extension that has been continuously enriched and expanded year by year have made the event a role in promoting cross-strait exchanges, inheritance and development. An important platform for Chinese excellent traditional culture.
The two-day schedule and a number of activities demonstrate the spirit of sportsmanship of young people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. “Dragon boat racing can not only strengthen the body, entertain the body and mind, but also enhance team cohesion and teamwork,” said Yang Guangbo, leader of the women’s dragon boat team at Xiamen University. , is the quality I hope young people can learn from sports.”
In the young women’s dragon boat team of Xiamen University, 12 members are from Taiwan. Most of the players are newbies, and getting tired is the first challenge they encounter during training. In each physical and strength training, running one more kilometer and doing one more set of grips and pulls is one more breakthrough.
Hundreds of gallops are fighting, and the oars are chasing the waves. Seeing each other’s friendship through cooperation, cultivating a common foundation through culture, and showing indomitable and tenacious life through sports, it is the light of youth that ignites the common belief of young people on both sides of the strait, and works hand in hand for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
“Guangming Daily” (Version 01 on June 4, 2022)
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责编：袁晴 ]