------Program code: DO-080804-01275 (what's this?)
Source: CCTV.com
08-04-2008 09:10
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Here in China, life is becoming more and more packed and full of things to do. But although there are more and more activities every day for young people to take part in, the idea of folk art has not lost its charm.
The Temple of Heaven is situated in the south of Beijing. Once the site where the emperor of China made offerings to heaven, it is now a popular tourist attraction for foreigners and Chinese alike. In the pine forest at the temple’s south gate, a group of people gather to practice “clappertalk”, a kind of oral performance.
Clappertalk is a form of Chinese folk entertainment dear to all. Someone beats a drum with an instrument made of two pieces of bamboo, and this rhythm serves as a backdrop for stories to be told or feelings to be expressed.
His name is Meng Xin, and these are his clappertalk students. Meng Xin is a renowned clappertalk master here in the city of Beijing.
It’s Wednesday today, and Meng Xin is here at dawn to teach his elderly students the art of clappertalk. Today, he’ll be going over a basic technique: how to control one’s breathing.
To his students, coming to learn clappertalk isn’t just studying a skill; it’s about adding spice to one’s life.
Clappertalk is only one of a plethora of other forms of Chinese folk art that were once an extremely important part of daily life.
There is a great variety of traditional folk art: besides craftwork, dance and painting, vocal art forms also round out the list. From the wide array of musical instruments and songs, to plays and performances, every one of these folk art forms come from age-old folk traditions and innovations, passed down from generation to generation. Yet in the process of becoming popular, it also produced people who specialize in each kind of art.
Today, although these traditional forms of folk art no longer claim popularity they once held, there are still a great number of people who follow them with great interest. Meng Xin is one of them. To him, helping more people to become acquainted with and enjoy folk art is his personal responsibility.
