As a traditional dance that integrates martial arts, dance, music, acrobatics, etc., Lion Dance (Guangdong Xingshi) was selected as the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage in 2006. In the long river of history, it carries people's expectations for a better life. Nowadays, this intangible cultural heritage not only takes root and sprouts in various parts of Guangdong, but also spreads across mountains and seas to overseas Chinese communities, becoming a beautiful business card for excellent traditional Chinese culture to "go global". In the view of Zhao Weibin, the representative inheritor of the national intangible cultural heritage of Lion Dance (Guangdong Xingshi) and the most beautiful intangible cultural heritage figure in Guangdong Province, Guangdong Xingshi embodies the essence of excellent traditional Chinese culture, contains the spiritual power that inspires people to strive forward, and constantly radiates vitality and vigor in the new era. Zhao Weibin: Guangdong lion dance: With the sound of drums and gongs, a joyful and peaceful dance is performed. Nowadays, on the land of Lingnan, during major festivals or celebrations, people can always hear the rhythmic rhythm of drums and cymbals, and see the agile and jumping figures of lion dance. Zhao Weibin introduced that the origin of lion dance can be traced back to the Han Dynasty. With the rise of the Silk Road, economic, trade, and cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries gradually flourished. Lions originally from West Asia and North Africa were brought to China as tribute through trade channels. The Book of Later Han records: "At that time, the chief historian of the Western Regions, Ban Chao, launched a surprise attack on the Shache and caused a great defeat. The Yue clan sent envoys, Xian Fuba and Shizi." Among them, "Shizi" is the "lion" that we are familiar with today. This is the earliest official record of tribute to lions in ancient times, which was in the first year of Zhanghe in the Eastern Han Dynasty, namely AD 87. Lions are brave and full of strength. Out of reverence for them, our ancestors gradually developed the "lion dance" that imitates the image and movements of lions, which is regarded as the prototype of lion dance. The Book of Han, Li Le Zhi, records that during the Han Dynasty, wine was used as a form of music for congratulatory ceremonies, and "four people often followed Xiang Ren". Later, during the Three Kingdoms period, Meng Kang, a native of Wei, provided an explanation for the term "elephant man" - "elephant man, like today's master who plays shrimp and fish," which refers to an artist who performs by portraying fish, shrimp, and lions. Among them, 'Shishizi' may be the earliest 'Lion Dance'. Over time, the "Lion Dance" distributed in different regions of China has roughly evolved into two schools: the South Lion and the North Lion, known as the "South Lion" and the "North Lion". Zhao Weibin stated that there are significant differences between the South Lion and the North Lion in terms of appearance, performance form, and technical movements. For example, the North Lion has a realistic design with mostly orange lion heads; The main form of performance is to imitate the ancient Western Regions lion training acrobatics. The lion head of Nanshi is rich in color, with traditional lion heads mainly in yellow, red, and black, corresponding to the facial colors of characters such as Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei in opera, reflecting the spiritual temperament of benevolence, loyalty, righteousness, and bravery; The movements absorbed the strengths of Nanquan, showcasing the lion's active state through a series of moves such as exiting the cave, patrolling the mountains, and searching for green, and anthropomorphizing the lion's demeanor and movements. Among the colorful Guangdong Xingshi lion heads, the most prominent feature of the Nanshi lion head is its pointed horns on the top of its head. This is because Nanshi has been deeply influenced by Buddhist culture and has integrated the regional cultural characteristics of Lingnan in its development. ”Zhao Weibin explained that the image of lion awakening that people see today comes from the auspicious beast "Suanni". 'Suanni' was originally the Sanskrit name for 'lion', but later evolved into one of the 'nine sons born to a dragon' in ancient legends. The sharp horns on the head of the lion are its unique magical tool, which can eliminate evil and give the auspicious meaning of awakening lions to ward off evil and avoid harm. With the development of society, in the past 30 to 40 years, the communication between artists from Nanshi and Beishi has become increasingly close, and Nanshi has constantly undergone new changes in this process. For example, the Southern Lion used to parade and perform on flat ground, but after absorbing the techniques of the Northern Lion, it introduced high pole performances, making the Southern Lion more visually appealing when dancing. ”He added. During its development and changes, Nanshi has spawned different branches and schools, among which Guangdong Xingshi is the most representative, mainly distributed in Guangzhou, Foshan, and Suixi in Zhanjiang. In Guangzhou, there is such a system of lion dance inheritance that, through the unremitting efforts of five generations, has enabled Guangdong lion dance to flourish and move towards a broader stage. This is the 'Zhao Family Lion'. Zhao Weibin is performing a lion dance. Zhao Weibin is the fifth generation direct disciple of the "Zhao Family Lion", and his father was Zhao Jihong, a representative inheritor of the late Guangdong lion dance and known as the "King of Southern Lions". Before my father's generation, 'Zhao Family Lion' was mainly passed down within the family and was only a small-scale folk activity for self entertainment, "he said. ”Zhao Weibin introduced that his father Zhao Jihong learned lion dance skills from his parents. After joining the Second Construction Company in Guangzhou in 1964, he began to teach lion dance skills to workers in his spare time; In 1965, he initiated the establishment of the "Guangzhou Workers' Amateur Lion Team", which organized like-minded individuals from various industries and promoted the vigorous development of lion dance; And on New Year's Day 1985, he founded the first lion dance club in China, the "Guangzhou Workers' Lion Dance Association", and has been serving as the full-time president since then, devoting himself wholeheartedly to the dissemination and inheritance of lion dance in Guangdong. After years of practice and summarization, Zhao Jihong led the "Zhao Family Lion" to actively seek change to adapt to the needs of the new era. Zhao Weibin said that the biggest feature of the "Zhao Family Lion" nowadays is its agility and lightness. When tying the lion head, various new materials are used, greatly reducing the weight of the lion head and allowing even thin and frail girls to dance easily; Its lion head is more colorful, in addition to the traditional black, white, yellow, red, and green colors, it also introduces seven colors such as purple, pink, gray, and orange, which are more in line with the aesthetic preferences of young people; Its technical movements are more diverse, constantly absorbing the technical characteristics of Southern Fist and Northern Lion, making the "Zhao Family Lion" more interactive and entertaining during performances. The inheritance of lion art must be continuously learned. ”This sentence is not only Zhao Jihong's earnest teachings to Zhao Weibin, but also the principle that the "Zhao Family Lion" has always adhered to and practiced in its inheritance, leading the "Zhao Family Lion" to continuously move forward for decades. 2、 Born into a family of lion dance performers in Guangzhou with a passion for lion dance for over forty years, Zhao Weibin has had an inseparable bond with Guangdong lion dance since childhood. He began systematically learning lion dance at the age of five and has been continuously improving his skills throughout his studies. After graduating from university, he firmly devoted himself to the inheritance and dissemination of Guangdong lion dance. Zhao Weibin recalled, "When I was about 2 or 3 years old, my father often took me and my sister on the road of conducting lion dance teams for practice and performances. Therefore, the skills, culture, and spirit of Guangdong lion dance influenced me through exposure." In order to keep fit, Zhao Weibin began learning lion dance at the age of 5. He smiled and said, 'At first, my mother opposed me learning lion dance. Because in the older generation's view, lion dance was a very difficult profession, and she hoped that we could all focus on studying and succeed in the future.' However, his love for Guangdong lion dance has been deeply engraved in his bones. Every time he hears the drums or sees lion dance, his heart is filled with excitement. So, while studying hard, he used his spare time to practice, and lion dance became an inseparable part of his life. Drum music is an important part of Guangdong lion dance. My father suggested that learning lion dance should start with drum techniques. ”Zhao Weibin explained, "Only by being extremely familiar with drum music and rhythm can we better follow the drum beats and dance the lion's head, and the lion dance will present a rhythmic and vivid state." Therefore, another unique feature of the "Zhao Family Lion" is the "Zhao Family Drum Technique". In the early years, Zhao Jihong summarized and refined his years of artistic experience to form written drum music, which helped to inherit drum techniques. Under the patient guidance of his father, Zhao Weibin is highly proficient in lion dance, playing the Big Head Buddha, drumming, drumming, and cymbal, and has a comprehensive understanding of the various elements and stages of lion dance in Guangdong. In Zhao Weibin's view, Guangdong lion dance is a skill that is easy to learn but difficult to master. Its basic skills and routines are fixed, but it requires continuous integration of one's own thinking and understanding, striving to achieve a state of "unity of man and lion". In addition, teamwork and mutual trust are another key to Guangdong Xingshi. For example, gongs, drums, and cymbals are played by different people, requiring constant adaptation; dancing lion heads and tails have different technical difficulties, requiring the two to establish trust and overcome fear when performing difficult movements. Therefore, we need to constantly strive for excellence and hone our skills day after day. "After four years of learning, Zhao Weibin finally gained recognition from his father and performed on stage for the first time. During these four years, every time I saw other senior brothers of the same age perform but I couldn't go on stage, I felt dissatisfied. Later, I learned about my father's good intentions - only when the skills were honed to a certain level, can we live up to our partner's senior brothers, the audience, and the stage. "Zhao Weibin danced lion dance with his father Zhao Jihong in his childhood. In 1985, Zhao Weibin, who was studying at Guangzhou Second Middle School, established the first campus lion dance team in Guangzhou with the support of his teachers and actively mobilized his classmates to understand and learn this traditional skill. In 1987, the 6th National Games were held in Guangzhou. Taking this as an opportunity, the lion dance performance made its debut on the stage of the closing ceremony of the National Games. In the performance team, Zhao Weibin served as the lead drummer, directing the entire audience to perform dragon and lion dances with drum beats. There were a total of 6 long dragons in the performance to correspond to the 6th National Games, and 56 lion dance performances representing 56 ethnic groups across the country, "he recalled." More than 30 of my classmates participated, responsible for 6 lion dance performances, 1 long dragon, and drumming. "This performance left him feeling extremely shocked and proud, and also inspired young people to experience the charm of Guangdong lion dance. After graduating from the Business Administration program at Guangzhou University in 1994, Zhao Weibin was specially recruited to work at the Economic Research Center of the Guangdong Provincial People's Government. But after only two months of work, he resigned from this job without telling his family. At that time, my father was worried about raising funds for overseas competitions. The then mayor of Guangzhou, Li Ziliu, was very supportive of Guangdong Lion Dance 'going global' and immediately allocated funds to solve my father's urgent need. Later, Mayor Li Ziliu's words triggered his thinking - in order for the Guangzhou Workers Lion Dance Association to survive, it must take a market-oriented path and be responsible for its own profits and losses. And the business administration major he studied in university can enable him to apply what he has learned and leverage his strengths. With the determination of "a newborn calf is not afraid of tigers", Zhao Weibin founded "Nanguo Xingshi", becoming the first Xingshi brand in the country to conduct market-oriented operations. Due to the lack of a development path to learn from, he can only explore from scratch. At that time, Guangzhou was at the forefront of reform and opening up, and the momentum of social development was surging. He keenly noticed that many industries have experienced explosive development. So he took Guangdong lion dance as the core and integrated a full chain of etiquette services, covering various aspects such as opening ceremonies, stage performances, etc., which allowed him to earn his first bucket of gold in life and also gave him more confidence to devote himself to the cause of Guangdong lion dance. For many years, the profound connotation behind the Guangdong lion dance has been the cornerstone of Zhao Weibin's journey forward