On the playground of Yongxin Middle School in Jiangxi Province, a magnificent shield dance performance is taking place. Four soldiers holding tiger faced rattan shields knelt on one knee and built a "human wall". The young 'general' lowered his eyebrows and eyes, pursed his lips tightly, and suddenly leaped into the air, stepping past with agile movements that drew cheers from the entire audience. "As the formation changes, sometimes it looks like a storm, ten thousand horses galloping, sometimes it is a sunny day, and the horses are free..." Wu Jinren, the representative successor of Yongxin Shield Dance, a provincial intangible cultural heritage project in Jiangxi, introduced that Yongxin Shield Dance integrates martial arts, acrobatics, dance, and music, and its rough movements and varied formations show a strong national style and the magnificent historical fighting atmosphere. The dance characters are divided into "forked hand" (general) and "knife hand" (soldier), performing the two armies breaking through the formation, accompanied by the passionate symphony of drums, gongs, and suona. In recent years, in order to better inherit the Yongxin Shield Dance, Yongxin County has revitalized this ancient dance in contemporary times through socialized training and the introduction of intangible cultural heritage into schools. The county cultural center organizes free training on shield dance every year, with retired soldiers, teachers, teenagers and other groups joining the inheritance team, and arranges shield dance programs based on the characteristics of different groups. In this way, interest clubs such as retired soldier shield dance teams, urban management bureau staff shield dance teams, and primary and secondary school student shield dance teams continue to grow and develop. On the playground of Yongxin Middle School, the shouting of "ho ho" is intertwined with the clanging sound. Under the guidance of the teacher, students practice the "Push, Block, Build, Stand, Push, Flash, Fall, Roll" Eight Character Formula movements over and over again. Now I can play the role of the 'general' leading the dance in front of all the teachers and students in the school, "said Long Xuewen, a high school sophomore, during a training break. The Shield Dance Club of Yongxin Middle School was established in 2018 and recruits new students every year. It currently has 15 regular members and 20 reserve members. Encouraging students to learn shield dance not only inherits our unique intangible cultural heritage of Yongxin, but also cultivates their spirit and sense of unity, "said Liu Yifeng, the guidance teacher of the shield dance club, to reporters. While teaching students, teachers also regularly" further their studies ". We arrange teachers to learn from representative inheritors of intangible cultural heritage every year, and invite inheritors to regularly provide on-site guidance at the school. ”Chen Lijun, the director of Yongxin County Cultural Center, said, "Shield dance is very popular among parents and children. After the free training notice was issued this year, more than 60 children signed up to participate." From performing in Beijing in 1975, to appearing at the Shanghai World Expo in 2010, to participating in the first China Xinjiang Folk Art Festival in 2024... Yongxin Shield dance has traveled from the countryside to a wider world over half a century. (New Society)