In a primary school in Jiangxi Province, students practice Huagai Double Lions Dance which has 700 years of history and was listed as a provincial intangible cultural heritage in 2013 (XINHUA) 

On the playground of the Zhongguancun No.2 Primary School in Beijing, students were amazed by the 55-year-old folk art expert, also their teacher, Zhao Xuejun, playing with diabolos. The spinning, buzzing juggling toy flew around like a bird. Inspired by the teacher, all the students began to imitate her actions with their own diabolos. 

Diabolo, or kongzhu in Chinese, is a traditional Chinese game using a double-coned bobbin that is spun, tossed, and caught on a string secured by two wands, one held in each hand. It requires great skill and, when played rapidly, the spinning bobbin produces a range of buzz saw sounds that can be heard from a distance. The game dates back more than 1,000 years. It has been passed down from the hands of lords and dignitaries to become a household pastime. In 2006, it was included among the first group of national intangible cultural heritage items by the Chinese Government. 

"In the past, playing diabolo was only popular among old people who wanted to keep healthy. However, with its promotion on campus, this traditional Chinese game has been revived among the young," Zhao told ChinAfrica. The diabolo is beneficial for children to gain upper body strength and increasing flexibility. 

"For my students, they may not know the profound history and cultural background behind the game, but they are aware of the traditional culture behind the game when they play it," Zhao said. "This is what inheritance means." 

Know it! Love it! 

"I know this is the facial mask of Cao Cao (a famous politician in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, 25-220) because his mask used white color to indicate that the character is evil and hypocritical," answered the 8-year-old Gao Mingyang. In the Peking Opera facial mask class of the Zhongguancun No.2 Primary School, led by Shi Haoran, a representative inheritor of Peking Opera facial makeup, students are actively competing to be the first to figure out the character of mask cards shown by the teacher. 

Peking Opera facial masks were listed as one of Beijing's intangible cultural heritages in 2009. 

The 50-year-old Shi has inherited her family's legacy of drawing masks. She constantly develops innovations in the ancient art to produce works imbued with rich folk culture and embracing diverse themes. 

In her class, Shi demonstrated her creations which show the different roles the masks represent. All the children were instantly intrigued by the exquisite, festive and amusing works and were eager to try their hands at creating them. 

Shi introduced the historic origin and cultural implications of each mask as well as the painting techniques for the children before they got to work on blank masks. 

"You can create your color scheme but you must remember that the color on the facial mask should be fairly symmetrical," said Shi. About 20 children took part in the mask painting class, all fascinated by the ancient cultural legacy. 

Supported by the Beijing Municipal Government, the class has been one of the projects in a bid to introduce and teach intangible cultural heritages to children. Beijing Dingsheng Traditional Culture Institute was appointed to select qualified representative inheritors as teachers. 

"I'm delighted that kids have so much passion and interest in learning to draw Peking Opera facial masks," said Shi after the class. "To pass on the traditional cultural heritage, the first step is to let people know it and then love it." 

Difficulties in inheritance 

In the past, cultural inheritors, like Zhou and Shi had never imagined they could be teachers in a primary school, until one year ago when they became members of the Beijing Dingsheng Traditional Culture Institute. This is a social organization aimed at building a bridge between Chinese traditional cultural craftsmen and communities and schools to protect and promote Chinese intangible cultural heritage. According to Tong Yanhong, Dean of Beijing Dingsheng Traditional Culture Institute, despite China's continuous efforts to strengthen protection of intangible cultural heritage, historical preservation still faces big challenges. 

"It is not an easy thing to promote traditional cultural heritage in modern times," Tong said. "Most representative inheritors could not accurately grasp the demand of the market in modern times and they are weak in innovation. As a result, though intangible cultural heritage products have high technical and artistic content, they do not meet the aesthetic standards of current consumers." Put simply, the craftsmen cannot make a living from their skills. 

Besides, generally, intangible cultural heritage was passed on in ancient China via word-of-mouth, which makes it one of the most vulnerable parts of tradition, but also difficult to be inherited. 

"Without a systematic teaching theory, it is difficult for inheritors to train successors on a large scale," Tong told ChinAfrica. 

Into schools 

Insiders say that schools are fertile ground for passing on these ancient skills. Introducing intangible cultural heritage into the syllabus is of great significance. In recent years, the Chinese Government has taken measures to encourage institutions to help intangible cultural heritage be introduced in schools in different regions nationwide, among which the Beijing Dingsheng Traditional Culture Institute is an example. Financially supported by the government, the institute is responsible for selecting and training teachers to effectively pass on traditional crafts. 

"This is an innovative and sustainable way of inheriting traditional culture," said Tong. "It helps relieve the financial burden of craftsmen, and also creates a path for handing down the heritage to the next generations." 

Now traditional paper-cut, kite-making, palace lanterns making, embroidery, clay sculpture and other traditional arts have been introduced to the syllabus of many primary schools in China nationwide.  

(Comments to xyy@chinafrica.cn)