CCTV News: Zhanqi Village in She County, Anhui Province is an ancient village with a history of thousands of years. The intangible cultural heritage Zhanqi fish lantern is still passed down there today. Every New Year, villagers dance with fish lanterns of all sizes, hoping for good weather and a prosperous life in the new year.

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Wang Yufang, the county-level intangible cultural heritage inheritor of Zhanqi Yudeng, said that the sound of gongs and drums makes the feet feel itchy. Upon hearing the sound of the gongs and drums, villagers will come from all directions to see the fish lantern. This is a time of reunion, and everyone comes back here and gets together. Just like a baton, I want to pass it on and let it "go" farther.

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As we enter the twelfth lunar month, the New Year atmosphere in Zhanqi Village, She County, Anhui Province is getting stronger. Villager Wang Yufang came to the craftsman's house in the village early in the morning to look for suitable bamboo.

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The common bamboo in Huangshan is a good material for weaving the skeleton of fish lanterns. Sawing the bamboo into suitable lengths and then breaking it into bamboo strips is the first step in making fish lanterns. And how to make the fish body both strong and flexible? Wang Yufang fully understands the mystery. Wang Yufang introduced that through rings and semi-circles, such as the "U" shape, they are interlocking through this intersecting method. It may have a certain structure, and it is all very particular.

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Fish lanterns have been passed down in Zhanqi Village for 800 years. Wang Yufang, a 28-year-old music teacher, is the youngest intangible inheritor of the Zhanqi Fish Lantern Project.

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Wang Yufang said that when he was a child, many children in the village could Make some of the simplest fish lantern toys possible. When he was in junior high school, Wang Yufang made a two-meter-long fish lantern for the first time while asking for advice. From then on, he and Zhanqi fish lanterns formed an indissoluble bond. Today, the fish lanterns in She County, Huangshan have been included in the "New Year Customs" category in the Intangible Cultural Heritage List.

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Making fish lanterns is not a livelihood business in Zhanqi Village, and there is naturally no motivation for the law not to be spread.

Wang Yufang introduced that this thing is not strictly said to require apprenticeship, because it itself is a common object belonging to all the villagers in their Zhanqi Village. So as long as you are interested in fish lanterns, you can go find a master who has experience in making fish lanterns and ask him for advice.

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Tissue paper once used as fish skin , has now been replaced with a tougher cloth. Covering it with the woven fish lantern skeleton, Wang Yufang began to draw fish scales and auspicious clouds. Over the past hundreds of years, the overall appearance of Zhanqi fish lanterns has not changed much. The word "王" on the head of the big fish and the festive red color all over it still inherit the traditional aesthetic taste of Chinese folk.

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As an intangible cultural heritage, Zhanqi fish lanterns inherit not only a production process, but also a way of life. Large fish lanterns symbolizing reunion and blessing are usually placed in village ancestral halls. The candles used as light sources in the past were replaced by battery-powered light bulbs.

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As the New Year approaches, Zhanqi Village holds a fish lantern activity. Hundreds of tourists come here, hoping to see the unique beauty on winter nights.

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Huge fish lanterns danced among the crowd, sending blessings to people in accordance with ancient customs. Wang Yufang also appeared in the fish lantern dance team. The fish lantern made by himself was "swimming" on the road in his hometown. The red fish lanterns record the nostalgia for hometown, carry the joy of people getting together, and also express their longing for the future.

Wang Yufang said that he wanted to pin the happiness and childlike interest he experienced in his childhood on this little fish lantern, and pass it on to people through this little fish lantern. People around you.