Lotus Fall has been passed down for more than a thousand years and has been widely popular in Shanxi, Henan, Shandong and other regions, but as the old artists are getting older, they are facing a crisis of survival. After Wang Jinlong, who started learning art at the age of 14, put this ancient quyi on Douyin, it has attracted the attention of a large number of young people, and he has seen new hope. At the same time, netizens will reward and encourage him when watching the live broadcast, which gives him more motivation to inherit this traditional art.

Despite his parents' objections, he secretly left home at the age of 14 to learn art

Wang Jinlong is a native of Shangqiu, Henan Province. He was born in an ordinary rural family in 1998. He has been deeply influenced by Henan local folk art since childhood, and Lianhua Luo is one of them. Under the influence of his ears and eyes, Wang Jinlong wanted to learn this ancient art of rap in an all-round way, but was strongly opposed by his family. According to him, in the past, Lianhua Luo was basically singing by blind people, and the folk artists engaged in it had to walk around the streets to make a living, and it was even considered a craft of begging.

At the age of 14, Wang Jinlong, determined to ignore the opposition of his family, secretly dropped out of school and ran to Heze, Shandong, looking for Yang Xiaoqiong, a famous Lianhua Luo performing artist, to study art. Yang Xiaoqiong was only found after various local inquiries, but the hardship of studying art has just begun. "At that time, it was too hard. The house I lived in was a mound of dirt, and it was very dilapidated. I couldn't sleep well at night. There were mosquitoes, cockroaches, and mice everywhere in the room." In addition to the difficult living conditions, the study of art itself was extremely hard. , "We get up at four o'clock in the morning to practice by the river. We have to learn to sing the traditional lotus song, and we also practice playing the board every day." Wang Jinlong said.

After two years of perseverance, Wang Jinlong finished his studies, returned to Shangqiu from Heze, and started his first stage performance. Although the income is not high, but after singing has been recognized by many elders and villagers, I am filled with emotion. However, parents' concerns also occur in reality. As a folk artist, Wang Jinlong mainly gets paid for performing in weddings and weddings. He often has to travel to many places, and his income is quite unstable.

Since 2017, Wang Jinlong began to upload lotus arias on the Internet platform, which has been loved by many netizens. The spread and fermentation of the Internet made Wang Jinlong famous quickly. In April 2017, CCTV Channel 7's "Rural World" program invited Wang Jinlong to be a guest program, and performed Lianhua Luo's "Pear Flower Praise" and other songs in the program. Wang Jinlong felt that the traditional art he inherited was finally recognized by more people.

Douyin fans exceed 1.5 million, and post-00s check in and comment every day

After the rise of short video platforms such as Douyin, Wang Jinlong started a new attempt. In order to let more young people understand and accept Lotus Fall, Wang Jinlong made a bold innovation. Falling Hu accompaniment. "In the past, Quyi was performed with allegro and bangzi, which was difficult to attract young people to listen to." Wang Jinlong said that now he has replaced the card point with an electronic organ and a DJ, so that the sound can be more integrated into the rhythm of modern life.

What is more innovative is the writing of lyrics. A large number of Wang Jinlong's works are close to the lives of young people today, and many Internet buzzwords are used in them. For example, "The sky will be dark, the people will change, and the feelings will be deceived" created by Singles Day. A netizen commented that when he was a child, he just listened to his grandmothers, but he didn't expect to like it now, and the number of likes for a single video exceeded 10. Ten thousand.

At present, Wang Jinlong's total fans on the Douyin platform have exceeded 1.5 million, and he has received over 8 million likes. It is worth mentioning that most of these fans are young people. Under Wang Jinlong's works, there are often "post-00s" and "post-90s" punch-in comments, saying that they come to see it every day, "I listen to it very brainwashing, I can't sleep without listening to it all day. Sleep". Wang Jinlong feels that he is very excited to get the attention of young people, and hopes that more people will pay attention to local folk art and inherit traditional culture.

At the same time, he teamed up with his wife, Chen Xinxin, who studied the electronic organ, and expanded the singing form from short videos to live broadcasts, creating a large number of excellent works, which attracted more attention from netizens. And through the live broadcast of netizens, he can also get some income, which gives him more motivation.

Although the Internet is booming, the decline and loss of traditional folk art is still a serious problem. Lianhua Luo originated in the Tang Dynasty and flourished in the Song Dynasty. It has a very ancient history. As the original old artists are getting older, there are very few young and middle-aged performers. "It's not enough to rely on a few people to support an industry, but I still want to continue to support it." Wang Jinlong said that he is also learning other local folk art performances in Henan, so that these folk arts can be passed down and seen by more people arrive.