This heir of Xie's stilt Yangge does have the ability to be different from ordinary people. The inspiration and encouragement I got from his random demonstration was even more effective than that of a month taught by my senior brother, and I was immediately convinced. I made up my mind that sooner or later, one day, I would also tie myself into a tower like Master.

Sometimes, the master would call the disciples together and talk about the history of Shandong Yangge or Yangge on stilts. This taciturn person, once he talks about this history, is always like a river, and he is like two people in his usual life. After all, it is the art that has entered the palace, and the master has proud capital. Although he didn't say anything, we could see the pride on his face. The master told us that my grandfather developed Yangge in Shandong into Yangge on stilts, especially when he invented the particularly tall Yangge performance on stilts, which was the pinnacle of Yangge history. However, Yangge is not only a performance, as a Yangge performance artist, in addition to being proficient in the eighteenth class of martial arts, he must also be familiar with the hundreds of schools of thought, familiar with astronomy and geography, for many years, the Xie family Yangge has paid attention to both civil and military cultivation. This is the reason why my grandfather regarded the Xie family's apprentice as the first successor of Yangge on stilts. Therefore, the master hopes that we will have time to read more books, so that we can have a deeper understanding of stilt Yangge.

It's impossible for me to go to school officially. But I'm still willing to go deeper into the history of stilt Yangge. The master has a lot of books and materials on this at home. It's all handed down from my grandfather or the ancestors of the Xie family. When I'm idle and bored, I go to my teacher's place to borrow it and flip through it. Slowly, I also realized some doorways. This ancient art has survived

It is because in addition to the simple Yangge performance, there is also an intangible thing that runs through the Yangge of the Xie family on stilts, that is, the culture that the master said. In fact, not only stilt Yangge, but artists from all walks of life are fighting for culture in the end. At this time, I remembered my eldest brother's opinion on stilt Yangge, he once said that the stilt Yangge in our small village can only be regarded as a juggling of rivers and lakes, and the stilt Yangge of the Xie family can be regarded as famous and authentic. Our grandfather started by his own stilt performance, and he won the title of the successor of stilt Yangge by being superior in performance, but the Xie family first paid attention to reading, and then learned martial arts on the basis of reading, and finally performed. Therefore, the Xie family must be stronger than our Wang family in terms of paying attention to reading and practicing martial arts, which is why over the years, the Xie family has respected the Wang family, and the Wang family has respected the Xie family even more.

Indeed, what the eldest brother said is true, the kind of stilt Yangge in our small village that looks lively but is actually empty obviously lacks the support of foundation and heritage. When it comes to learning, it's naturally completely different. For example, in our small village, there is no threshold for learning stilt Yangge, as long as you have the courage to step on stilts and learn a few movements, you can go on the field and twist, but here in Xie Jiaweizi, even a simple horse step is like a long-distance run in life. The stilt Yangge of the Xie family is actually no different from a real martial art.

I took a steady step after a year, a year, for life is not not long, but the hardships are far from being measurable by time. When the other brothers stepped on stilts and leaped next to me, I could only be like a puppet, under the supervision of the senior brother, day after day. I can imagine the torment in my heart. It's like a caged bird looking at the sky outside, unable to spread its wings and fly high.

I continued to do so day by day, but no matter how hard I tried, I would be whipped, and my elder brother seemed to be a master of the old times, who could always find a reason to whip me, and I could not refute him. Sometimes I would prick him and take advantage of my unpreparedness, and suddenly kick me from behind, followed by a whip. That crisp sound must have been very pleasant to his ears! This year, the sound of the whip moss has become a constant note on Xie Jiaweizi's training ground.

As the whip marks increased, my horse's stride became more and more steady. The power is transferred from the body to the legs, and then from the legs to the feet. When I learned how to put my heart and strength together, my legs felt like they were growing on the ground. Once, the elder brother rushed up from behind and kicked me so hard that I didn't move at all when I was unsuspected, and then I saw a shadow, like a ball hitting the wall, and quickly bounced back. I looked back and saw the elder brother sitting on the ground. His body was covered in dust, and his face was full of surprise.

Oh no! I thought to myself, this is a big disaster, and the senior brother will definitely kill me. However, what was surprising was that the elder brother would actually get up on his own, throw away the whip in his hand, pat the dust on his buttocks, come over, and put his arm around my shoulder.

"Little junior brother, well done!" he said excitedly, his eyes flashing with a strange light, and although I was in a bad state of mind at the time, I could still see that this light contained a kind of surprise, hope, and longing for something in the future. His hand trembled slightly as he put his arm around my shoulder, but it was full of strength. I suddenly realized that when my senior brother didn't have a whip, his smile was actually very warm.

At the end of that morning, the senior brother led me to the Master, who was sitting on a futon with his eyes looking into the distance, like a clock, and I knew that this was his latest way of attaining enlightenment, similar to the Buddhist zazen. Spend hours on this futon. The senior brother excitedly told the master: The little junior brother has firmly planted the horse. Master stopped meditating, withdrew his gaze, fell on my face, nodded and said, "I have long seen that this child is a good piece of material. ”

A warm feeling suddenly rose in my heart, and the confusion that Master had given me for many years had finally cleared the clouds and saw the light of day. I finally realized that this person, who was usually indifferent to me, actually saw everything in his eyes.

"Let's go to the ancestral hall!" said the master suddenly. After saying that, he stood up and walked out.

"Still not keeping up?!" the elder brother reminded me.

I chased after him, followed by the master, and the senior brother also followed, and walked side by side with me. We walked along a circuitous path, passing through several small villages nearby, and when we reached the reservoir, the path led into a silkworm forest, and through the woods, a temple-like ancestral hall flashed out, and the lintel was engraved with the words Xie Clan Ancestral Hall, I guess that the master brought me here, there must be something important, otherwise he would not have easily taken me into the ancestral hall. In the eyes of Shandong people, the ancestral hall is a very sacred place.

Push the door in, there is a courtyard with two compartments and one main house. There is a screen in the front hall, with a couplet on the front and back of the screen. The front is: stilt Yangge, according to the peaceful and prosperous times, Phoenix Xie, inheriting the thousand-year-old family style. Horizontal batch: stilt family. The opposite is: first-class people are loyal and filial sons; Horizontal batch: ancestral training for thousands of years. Passing through the courtyard, there was a hall in the main room, and on the table in front of it, a huge lion's head was placed, and then I realized that this was not only the ancestral hall of the Xie family, but the ancestral hall of the art of stilt Yangge. This is not meant to be performed, but rather a symbol of artistic totem. The lion's head is carved from mahogany, and the entire yard is filled with the scent of trees. Judging by the color, this lion's head has been around for some years, I don't know from which generation, and there is a glass frame on the wall behind the desk, which occupies most of the wall. In chronological order, there are award certificates in the frame, as well as photos of Xie Jiaban's performance, I took a closer look, the earliest photos were taken in the Republic of China, and I couldn't help but be in awe.

Regarding the past glory of Xie Jiaban, the master didn't say much, just passed by, said it, and moved a box from the corner. After opening the lock, I was shocked to find that there were more than 100 leather whips in this box.

The Master said to the elder brother, "Bring it." ”

The elder brother handed over the whip in his hand, and the master put the leather whip into the box, and then locked it with a click. The days when I was whipped were finally over. Later, I learned that this was the whipping ceremony of Xie Jiaban.

Master told me that every new disciple is arranged for a senior brother to teach, plus a leather whip, study, the pain of flesh and skin is always inevitable, this is also the key to whether or not you can learn, if you pass this level, you are successful in learning, if you can't pass this level, you can't eat this bowl of rice. The reason why the senior brother is so strict with me is what the master meant. The master can be described as well-intentioned, on the first day of apprenticeship, he let me make a few simple movements, and it can be seen that I am a good billet to practice kung fu. Therefore, his other disciples stepped on stilts to learn Yangge routines at the beginning, but I had to spend more than a year learning Zama steps.

It's true that I was born with short legs and short stature, and that's a fact, and there's no way around it. That's what my father's genes are. When I was a child, I used to ask my father, "Why can't I grow tall?" My father glared at me: "Ask your grandfather!" My father's answer was always so sloppy, and after so many years of my grandfather's death, where did I ask him?

However, during this canonization ceremony, Master provided me with the opportunity to have a conversation with my grandfather. After the Master locked the box containing the whip, he took out another box from the side, opened it, and took out a yellowed thread-bound book from inside. I took a look, and it turned out to be the family tree of the Xie family. The master opened the family tree, densely packed with dozens of pages, with neat small letters, recording all the disciples of the Xie family class who have achieved success in learning since its inception. Judging from their origins, most of them are the children of the Xie family in Dongjianshan, of course, there are also people outside Dongjianshan, such as my grandfather, when the master turned to the next few pages, my grandfather's name was impressively listed. There are two lines of small print annotations next to it: successful in learning and art, solid in the next plate, loyal and filial piety, and not dishonoring the teacher.