Students from a primary school in Huai'an, Jiangsu Province practice the fishing drum dance on May 26, 2023. /CNSPHOTO
Students from a primary school in Huai'an, Jiangsu Province practice the fishing drum dance on May 26, 2023. /CNSPHOTO
Students from a primary school in Huai'an, Jiangsu Province practice the fishing drum dance on May 26, 2023. /CNSPHOTO
Students from a primary school in Huai'an, Jiangsu Province practice the fishing drum dance on May 26, 2023. /CNSPHOTO
Students from a primary school in Huai'an, Jiangsu Province practice the fishing drum dance on May 26, 2023. /CNSPHOTO
The fishing drum dance, a folk art popular in the Hongze Lake area of Jiangsu Province, has been introduced to class at a primary school in Huai'an, Jiangsu. Some inheritors visited the school to teach the origins and history of the millennium-old dance and coach students through the dance. Ancient fishermen integrated the practice of boating, netting, hook hanging and net hauling into the dance to show their happiness after a bumper catch and in anticipation of a more prosperous life.