Young woman picks up her father’s mantle to popularize folk songs of Dong ethnic group in SW China’s Guizhou

The Dong opera, or folk songs of the Dong ethnic group in southwest China’s Guizhou Province, is classified as a world intangible cultural heritage. Zhang Guodan, a 32-year-old of the Dong ethnic group from Liping county, Guizhou, has been applauded by many for devoting herself to carrying forward the tradition of Dong opera.

Photo shows Zhang Guodan when she worked in Guangzhou. (Photo/CCTV News)

Zhang used to work in the field of international trade out of her hometown in the province. However, her life changed in 2015 when her father died unexpectedly. Zhang’s father had devoted a lot of time attempting to carry on the tradition of Dong opera by teaching the songs to others living in the locality. “The Dong songs don’t have any written lyrics, and so the teaching of the songs is the only way to pass them down,” Zhang explained.

After realizing that many of the things that her father was working on must have been left unfinished upon his passing, Zhang decided to collect together and organize all of the information he had left behind into a database. She then quit her job and came back home to contribute herself fully to efforts aimed at further popularizing Dong opera.

Photo shows Zhang Guodan’s  father's diary. (Photo/CCTV News)

While supporting her family through the sale of fish, Zhang devoted herself to the task of collecting information about Dong opera by shooting videos featuring senior Dong residents singing traditional songs. So far, she has gathered materials on more than 2,800 Dong songs.

In 2017, Zhang and her friends started to shoot short-form videos in an effort to promote Dong opera along with the culture of the Dong ethnic group. The videos that showcase Zhang singing or cooking while wearing traditional ethnic clothing and exquisite silver accessories garnered her many new followers on her social media feeds, as the young woman has since become something of an Internet celebrity.

Zhang Guodan collects information about Dong opera from Dong residents. (Photo/CCTV News)

Besides, they also promoted local agricultural products, embroidery works and other locally-sourced items through livestreaming, which has helped provide a boost to sales of local products and has meanwhile generated considerable improvements to the incomes enjoyed by the local villagers living in the community. 

Zhang Guodan weaves a basket with a villager. (Photo/CCTV News)

Zhang Guodan shows locally produced chili in livestreaming. (Photo/CCTV News)