Editor's Note: This article is produced in collaboration with the Chongqing Institute of Foreign Studies as part of a series of ongoing reports exploring the city's abundant resources in intangible cultural heritages.

The Chuanjiang Haozi Research Hall. (Photo/Chongqing Institute of Foreign Studies)

With the high-quality development of education nowadays, Cao Guangyu, the inheritor of the fifth batch of national intangible cultural heritage, takes an innovative approach and introduces Chuanjiang Haozi Work Song to students by taking them on a study tour of the related museum.

Cao established a museum to research Chuanjiang Haozi's work song in Changshou Reservoir, Chongqing. The museum records the history, humanities, geography, and culture of the work song, as demonstrated by black-and-white photos hung on the wooden wall of ancient wooden boats, showing raging rivers and boat trackers hauling on the ropes.

The study is conducted under Cao's guidance from various aspects of Chuanjiang Haozi Work Song, including its history, geography, humanities, program rehearsals, and e-sports. He acquaints students with the stories of old and new folk songs. As a witness to the development and progress of an era, the Chuanjiang Haozi Work Song itself has gone through the transition from the old to the new, from the use of wooden boats to iron ships, the switch of waterways to highways, the alteration of old tunes with the addition of new elements, and the change of theme from survival to experience.

The museum represents a bridge for college and university students to study and gain an in-depth understanding of Chuanjiang Haozi's work song. Currently, multiple institutions of higher learning such as Chongqing Water Resources and Electric Engineering College, Chongqing Vocational College of Culture and Arts, Chongqing Normal University, and Southwest University in Sichuan and Chongqing have engaged their students in such programs for the purpose of research, therefore boosting the evolution of the folk song.

In this regard, Cao senses a consensus among the majority of students, who are entrusted with the historical mission of boosting self-confidence in our national culture, carrying forward fine traditional Chinese culture, and building up China's cultural strength.

Traditional Chinese culture is extensive and profound. The younger generation still has a long way to go in accomplishing this historical mission, achieving and keeping a balance between innovation and inheritance.

Chinese script: Lu Meiling  

Tutored by: Wen Chunxue 

Translation: Su Yi

Tutored by: Lu Siying  Wei Jingjun  Hu Wei

Voice-over: Wang Jingxuan

Tutored by: Chen Juan