Rural School’s Practice in Intangible Heritage Inheritance along Banks of Yellow River

LIAOCHENG, China, Nov. 7, 2025 /Xinhua-AsiaNet/–

Along the banks of the Yellow River – the mother river of the Chinese nation – a primary school is pioneering a unique approach to education: nurturing ancient Yellow River culture through children’s songs and classroom learning. Shouzhang Town Primary School in Yanggu County, Shandong Province has transformed rich Yellow River cultural resources into dynamic school-based curricula, achieving mutual reinforcement between intangible cultural heritage inheritance and youth development.

On campus, the resounding echoes of “Yellow River Labor Chants” reverberate across playgrounds while the clear, melodious tones of “Yanggu Whistles” flow through children’s fingertips. Here, intangible heritage transcends static museum exhibits or abstract textbook concepts, coming alive in the classroom as something students and teachers can experience, touch, and even perform.

The “Yellow River Labor Chants,” a unique artistic tradition, trace their origins to collective flood-control efforts along the riverbanks. Historically, to guard against floods, people relied on manual rammer work, chanting in unison to keep rhythm and boost morale. Each cadence embodies ancestral wisdom in coexisting with nature and preserving collective resilience.

Today, these once workaday rhythms have become the school’s flagship extracurricular program. Guided by the philosophy that “inheritance is the ultimate preservation,” the school has established a “Yellow River Labor Chants Club” alongside a complete curriculum system.

During the initial stages, resources were scarce, but enthusiasm ran high. Teachers and students co-created costumes and props, while instruction extended beyond musical notation to historical context exploration. Collaborative research into lyrical interpretations and performative gestures forged new learning paradigms.

To deepen understanding of the chants’ cultural essence, the school engaged Zhang Chunmei and Zhang Yang – inheritors of this intangible heritage – as cultural advisors. Their expertise elevated artistic standards, while oral narratives about the chants’ evolution offered students a vivid cultural immersion.

“These chants are living archives of Yellow River’s governance history,” Zhang Chunmei remarked. “When I see the curiosity and focus in the children’s eyes, I truly feel the weight – and the hope – of cultural inheritance.”

A defining feature of the school’s heritage education model is its “co-learning” methodology. Replacing one-way knowledge transfer with a new model of teacher-student collaborative inquiry, it prevents “top-down” cultural transmission, allowing heritage seeds to organically take root through egalitarian interaction.

Shouzhang Town Primary School’s practice demonstrates that when education grows from the rich soil of local culture, it gains a powerful vitality – one that not only preserves the past, but also shapes the future.

Source: Information Office of Yanggu County People’s Government