On one side, members of the intangible cultural heritage group dressed in Tang dynasty costumes perform millennium drum music, while on the other side, skilled performers of suona, erhu, pipa, and others take turns to compete with them... Recently, Douyin intangible cultural heritage anchor @Datang Furong Garden Dongcang Drum Music engaged in a PK battle in the live room with @Qu Mingfei Suona, @Anchor Erhu Yugongzi, @Pipa Yue'er, and more than ten other talented anchors, aiming to promote the Xi'an drum music intangible cultural heritage. Netizens call it the "PK with the highest intangible cultural heritage content in history".
The Xi'an drum music performed by the Dongcang Drum Music Society has been in existence for over a thousand years, popular since the Tang dynasty. In 2009, Xi'an drum music was inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO. In the past, due to limited performance opportunities, the Dongcang Drum Music Society also faced the crisis of inheritance. In 2022, they began live streaming on Douyin, attracting over 720,000 followers with their retro Tang-style costumes and exciting performances.
Recently, the Dongcang Drum Music Society has begun promoting Xi'an drum music through live streaming PK battles, allowing this intangible cultural heritage to "break boundaries" once again. "We want to showcase our intangible cultural heritage to more people through live streaming PK battles. Can you accept our PK challenge?" This is their usual opening statement before each PK battle.
In a recent live streaming PK battle, the Dongcang Drum Music Society went head-to-head with the folk music enthusiast @Qu Mingfei Suona. After some campaigning, the Dongcang Drum Music Society emerged victorious by a narrow margin. According to the PK rules, Qu Mingfei was tasked with playing a rendition of "Beating the Tiger Up the Mountain" as a "punishment" for losing, drawing applause from the audience with his powerful performance. In return, the Dongcang Drum Music Society played "Golden Court Music," filling the air with joyous vibes. Both sides rallied their fans to cheer each other on.
In another live streaming showdown, Dongcang Drum Music Society was randomly matched with @ErhuMaster. They each performed traditional Chinese music pieces such as "Man Should Strengthen Himself," "Feather Dress in Neon Colors," and "Race Horses." Although Dongcang Drum Music Society didn't emerge victorious in this matchup, the exchange with a popular anchor allowed more viewers in both streams to appreciate the charm of intangible cultural heritage. "It's okay, their stream has more people, we'll play another piece for more viewers later," the musicians said. This sentiment reflects one of their original intentions behind engaging in live streaming showdowns.
The Dongcang Drum Music Society has held more than ten PK (player vs. player) competitions. During the live broadcasts, they even matched with fan anchors who had watched the society's performances live. @抡琵琶的二黑子 was one of them. In this PK competition, they chose the format of open-mic PK, allowing the audience to enjoy performances from both sides without switching live streams, resulting in a packed audience and high engagement.
In these live streaming PK battles, there are both scheduled matchups between talented friends and spontaneous clashes between experts. Throughout the battles, viewers from both livestreams break the barriers of their respective circles, engaging in interactions and leaving comments like "promoting traditional Chinese music," "divine showdown," and "the ultimate battle of intangible cultural heritage."
On Douyin's livestreaming platform, an increasing number of traditional Chinese music (民乐) anchors are "breaking the circle" through live PK battles. According to the "2023 Douyin Performing Arts Livestreaming Data Report," there were a total of 71.43 million performing arts livestreams on Douyin in the past year, with traditional culture anchors finding talent partners in the livestreams and hosting 455,000 PK battles throughout the year. Guzheng, erhu, pipa, suona, and flute emerged as the top five most rewarded genres, attracting the highest "box office" in terms of virtual gifting. Leveraging the unique characteristics of traditional Chinese music performance, these anchors are keen on cross-genre challenges, initiating 123,900 cross-genre PK battles throughout the year.
Zhang Pengfei, a researcher at the University of International Business and Economics, believes that the integration of traditional culture with livestreaming PK battles has opened up new possibilities for digital sports. Through these battles, traditional culture is both preserved and innovated upon, providing audiences with a more diverse cultural experience.
