A cultural exchange course offers young Africans a tough but rewarding experience at the famousShaolin Temple. Qi Xin in Dengfeng and Han Bingbin in Beijing report.
At 4 am in a hotel in Dengfeng, Henan province, a 32-year-old Nigerian woman, Peace Emezue, wakes tothe cries of "jihe"! ("assemble"). Half an hour later, still sleepy, she shows up in the lobby to join 19 otheryoung Africans, all dressed in gray robes and canvas shoes.
They walk in two lines for 15 minutes to the Shaolin Temple. This is the routine six days a week whileliving the life of a Shaolin monk. Founded in the fifth century, the monastery is long famous for itsassociation with Chinese martial arts and particularly with Shaolin kung fu.
The morning classes start with these "disciples" closely following the monks' moves and listening to themchanting, a chance to observe and hopefully experience for themselves a state of tranquility.
Like her name, Peace Emezue says she has sensed the spiritual moment several times.
"When I came to Shaolin, I was surprised because the life here is peaceful and simple," she says. "But itis also quite tough - the morning exercises, the hard training. We do it every day except Sundays. It is alifestyle I am not used to, but I am getting used to it now."
To strengthen cultural exchanges between China and Africa, the Ministry of Culture launched the"Shaolin Kung Fu Training Class for African Disciples" last month, enrolling 20 students from Tanzania,Ethiopia, Mauritius, Uganda and Nigeria. The course lasts three months.
Emezue is one of only three women in the group. The other two are Chinese-Africans from Mauritius. Asa karate champion, Emezue was chosen by her local government for the program to encourage womenin Nigeria to take up martial arts, especially kung fu.
"Women also love kung fu and Chinese culture, and I will return and teach my ladies how to meditate anddo the moves of kung fu and qigong (breathing exercise)," she says. "Since I came here, the training hasreally made me strong, especially my legs, because we do a lot of running and mountain climbing."
Wang Yumin, dean of the Shaolin Temple's foreign affairs office, says many foreigners are attracted toShaolin because of its reputation for kung fu and its use in Buddhism.
Shi Yanbo, a kung fu master at the temple, says many of the disciples had experience in other martialarts or had learned moves from watching films, but simulating them was not enough. Kung fu is deeplyrooted in the culture, he says.
So students also have to learn meditation and study Buddhist doctrines that guide people's actions. Tohelp them gain greater understanding of Chinese kung fu, the students are also offered Chineselanguage courses.
Zhang Lifei, the group's Mandarin teacher, says because the 20 African disciples do not speak the sameAfrican language, they are divided into two groups, each containing someone who can speak Englishand can help the others.
"I can speak a little French," Emezue says. "By paraphrasing, I help them to understand what the teacheris saying."
When the morning culture and language class is over, the students join the monks for a typical templelunch that begins with a ritual.
One of the monks walks out of the dining hall with a bowl of rice. After gently tapping on a wooden fish,he places a ball of rice on a stone as a tribute to all beings, while the monks and students chant fromscriptures and clap their hands until tapping of the wooden fish again signals the start of the meal.
Then they all eat in silence.
"Life in the Shaolin Temple is unimaginably lovely and peaceful. It's not like the real world where there isso much hustle," Emezue says.
"I have found a lot of peace of mind here and to be at peace with myself. I would like to teach morepeople how to do that."
二十名來(lái)自神秘非洲大陸的少林弟子懷揣著對(duì)少林功夫的憧憬,對(duì)中國(guó)文化的信仰,走進(jìn)河南省登封少林寺。
早上4點(diǎn)鐘左右,來(lái)自尼日利亞的非洲女弟子Peace Emezue就起床了,她要到少林寺的大雄寶殿和少林弟子們一起上早課,感受和體驗(yàn)神圣的少林文化。隨著一聲“集合”入耳,還有些睡眼朦朧的Peace就同另外的19名非洲弟子站成兩排,從居住的地點(diǎn)步行前往少林寺。
早課的時(shí)候,這些黑皮膚的“洋弟子”與少林弟子一同站在大雄寶殿中,聆聽(tīng)少林弟子們的唱詠,雖然他們對(duì)少林弟子口中念道的內(nèi)容不甚明白,卻依舊很認(rèn)真地雙手合十,感受著少林寺特有的寧?kù)o與安詳。
為進(jìn)一步加強(qiáng)中非文化交流與合作,文化部和非洲相關(guān)國(guó)家駐中國(guó)大使館多次溝通,最終啟動(dòng)“非洲武術(shù)學(xué)員來(lái)華培訓(xùn)班”——“2013非洲文化聚焦”的重要項(xiàng)目。自9月25日起,來(lái)自非洲坦桑尼亞、埃塞俄比亞、毛里求斯、烏干達(dá)、尼日利亞5個(gè)國(guó)家的20名弟子,不遠(yuǎn)萬(wàn)里,來(lái)到少林寺開(kāi)始了他們?yōu)槠谌齻(gè)月的學(xué)習(xí),這些“洋弟子”與少林寺弟子們一同做早課、食齋飯,值得一提的是,他們還會(huì)向少林寺的師父?jìng)儗W(xué)習(xí)少林功夫。
說(shuō)在少林,食在少林
漢語(yǔ)課是這群非洲弟子每天上午必須要學(xué)的科目,由于這五個(gè)國(guó)家沒(méi)有統(tǒng)一的語(yǔ)言,在漢語(yǔ)課上,老師把二十名非洲弟子分為兩組。由于Peace會(huì)說(shuō)些法語(yǔ),她有時(shí)候就會(huì)試著講解給周?chē)膶W(xué)員,慢慢地,個(gè)別學(xué)員們開(kāi)始從原先的表情迷茫,逐漸明白和了解課程安排,跟著老師讀寫(xiě)漢字,學(xué)習(xí)拼音。
來(lái)自尼日利亞的Obiora神情認(rèn)真地看著書(shū)本,他說(shuō)道:“我覺(jué)得拼音相對(duì)容易些,而漢字書(shū)寫(xiě)是比較難的”。
漢語(yǔ)老師張黎飛告訴記者,他們從原先的只會(huì)說(shuō)“你好”、“謝謝”、“再見(jiàn)”這類(lèi)的詞語(yǔ),發(fā)展為會(huì)對(duì)試著說(shuō)出一些師父?jìng)兂3T谟?xùn)練時(shí)講給他們的詞,如“預(yù)備”、“注意”,聽(tīng)到這些與他們生活息息相關(guān)的詞語(yǔ),他非常高興。
文化課結(jié)束后,學(xué)員們各自收拾好書(shū)本,很有禮貌地走出教室,站成兩排,準(zhǔn)備奔赴下一個(gè)目的地——齋堂,“洋弟子”要與少林弟子們一起吃午飯。
在少林寺,寺院弟子們吃飯前有一個(gè)儀式,20名非洲弟子與少林弟子分坐在齋堂兩邊,飯菜盛好后,一名少林弟子拿出一碗飯從齋堂走出來(lái),用木魚(yú)在云板上敲打一下,接著,在門(mén)前的石臺(tái)上放上一小撮飯,表示供養(yǎng)世間萬(wàn)物的含義,由于做儀式時(shí)他們需念經(jīng),“洋弟子”也有模有樣地念著,隨著另一聲木魚(yú)敲打云板的聲音入耳,他們開(kāi)始動(dòng)筷子吃飯,今天的食物有綠豆粥、饅頭、豆芽炒青菜等,整個(gè)吃飯過(guò)程,所有人都默不作聲,靜靜地把飯吃完。
Obiora告訴記者,“非洲也有很多中國(guó)餐廳,對(duì)于我們來(lái)說(shuō),用筷子吃飯沒(méi)有太大的問(wèn)題,剛開(kāi)始的時(shí)候,很不習(xí)慣這里的飯菜,但漸漸發(fā)覺(jué)還不錯(cuò)。佛教的禮儀很多,指導(dǎo)著人們哪些需要做,哪些不能做。”很顯然,Obiora目前已經(jīng)學(xué)習(xí)和了解到了一些佛家弟子的禮儀,在接受完記者的采訪(fǎng)后,他習(xí)慣性地雙手合十,點(diǎn)了點(diǎn)頭。
學(xué)功夫圓夢(mèng)少林
每名非洲弟子的心中都有一個(gè)少林夢(mèng),這次在近距離感受少林寺的過(guò)程中,他們收獲少林功夫的同時(shí)也感受著少林文化。
在尼日利亞,Peace是名健身教練,非常擅長(zhǎng)空手道,Peace告訴記者,當(dāng)她最初到少林寺的時(shí)候,十分感嘆并驚訝于少林寺平和而簡(jiǎn)單的生活,然而,這里的訓(xùn)練卻比想象中的要嚴(yán)格,從周一至周六,密集而艱苦的訓(xùn)練是她在來(lái)之前所未曾想到的,即便如此,通過(guò)這段時(shí)間的訓(xùn)練,Peace感覺(jué)身體更棒了。
少林寺外聯(lián)處主任王育民告訴記者,源于對(duì)少林功夫的熱愛(ài),許多外國(guó)弟子慕名來(lái)到少林寺,在對(duì)少林功夫不斷了解的過(guò)程中,他們也逐步體會(huì)和感受著歷史悠久的少林文化。這批非洲弟子除了學(xué)習(xí)少林功夫外,同時(shí)還會(huì)接觸到佛教常識(shí)、佛門(mén)禮儀文化等課程。
參加本次“非洲武術(shù)學(xué)員來(lái)華培訓(xùn)班”的非洲弟子大多都有著的運(yùn)動(dòng)功底,他們當(dāng)中有一些是擅長(zhǎng)競(jìng)技運(yùn)動(dòng)的運(yùn)動(dòng)員。
武術(shù)精湛功夫師父釋延波表示,由于這些非洲弟子主要是從電影和晉級(jí)比賽中了解的,對(duì)真正的少林功夫的認(rèn)識(shí)并不是十分透徹,他指出,武術(shù)與文化是密不可分的,少林武術(shù)更多是自?xún)?nèi)而外發(fā)出的力量。
Obiora就是功夫巨星李連杰的影迷,在一招一式的學(xué)習(xí)中,他也感覺(jué)到正在逐步實(shí)現(xiàn)自己的功夫夢(mèng)。
Peace在評(píng)價(jià)本次的少林寺生活時(shí)說(shuō)到,“我非常喜歡這里寧?kù)o的少林氛圍,這是一次很棒的、很讓人難忘體驗(yàn),等回國(guó)后,我會(huì)把這邊所學(xué)所感傳遞給更多的人! |