In Milan Kundera's novel, the Joke flows through the plot via the procession of the Moravian Ride of the Kings, where riders in traditional folk costumes ride through villages on horseback, carrying with them the memory of the land and its people. China has its own image. The procession that winds through the streets of cities and villages draws crowds and raises goosebumps. It is called Yingge, and the Czech translation would be "China's War Dance." In recent years, it has experienced an unprecedented comeback in China.

What is Yingge and where does it come from?

Yingge is a dance with a history spanning over four centuries, deeply rooted in the folk culture of the Chaoshan region in Guangdong Province. It combines theater, dance, and martial arts. The famous choreographer Jia Zuoguang once praised it by saying, "Yingge dances the spirit of the Chinese nation." The dancers dress up as heroes from the classic novel *Stories of the Sui and Tang Dynasties*—that is, as outlaws from Liangshan—and, with painted faces and in colorful costumes, hold short wooden sticks in their hands, striking them to the rhythm of drums. The movements are sharp, dynamic, and full of energy. Although Yingge was inscribed on the first list of China's national intangible cultural heritage in 2006, it only achieved true nationwide fame in recent years.

Short videos as proof of age

The key driver of its new popularity has been modern communication channels. Short videos and vlogs can capture the visual power of the dance in a way traditional media could not: close-up shots, dynamic editing, expressive faces, and golden costumes have appealed to the younger generation. Just like the natural football tournament "Village Super League" from Guizhou Province, Yingge existed in its locality for generations but only broke through its regional boundaries thanks to the internet. The symbol of this rebirth was a little girl. In April 2024, a video from Chaoshan spread on social media: five-year-old Zhuang Enqi spontaneously dances Yingge alongside a professional troupe, with confidence and naturalness that surprised all of China.

The video was picked up by Xinhua News Agency, the *Renmin Ribao* newspaper, and Guangdong Television. A year and a half later, on the first day of the Lunar New Year in 2026, seven-year-old Enqi performed at the head of the Puning troupe on the streets of Hong Kong, invited by the local tourism bureau, and the audience greeted her with applause. Her father, a member of the Yingge group himself, said: "It is her interest. We want her to study and devote her free time to tangible heritage, to help spread Chinese culture." Enqi today masters almost ten choreographies, and she has even created one herself. She has declared that she wants to dance Yingge until she is 100 years old.

A question that goes beyond dance

But the story of Yingge does not end with success on social media. It raises a question that resonates far beyond the Chaoshan region. In the age of artificial intelligence, which generates music, images, and movement on command, and in an era when global internet culture pushes for the unification of taste and forms—does it make sense to preserve traditions like Yingge? Are they fossils of the past, or living forms of identity? China itself has undergone a remarkable transformation in this regard. In the 20th century, it faced doubts about its own culture, adopted Western models, and then gradually, generation by generation, returned to itself.

Yingge performances in the streets of Hong Kong or in a viral video of a young girl are not just entertainment. They are a testament to cultural self-confidence, which has learned to stand on its own feet again. More and more people from the generations born in the 1990s and 2000s are joining Yingge troupes, bringing new choreographic elements while still honoring the traditional foundation. This shows that tradition does not have to be a museum piece; it can be a dialogue. And it is precisely this dialogue, between the old and the new, between the local and the global, that is perhaps the most valuable thing that such a dance can offer today.

NNela.Ni/gnews.cz