huang tiejun, a retired soldier from ningbo, zhejiang: he remains in uniform and cultivates his patriotic spirit
2024-09-08
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chinanews.com zhejiang news september 6 (zhang bin) once upon a time, he held a gun and defended the motherland; now, he carves dough sculptures and passes on the torch.
huang tiejun, a retired soldier from zhenhai, ningbo, zhejiang, is a nominee for "ningbo good man" and "most beautiful ningbo man", the founder of the zhenhai district red star volunteer service team, and also a ningbo-level inheritor of intangible cultural heritage dough sculpture. he has both the selfless spirit of endurance and dedication of a soldier and the persistent pursuit of carrying forward and inheriting the excellent traditional chinese culture.
huang tiejun. photo provided by zhenhai district veterans affairs bureau
in 2014, huang tiejun followed the naval vessels of his unit to escort in the gulf of aden, somalia. during the escort, they visited four middle eastern countries and singapore for exchanges and interactions. in 2015, after more than a year of escort, they visited five european countries. during this period, huang tiejun used his personal skills to carry out exchanges and performances of dough sculpture and clay sculpture culture, which were recognized by foreign friends. his works, such as the peacock with its tail spread out and guan gong, representing justice, were also given as gifts to foreign guests.
in 2017, he followed the chinese navy's ocean-going visiting fleet to more than 20 countries and regions including the philippines, vietnam, thailand, italy, turkey, etc. for cultural exchanges, and gave lectures in schools in the visited countries to let people around the world understand the long-standing culture of chinese dough sculpture.
"i did charity work when i was in the army. after retiring, i wanted to use my own advantages and unite other retired soldiers to give full play to their respective strengths and continue to shine. so the volunteer service team came into being." huang tiejun said.
after retiring, huang tiejun made use of his expertise as a retired soldier and actively participated in patriotic and morale-strengthening activities such as the zhenhai district's "rong guang" lectures, youth national defense education, and military research and study experiences. he also used dough modeling skills to build a bridge between cultural heritage and youth education.
in march 2020, under the guidance of the zhenhai district veterans affairs bureau, huang tiejun initiated the establishment of the zhenhai district veterans red star volunteer service team to carry out patriotism and national defense education for young people, and led the team members to actively participate in volunteer service for veterans. he went to the "intangible cultural heritage" classrooms in villages and schools, and taught young people to understand intangible cultural heritage and make dough sculptures. combining his own experience of serving in the army and guarding the border, he creatively "collided" patriotic concepts with intangible cultural heritage dough sculptures.
huang tiejun (first from right) participated in activities related to veterans. photo provided by the zhenhai district veterans affairs bureau
"i hope to pass on the traditional art of dough modeling to the next generation, and at the same time, inspire young people's patriotism by telling stories about soldiers," said huang tiejun.
in 2022, under the guidance of the zhenhai district veterans affairs bureau, the volunteer service team and the district's primary and secondary school students' social practice base signed a patriotic education cooperation agreement to carry out national defense education and red education for primary and secondary school students throughout zhenhai district. now, the "red star nurturing young soldiers and civilians strengthening the great wall" volunteer service project has served more than 50,000 students. in particular, the project integrates intangible cultural heritage and patriotic education, becoming an important force in inheriting the red gene. (end)
