CCTV-1 Heirloom takes Catching Mudfish to world

China Central Television's primary channel, CCTV-1, is following CCTV 2, 4, 7, and 10 in publicizing the 250-year-old Catching Mudfish folk custom of Doumen District, this time on a popular variety show.

A national-level cultural heritage, Catching Mudfish is being demonstrated on air by inheritor Huang Guofu and family. Although the other CCTV stations had already done presentations, this time the unique skills were filmed for the program 我有传家宝 -- I Have a Family Heirloom, or simply Heirloom.

Shooting of mudfish cooking 

CCTV-1 is a satellite television station that produces documentaries, music, news, drama series, sports, and children's shows. The station promotes Heirloom as: "one variety show narrating cultural heritage. People come and share not only their family heirlooms but also their stories, through which it emphasizes the heritage of traditional Chinese cultures." It has both studio guests in Beijing and on-site filming.

Close-ups of cage weaving were taken on Jan 10 because the activity is often conducted when daytime temperature reaches 25 degrees Celsius after the 15th day of a lunar month. The next day, Mudfish Catching got under way in Qianwu Town. When the tides ebbed, fish floundered on the mudflats. Skillful tradition inheritors, barefoot, or wearing special socks carried mud boards, fish cages, and baskets into the muck and caught as many fish as they could.

The Catching Mudfish tradition originated in the 30th year of the reign of Emperor Chien-lung (Qianlong) in 1765 during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912) and was listed as a national-level intangible cultural heritage in 2010.

Mudfish catching 

Weaving a fish cage [Photos by Zeng Yao / Zhuhai Daily]