[Reported by Liu Jun, reporter from China News] A thin pole in his hand and a long steel wire under his feet—relying on the only two props, the Xinjiang Uyghur man Adili has created a number of "human" Most", wrote the legend of "Prince in the Sky".
Recently, 51-year-old Adili was interviewed by a reporter from China News, telling his dangerous and colorful life story.
In Yingjisha County, Kashgar, Xinjiang, in the Dawazi Art Inheritance Center opened by Adili, students are practicing difficult movements on the ropes.
On the background wall behind the rope is a photo of Adili.
(Data map) (Photo by China News Agency reporter Liu Xin)
A performance that paid 62 yuan almost died
Adili is engaged in the most dangerous performing arts in the world - Dawazi (high-altitude walking).
Without any protective measures, walk at an altitude of tens of meters or even hundreds of meters.
This is an ancient Uyghur skill with a history of more than 2,000 years.
Six generations of the Adili family have made a living by performing Dawazi. His father witnessed the misfortune of too many Dawazi artists and made a will before his death, not allowing his children to engage in this line of work.
However, when Adili sneaked onto the big rope when he was 8 years old, others were trembling when walking on the rope, but he was as comfortable as an eagle flying high.
But soon he suffered.
In 1991, during a performance in Shanghai, due to a broken hemp rope, Adili fell from a height of 20 meters and suffered 17 fractures throughout his body.
The doctor asserted that it would be difficult for him to stand up again.
With God's blessing, Adili recovered miraculously a year later.
This accident left a very painful memory for Adili: at that time, the income of Dawazi artists was very low, a team of 15 people performed for 45 minutes, and the performance fee was only 62 yuan.
And he nearly died for it.
Survive the darkest moment, the gift of fate is waiting not far away.
In 1995, Canadian Cochran walked a tightrope across the Three Gorges, which took 53 minutes and 10 seconds, and caused a sensation in the world.
When Adili saw the news, he was very dissatisfied: "Where we are Chinese, we let foreigners go first. I want to challenge him!"
Two years later, Adili challenged Cochran's record at the Three Gorges.
Due to the limited funds raised, Adili can only be simple: steel wire, Cochran is fixed by 72 pairs of cable-stayed cables, and it is stable when stepped on; Adili has only 36 pairs of fixed, and it shakes greatly when stepped on; Cochran takes a helicopter to At the starting point, in order to save money, Adili carried the balance bar by himself and spent more than an hour walking up... In the end, Adili completed the whole journey in 13 minutes and 48 seconds, nearly 40 minutes faster than Cochrane.
Since then, the "Prince in the Sky" has become an instant hit, and invitations to performances in various scenic spots have flown like snowflakes.
Thrilling walk on Hengshan: "disappearing" in the clouds for 26 minutes
The world has never been smooth sailing, and when the spring breeze is complacent, there are crises.
On October 6, 2000, Adili experienced the most dangerous challenge of his life.
This time, he is going to conquer Hengshan Mountain in Nanyue, spanning a 1399.6-meter-long steel wire between Zhurong Peak and Furong Peak, the main peak of Hengshan Mountain.
Although he had surveyed the terrain beforehand, Adili was still stunned by the sight in front of him - the steel wire pulled a long arc in the air, and the end point could not be seen from the starting point. The first 700 meters was still a 45° downhill. Difficult to walk.
Adili could only pray that the weather would be better that day, but this wish came to nothing.
On the day of the performance, it was raining in the sky, the surrounding mist was suffocating, and the steel wire was extremely slippery.
Adili's heart twitched.
The live broadcast was about to start. Thinking of the billions of Chinese viewers in front of the TV, Adili gritted his teeth and walked up.
After 17 minutes and 50 seconds, he disappeared into the clouds.
In the next 26 minutes, none of the 12 TV spots set up on the spot could find Adili.
At an altitude of 436 meters, bad weather, and slippery steel wires, an ominous premonition rose in people's hearts.
At this time, Adili's life was indeed hanging by a thread - due to the negligence of the staff, there was no cable-stayed cable in the middle of the steel wire, and the swing was extremely large.
At that moment, the virtuosity and strong psychology of hundreds of performances saved him.
When he emerged from the clouds, the scene was boiling, and the audience paid tribute to the fearless hero with thunderous applause and cheers.
In the Dawazi Art Heritage Center, students walk on ropes in high heels.
(Data map) (Photo by China News Agency reporter Liu Xin)
Cultivate successors to inherit the intangible cultural heritage "Dawazi"
With the increasing age, Adili has reduced the number of performances in recent years, and shifted the focus of work to running schools and training successors.
In 2011, Adili opened the Dawazi Art Inheritance Center in his hometown, Yingjisha County, Kashgar, Xinjiang.
The first batch of more than 30 trainees were all local orphans.
"Now that everyone has a good life, they are reluctant to let their children engage in dangerous activities." Why not put a safety rope on the Dawazi performer?
Faced with such a suggestion, Adili laughed and said, "Dawazi is the art of life-defying. Bring a safety rope, I am ashamed of my ancestors. In the 2,000-year history of Dawazi, no one has ever tied a safety rope."
Compared with the safety rope, Adili is more willing to use standardized and scientific training to add a series of insurance to the students.
In the Dawazi Art Heritage Center, students have protective pads under their feet during training, so that they will not fall.
"If parents come here to take a look, it will relieve some of their concerns."
In order to increase the viewing experience of the performance, Adili has continued to innovate. Some students have mastered the skills of stacking arhats on the rope, tightrope walking in ballet, tightrope walking with high heels, and tightrope walking with two or even four people, and their standards are among the best in the industry.
The income of high-altitude rope walking performances is also very considerable. Adili offers the performers an annual salary of not less than 100,000 yuan, and the annual salary can even reach 200,000 to 300,000 yuan when there are many performances.
Not long ago, Adili recruited students again. At present, there are more than 60 students, including his second daughter. The baton of Dawazi art has been passed on to the seventh generation in the Adili family.
"Dawazi is my life. The history of more than 2,000 years cannot be broken. We must continue to develop. I hope that we Chinese people will always walk in the highest place and the farthest place, so far that no one else can see it, we can still walk." Adili said.
Dawazi was listed as the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage in 2006, and the folk stunts that have been passed down for thousands of years have been protected and supported by the Chinese government as a national intangible cultural heritage.
In 2020, Shandong Aid to Xinjiang invested 13.6 million yuan to support the construction of the Dawazi Rujiang Performing Arts Center, which has become the best display platform for Yingjisha Dawazi intangible cultural heritage art.
Last year, the Dawazijining tour of the Luka Cultural Exchange Carnival was successfully held, and Adili's students ushered in a rare performance opportunity during the epidemic.
Thinking of "sea wire" from Xiamen to Kinmen
After walking through glory, danger, and countless well-known landmarks at home and abroad, Adili still has a regret in his heart: in order to show "one family on both sides of the strait", he plans to perform a sea wire performance, from Xiamen to Kinmen, and use steel wire to erect it. A new bridge for cross-strait exchanges.
To this end, Adili has visited Taiwan twice, and 80,000 people in Kinmen have signed to support the event.
However, due to political reasons on the island, Adili never made the trip.
"This is my last goal." The 51-year-old Adili believes that he can walk a tightrope for another ten years. "No problem, I will continue to work hard."
At present, Adili is still engaged in research projects - improving the health of the elderly by walking a tightrope.
He believes that balance is very important to everyone's health. Some elderly people have brain atrophy and can't take care of themselves in life. Not only are they suffering, but they will also drag down their children to spend a lot of time taking care of them.
To this end, he wanted to instruct some elderly people to walk a tightrope at a height of 20 centimeters above the ground, so as to improve their physical function by improving their balance ability.
If the effect is satisfactory, a large-scale promotion will be considered.
The "Prince" who has been walking high in the sky sees not only the eagle soaring in the sky, the magnificent mountains and rivers under his feet, but also the health and wellness of ordinary people.
He was born for Dawazi, but his influence is expected to go beyond this ancient art to the wider folk.