Millennium old falconry craft to be passed on

Jilin (CNS) – The man known as the King of Hawks, 46 year old Li Zhongwen, wore fur head-to-toe when on February 11 he received traditional salutes - bow and kowtow - from the eight persons selected to be his apprentices in the ancient art of falconry.

The ceremony was held at Yulou Village of Jilin City in northeastern China's Jilin province, on which has been conferred the title China's First Village of Eagles. Falconry has been passed on from generation to generation here, and the training and traditional hunting cultures that use these birds of prey have been maintained for nearly a whole millennium.

"I started training hawks at 15 years of age, and I would feel lost if I went without seeing hawks for even a single day", said Li, who has followed the practice of capturing, training and flying his hawks for over 30 years.

Li will pass on his extraordinary falconry skills to the eight apprentices aged 28 to 52. All have a common interest in falconry, and some are local villagers while others come from Heilongjiang Province and other areas.

Cao Baoming, deputy chairman of the Jilin Province Literacy Federation admitted at the ceremony that in recent years mystery has masked falconry culture, but its practices are now gradually being disclosed to the public. The local government is presently preparing to set up a cultural protection base for falconry in the village, he added.

Yulou was the cradle of civilization during the Jin Dynasty (1115 - 1234), and became a royal tribute base in 1658 during the Qing Dynasty (1644 -1911). The empire's troops settled down here and trained hawks as tributes to the royal family, and their descendants handed down these falconry techniques , effectively preserving their traditional hunting culture.