18 people sneaked into the country from Myanmar! The reason behind it is not simple …

Original Guan Ying Zhang Peng Du Dapeng Fiona Fang

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He looks unremarkable, dark-skinned, lean, and doesn’t talk much. He looks older than his actual age and doesn’t look like a "post-80 s", but when he talks about acrobatics, he seems to be a different person, and his words suddenly increase, and his eyes suddenly have light.

This is the prosecutor’s first impression of Yan Youlu. Based on this impression, it is really hard to imagine that he is a criminal suspect who illegally organized a number of foreigners to sneak into China for acrobatic training and performance. However, with the in-depth handling of the case, the prosecutor found that the reason why Yan Youlu embarked on the road of crime was not only related to his personal and family, but also to the inheritance of the whole Qiuqiao acrobatics.

The bitter life of acrobatics

In June 2021, the police in Huai ‘an District, Huai ‘an City, Jiangsu Province found that there were some unidentified foreigners in the acrobatic troupe on Yanyou Road, Crystal Village, Boli Town. Soon, Yan Youlu took the initiative to surrender.

Yan Youlu was born in Yan Jiaban, a well-known acrobatic family in Qiuqiao Town, Huai ‘an District. His father and grandfather are both in this line of work. Yan Youlu has been practicing kungfu with his parents since he was five years old, and began to perform on stage at the age of seven. In order to concentrate on practicing kungfu, he dropped out of primary school in the first grade. At that time, Yan Youlu always suffered from acrobatics, regardless of spring, summer, autumn and winter, even if he was physically injured, he persisted.

In an aerial training, Yan Youyou fell from a height of several meters and almost died. Until now, he still has an old scar several centimeters long on his neck.

When Yan Right’s father talked about this son, he couldn’t help but shed tears. He always said that Yan Right was so bitter step by step. Under the strict discipline of the family, Yan Youlu, who is quite talented in acrobatics, has gradually become the pillar of the acrobatic troupe. He performed with the acrobatic troupe all over the country and earned a hard money.

Recalling the previous experience of crisscrossing, Yan Youlu’s face showed a rare smile.

He proudly said: "At that time, most people went out by boat. As soon as the ship landed, we found a place with props on our backs, simply set up a shelf, knocked a few gongs and began to perform. After the end, the audience didn’t want to leave. "

In June 2007, Yan Youlu, who was in his early twenties, officially took over the acrobatic troupe from his father, became the head of the acrobatic troupe, and became the fourth generation of acrobatic descendants in the family. In December 2018, Yan Youlu was named as the acrobatic inheritor of the intangible cultural heritage project in Huai ‘an District.

Go abroad to recruit students.

In 2014, Yan Youlu’s colleague friend said that he had a relative who made a lot of money performing acrobatics in Myanmar. Yan Youlu, who was worried about the survival of the acrobatic industry, was very excited and had a bold idea.

At that time, the domestic acrobatic market was not very prosperous, and it was difficult to recruit acrobatic apprentices and inherit them all over the country. All acrobatic troupes were faced with the dilemma of no successor, and the existing acrobats were older. Especially in recent years, parents pay more attention to culture and education, and are reluctant to send their children to learn acrobatics. It is difficult for acrobatic troupes around the country to recruit young students to inherit their skills. In this way, acrobatic talents will inevitably be cut off, and the acrobatic troupe will face the risk of bankruptcy and dissolution. It is in the face of such a dilemma that Yan Youlu made up his mind to rush to Myanmar.

In August 2014, when Yan Youlu performed for the first time in Myanmar, he was warmly welcomed by the local people and attracted the attention of the local government. The local government quickly sent an invitation letter to Yan Youlu. The local government wants to cultivate local acrobatic talents, and Yan Youlu urgently needs young acrobatic students to support the acrobatic troupe and continue the acrobatic inheritance.

In October 2014, the two sides signed a contract for win-win cooperation. The local government recommended students aged 12 to 16, and Yan Youlu trained them to learn acrobatic skills. Soon, considering the limited local training conditions, Yan Youlu decided to take these students to Qiuqiao’s hometown, but the problem is, how to bring so many students back to China from Myanmar? Due to the special location of the China-Myanmar border, it is close to Yunnan, China, and the practice of smuggling is more common in the local area. Yan Youlu, who has a weak legal consciousness, is lucky.

Since 2016, Yan Youlu has smuggled 18 young students into the mainland from the Yunnan border without going through any entry and exit formalities. He also cooperated with other acrobatic troupes to introduce some students to acrobatic troupes in Shanxi, Henan and Sichuan.

In the investigation stage, Huai ‘an District Procuratorate intervened in the case in advance. In October 2022, the Huai ‘an District Procuratorate filed a public prosecution in the Huai ‘an District Court. With the efforts of the procuratorate, Yan Youlu returned all the illegal income of 500,000 yuan. Considering the circumstances of Yan Youlu’s surrender and voluntary confession and punishment, the prosecutor put forward sentencing suggestions for Yan Youlu to reduce the punishment.

On April 3, 2023, Huai ‘an District Court sentenced the defendant Yan Youlu to three years’ imprisonment, suspended for five years, and fined him 110,000 yuan for organizing others to cross the country (border) and stealing the country (border).

Promote the rescue work of Qiuqiao acrobatics

In handling the case, the dilemma of Qiuqiao acrobatics also attracted the attention of the procuratorate. The prosecutor felt that behind Yan’s right-wing crime, not only was his personal legal consciousness indifferent, but the occurrence of this case also had a certain relationship with the acrobatic inheritance dilemma including Qiuqiao Acrobatics.

Wuqiao in the north and Qiuqiao in the south. Qiuqiao acrobatics was born in the late 19th century. In the 1970s, Qiuqiao Acrobatics was founded and developed by Yan Youlu’s grandfather. From the beginning, a few people pushed carts around the streets, to the peak, Qiuqiao Acrobatics developed more than 50 performance groups, with more than 1,500 employees, more than 200 animals such as horses, tigers and lions, and more than 600 kinds of performances.

Their large-scale acrobatic programs have won many awards, and they have also gone abroad and become famous overseas. In 2008, Qiuqiao Town was named the "Hometown of Folk Culture and Art in China" by the then Ministry of Culture. In September 2014, Huai ‘an District was named "China Acrobatics Town" by China Acrobatics Association.

However, the glory of Qiuqiao acrobatics has finally become a thing of the past, and the development of acrobatic industry is shrinking day by day in the generation of Yan Right.

Especially in recent years, there are fewer opportunities for acrobatic performances. In order to survive, acrobats either start a sideline or change careers. Of course, the most deadly thing is that the acrobatic troupe, including Qiuqiao Acrobatics, has been unable to recruit young apprentices for many years. In September 2022, when the prosecutor came to Qiuqiao for an investigation and visit, the survival of the acrobatic troupe was already very difficult. The difficult problem faced by Yan Youlu Acrobatic Troupe is also the dilemma that the whole Qiuqiao Acrobatics cannot solve.

During the handling of this case, prosecutors have done a lot of extra-case investigation work, and realized that the acrobatic industry is not easy to survive. They also urgently hope that through handling cases and performing their duties, they can unite the efforts of social governance, promote government departments to do good deeds, contribute to the inheritance and development of Qiuqiao Acrobatics, fulfill their procuratorial responsibilities for protecting cultural diversity and cultural brands with local characteristics, and find the optimal solution for handling cases.

On October 14, 2022, Huai ‘an District Procuratorate wrote a research report on the development status of acrobatic industry in this area and submitted it to Huai ‘an District Committee and District Government, which received the attention and instructions of the district party secretary. On October 19, 2022, Huai ‘an District Procuratorate issued a procuratorial proposal to Huai ‘an District Culture, Radio, Film and Tourism Bureau, suggesting that Qiuqiao Acrobatics should be comprehensively counted as soon as possible and a database of Huai ‘an Acrobatics and Acrobatics Culture should be established. Actively seek special assistance funds; Introduce a mechanism to promote Qiuqiao acrobatics into the campus, coordinate tourism resources, and expand the performance opportunities of acrobatic groups; Strengthen support, allocate special funds, build acrobatic training and performance bases, and support and encourage and commend acrobatic innovative talents and projects; Organize and hold Huai ‘an Acrobatic Culture Festival and Acrobatic Performance Competition regularly to enhance the popularity of Qiuqiao Acrobatics.

On October 25, 2022, Huai ‘an District Procuratorate promoted the Propaganda Department of Huai ‘an District Committee to hold a symposium on the inheritance and development of Qiuqiao Acrobatics. Representatives from Huai ‘an Cultural and Broadcasting Tourism Bureau, Education and Sports Bureau, Boli Town Government and Huai ‘an Acrobatics Association discussed ideas and measures to help Qiuqiao Acrobatics innovate and develop continuously. With the joint efforts of all departments, Qiuqiao Acrobatics has entered local primary and secondary schools. Simple and easy-to-learn basic acrobatics will be included in the curriculum of campus interest classes, so that interested students can feel the charm of traditional culture from an early age.

(The people involved in the article are all pseudonyms. This article has been deleted. For more details, please pay attention to the last issue of Fiona Fang in August)

The original title of this magazine: "Acrobatic inheritors commit crimes, where will this go?"

Editor Su Chen Wang Li Design Liu Yan

Procuratorial Daily reporter Guan Guanying

Correspondent Zhang Peng Du Dapeng

Wonderful in the past

Original title: "18 people sneaked into the country from Myanmar! The reason behind it is not simple … "

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