The spinning top variations of the world don't cease to surprise and amaze me! Great video find, thanks!!!
That kongzhu is probably spinning quite slowly so it may be possible to start it by just wrapping a couple of time the rope around it and letting it fall, or something like that. He seems to be using gloves, so I think he is not keeping the rope fixed with respect to his hands but it is feeding it. My guess is that the regeneration can be described as a continuous fall against the rope, in a way similar to regenerating a spintop on a plate.