On the afternoon of July 16, the sun was shining brightly in Weifang City, Shandong Province, and last night's rain was no trace on the street, and the air was filled with humid and hot heat. On the 5th floor of the "Intangible Cultural Heritage Space" in the Shiwat Garden Cultural Block in the old city, Lao Fan came from the office to the corridor, trousers and shoes with white shirt, and the back was wet. "Don't mention it, it's hot today, and the air conditioner is broken again." Old Fan greeted the reporter while moving the floor fan behind the door out. Old Fan said that the first few days have been under the research, out of the door is a sweat, it is difficult to return to the office, and catch up with the air conditioning "not powerful.". "Wronged you." Old Fan smiled and told reporters.
The old Fan is called Fan Xinjian, and he is now the president of the Weifang Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Association. Two and a half years ago, he retired from his position as deputy director of the Weifang City Cultural Center. Further ahead, he has dealt with the intangible cultural heritage for most of his life on the Cultural Front in Weifang. Because he was older, people around him called him Lao Fan. And Lao Fan also has a nickname among the inheritors of Weifang, called "King of Ideas".
<h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" > he grows older</h1>
Fan Xinjian (pictured) attended the Weifang Intangible Cultural Heritage Forum
Old Fan often said that he was lucky. When he was young and powerful, he came into contact with the folk culture of Weifang and participated in a series of local folk customs protection work. Wait until a little older, catch up with the state to start systematically protecting intangible cultural heritage. In the end, he saw that the traditional dances, music, and skills that had been in danger of disappearing were held in the palm of their hands by the party committees and governments at all levels, and they were treated as treasures and entered a new era of development.
Lao Fan said that the most regretless, most fortunate, and most gratifying thing in this life is to do intangible cultural heritage.
Lao Fan is a native of Weifang. He said that he has been a literary and art lover since he was a child, and he has nothing to like to read books and engage in creation. As a teenager, Lao Fan entered the local theater troupe as an actor. The front desk gongs and drums beat happily, and Old Fan hid in the background to read a book.
Because he liked to write, Lao Fan later came out of the troupe, was transferred to a company as the secretary of the troupe branch, and later went to the local cultural bureau. In 1986, Lao Fan ushered in an important position in his life - the director of the Changyi County Cultural Center.
Looking back now, Lao Fan said that the years he worked at the Changyi County Cultural Center gave him a systematic understanding and understanding of the intangible cultural heritage.
At that time, there was no concept of intangible cultural heritage in China. According to the deployment of his superiors, Lao Fan participated in the excavation and sorting of local folk dances, music, literature, etc., which took about two years.
If it is said that participating in the collation of folk resources in the Changyi County Cultural Center is regarded as an "encounter" between Lao Fan and intangible cultural heritage; when he was sent to the "Chinese Folk Culture Village" in Shenzhen, the relationship with intangible cultural heritage was further heated up.
From 1993 to 1998, Lao Fan was appointed by the relevant departments of Weifang City to be responsible for the operation of the Weifang exhibition area in the "Chinese Folk Culture Village" in Shenzhen. In those 5 years, Lao Fan truly realized the great charm of his hometown's local specialties.
"At that time, the Weifang exhibition area of the 'Chinese Folk Culture Village' could receive tens of thousands of tourists a year, with sales income of 500,000 to 600,000 yuan, and the kites and New Year paintings displayed were very attractive to tourists." Lao Fan said that his experience in Shenzhen gave him the idea that the local specialties in his hometown are very interesting and promising.
After returning to Weifang, Lao Fan began to engage in the protection of intangible cultural heritage full-time at the Weifang City Art Museum (the predecessor of the Weifang City Cultural Center, reporter's note). At that time, the protection of intangible cultural heritage in our country was just beginning. And Lao Fan, there are still 10 years to go before retirement.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > creative thinking boosts the inheritance</h1>
In 2010, Fan Xinjian (pictured right) planned and organized the first nuclear carving skills competition in Weifang City and was interviewed by the media
In 2007, Lao Fan, who was in Weifang Art Museum, began to fully participate in the city's intangible cultural heritage protection work.
"It was really a start-up stage. The understanding of intangible cultural heritage in society is still relatively shallow, and some places do not attach importance to it, and even leaders have participated in activities to describe intangible cultural heritage as 'non-cultural heritage'. Lao Fan said that local departments and project inheritance groups do not have an accurate grasp of intangible cultural heritage, and the declaration of projects is not active, thinking that it is time-consuming, labor-intensive and costly, and he often has to call for more than an hour to explain the importance of the declared projects.
Later, as the state and local governments paid more and more attention to intangible cultural heritage, the support policies gradually increased, and the status of intangible cultural heritage slowly improved.
For Lao Fan, the social attention of intangible cultural heritage has risen, and he needs to consider more things.
In 2010, the former Ministry of Culture approved the establishment of the Weishui Cultural and Ecological Protection Experimental Zone, which is also the first national cultural and ecological protection zone in Shandong. The fundamental goal of the protected area is to explore the living protection of Weifang's cultural heritage. The revitalization and utilization of local intangible cultural heritage has become a key focus.
In order to do a good job in this work, Lao Fan was entrusted with a heavy responsibility and became one of the main drafters of the planning outline and management methods of the protected area. In a few years, the protected area materials written by Lao Fan himself alone have millions of words. These are all out of his thinking and understanding.
Not only on paper, Lao Fan also likes to use his brain to plan some new projects, and reflect the social value of intangible cultural heritage through implementation.
"Two hundred red furnaces, three thousand copper blacksmiths, nine thousand embroidery girls, one hundred thousand looms." This is a vivid portrayal of the development of Weifang's handicraft industry in history. In 2015, Lao Fan and his colleagues planned to launch the "Nine Thousand Embroidery Girls" project to carry out free teaching of Weifang embroidery for local left-behind women. Over the past few years, the project has solved the employment problem of thousands of local people.
There is a special school in Weifang City that mainly focuses on deaf and mute children, and the employment problems of children after graduation have been plaguing the school. After learning the news, Lao Fan, who has been working on intangible cultural heritage for many years, thought of an idea: to carry out intangible cultural heritage vocational education in schools, including kite tying, painting, engraving porcelain, etc. Lao Fan said that deaf and mute children are characterized by being less susceptible to external interference and concentrating. This idea later blossomed and became a highlight experience in the field of special education across the country.
Old Fan's ideas are many more. In order to promote the intangible cultural heritage into the campus, he planned the "fire project"; in order to attract the public to participate in the non-genetic inheritance, he proposed to hold a "dialect and native language rap competition"; many people said that the painting of the New Year painting did not make money, he gave the idea of "Weifang New Year Painting Weifang Story", which effectively promoted the sales of local New Year paintings.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > always feel that time is not enough</h1>
Fan Xinjian trained teachers in Weifang City who participated in the work of the non-heritage campus
In December 2017, it was time for old Fan to retire. His family was happy for him, saying "You should rest"; friends were happy for him, saying "You should pay more attention to your body". However, the person in charge of the relevant local department talked to him, on the one hand, to affirm the work of Lao Fan, on the other hand, to show the intention of retention, hoping that he would continue to exert his residual heat, after all, the "Idea King" is not easy to find.
Old Fan had hesitated. The child will soon have grandchildren when he gets married, and he also wants to tease the grandchildren. More critically, his nearly 90-year-old mother also needs his care. But in the end, he chose to "retire without resting". In 2018, the Weifang Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Association was established, and Lao Fan was elected as the president by 158 members.
Recalling the events of two years ago, Lao Fan was very emotional. He said that at that time, his ideas were very contradictory, and he also wanted to "retire" and go home to accompany his family. But in my heart, I am full of feelings for the intangible cultural heritage, I have worked for most of my life, and there are still many ideas that have not been realized, and I still want to contribute.
After arriving at the association, Old Fan was not idle, even busier than before retirement.
In October 2018, less than four months after the establishment of the Weifang Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Association, the "Intangible Cultural Heritage Carnival" was planned and held in the Shiwat Garden Cultural Block of Weifang City. Visiting the ancient streets, watching exhibitions, tasting food... Fan Xinjian and the association colleagues moved the local delicious, good-looking, fun and easy-to-buy intangible cultural heritage into the Shiwat Garden Cultural Block. For 5 days, the "Intangible Cultural Heritage Carnival" was like a New Year every day, and the person in charge of the neighborhood was happy to spoil, and also made the inheritors who sold out of stock happy to blossom.
The Dongshangyu community in Weifang City was formerly a blacksmith village with a long history of intangible cultural heritage. In order to reproduce the intangible cultural heritage of Dongshangyu, the Weifang Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Association launched the "Intangible Cultural Heritage Collection" there, inviting the public to experience the "Red Furnace Culture". Nowadays, the intangible cultural heritage of the community is becoming more and more intense, and many people have begun to brew up old crafts and use cultural and creative thinking to help alleviate poverty and increase income.
Affected by the epidemic this year, small and micro enterprises such as catering in Weifang have suffered losses. In order to help the local government resume work and production and economic and social life as soon as possible, the Weifang Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Association, together with relevant units, launched the "Theme Exhibition of Traditional Skills and Innovation of Literary and Creative Works" from the beginning of June to the middle of July, which was exhibited in the bustling business district of Weifang City. Lao Fan said that from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., intangible cultural heritage products attracted a large number of young people to watch. Some heirs sell last year's money in a month.
For Weifang's intangible cultural heritage, Lao Fan has many, many ideas. "Ecology, format, living, normalcy." Lao Fan said that in the future, he wants to do more things in the integration of intangible cultural heritage into modern life, and these 4 words he thinks are very critical.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > reporter's note</h1>
Two days after the interview, Fan Xinjian sent a WeChat message to reporters, saying that he was not highly educated, and what he did was all internal affairs, and it seemed that there was nothing worth publicizing. The words are full of humility and humility. And he is also a microcosm of thousands of ordinary workers on the intangible cultural heritage front in Shandong and even the whole country.
As Fan Xinjian said, the past 10 years have been 10 years of "high progress" in China's intangible cultural heritage work. Laws and regulations have been promulgated one after another, the work system has been improved day by day, and the enthusiasm of inheritors has become more and more high... In this process, it is inseparable from the silent cultivation and selfless dedication of thousands of intangible cultural heritage.
How should the project be protected and how should it be passed on? What kind of spark can the cultural and creative development collide with the intangible cultural heritage? In what ways will intangible cultural heritage be integrated into the development of the cultural tourism industry? One problem after another is not difficult to say, and it is impossible not to think about it. However, the intangible cultural heritage workers, full of enthusiasm, two-legged mud research projects, and all-night work to sum up experience, make our intangible cultural heritage cause more and more bright, more and more promising, and the relationship with modern life is getting closer and closer.
This is not the first time that reporters have interviewed Fan Xinjian. In the past few years, as long as it comes to the topic of intangible cultural heritage protection in Weifang, reporters will call him first and feel the situation. No matter how late and busy, Fan Xinjian will always agree to come down, help come up with ideas, find clues, and find angles. Fan Xinjian said that his many years of experience in the intangible cultural heritage industry have allowed him to "become relatives" with many local inheritors. He was willing to let reporters interview Weifang Intangible Cultural Heritage more, because "if the intangible cultural heritage is popular, it will also be popular with Weifang's tourism, and it can also solve the employment problem of more people." The responsibility of an intangible cultural heritage worker jumped on the paper.
Fan Xinjian's old mother is almost 90 years old, and he has a deep relationship with his old mother. Fan Xinjian once wrote a "mother's diary" in the WeChat circle of friends for a period of time, mainly recording the life of his mother, which resonated with many people. He said that when people are old, they only have the past in their minds, not the present and the future, and the old mother is talking about the past now.
"I'm also in my 60s. In another 10 years, perhaps the work of intangible cultural heritage has changed a lot. I want to do more now, and I can talk to my children in the future. Fan Xinjian said with a smile.
(The pictures in this article are provided by Weifang Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Association)
Reporter: Su Rui
Editor-in-charge: Gou Xiaoqing