Gao Wei: New Year paintings are a specific culture and it is not only technology that needs to be protected

Fulu Shou, Tiger Crane Deer, Goldfish Lotus, Mythological History... The traditional New Year paintings condense the thousands of years of life experience in the farming society. But with the development of society, the China in the New Year paintings is getting farther and farther away from the lives of modern people, whether to rebuild the tradition, let the lost culture once again integrate into life, or let it be displayed in the window, may be a question that will never have an answer.

Gao Wei is the president of the Beijing Folklore Association and an expert in folk culture. Courtesy of respondents

A tradition in trouble

Beijing News: Today, traditional New Year paintings are getting farther and farther away from life, why does this phenomenon occur?

Gao Wei: Most of the traditional New Year paintings are woodblock prints, that is, engraving and printing products, which is also the embodiment of the original reproduction and printing technology in history. Therefore, with the advancement of printing technology, traditional woodblock prints are difficult to adapt to the rhythm of modern life, which is also a natural trend. In fact, not only today, but also in history, from the initial rise of the Song Dynasty, to the Ming and Qing Dynasties, New Year paintings have also been changing.

Beijing News: More and more people no longer post New Year paintings for the New Year, in your opinion, what is the reason?

Gao Wei: There are many reasons why there is less demand for pasting New Year paintings. First of all, in the past, the Spring Festival was the biggest festival of the year, people held various celebration ceremonies at this time, pinning on the expectations of life, especially in the era of lack of materials and difficult life, people deliberately used various ways to express their expectations for abundance. But now, people's material needs have been greatly satisfied, and the corresponding spiritual needs are less. Secondly, the subject matter of the New Year paintings is relatively single, mostly some blessings and wishes, and in the era of underdeveloped productivity, people use this simple way to pin emotions. Third, in the past, the festival activities were relatively fixed, there were so many, so every ritual was very important, but now the daily leisure activities are rich enough, so many traditional festival activities are in decline, not only the New Year paintings. For example, to visit the New Year, you must meet in the past to visit the New Year, and now the phone can also be used, and visiting relatives and friends is not a necessary activity.

New Year paintings are a specific culture

Beijing News: A few New Year paintings are pasted at home, which suddenly makes people feel the taste of the New Year, why do New Year paintings have such an effect?

Gao Wei: New Year painting is a set of cultural rituals formed over thousands of years, people paste New Year paintings, paste couplets, hang lanterns during the New Year... These things are usually not done, only in the New Year will be done, under the long-term repetition, naturally formed a set of spring festival unique festival culture and festival traditions. In people's consciousness, the New Year is to do these things, on the other hand, to do these things, is the New Year, so all of a sudden feel the taste of the New Year. Because it represents a cultural memory left over from a specific era, people who have lived through that era and who have received relevant education can feel the meaning of culture from it.

Beijing News: Today, how to protect and inherit these cultures?

Gao Wei: Because of the change of lifestyle, many traditional rituals and cultures are changing. But those cultural memories have their own value and need to be protected. However, people's lives are also constantly changing, the Spring Festival is a festival to resign the old and welcome the new, life is so, so is the culture, always go to the old to welcome the new, this is a normal phenomenon, do not forget the history is right, but not necessarily to carry all the history on the back.

It shouldn't be just technology that protects it

Beijing News: Many traditional New Year paintings are included in the intangible cultural heritage projects and protected, can these traditional cultures be combined with modern society?

Gao Wei: Indeed, there are some traditional craftsmen who are very willing to innovate, such as Yang Liuqing, there are also large dolls that conform to the aesthetics of modern young people, and then there are peach blossom docks, where some themes are often used and often new, and modern people also like it. There are also people who make the traditional New Year paintings very exquisite and can be used as gifts, which are all good practices, so that the traditional New Year paintings are accepted by modern people, which can be said to be both traditional and modern. Not only the subject matter, including technology, but also constantly updated, such as some places with new materials instead of traditional materials, better paper, richer colors, more modern, including can be carved by machine, carved version is more delicate and exquisite, these are good inheritance and development.

Beijing News: But in general, most of the New Year paintings listed in the Intangible Cultural Heritage have encountered the problem of inheritance, is there a solution?

Gao Wei: First of all, not all intangible cultural heritage must be re-activated, some naturally perish, let it die out is not impossible, not to mention that we now have a lot of preservation means, from physical objects to technology, from words to images, can be very perfect to preserve the traditional culture for later generations to understand and verify. Secondly, to do intangible cultural heritage protection, not only to protect technology, but more importantly, to excavate and interpret traditional culture. At present, some methods of intangible cultural heritage protection pay more attention to the protection of technology, and rarely study the cultural connotation behind technology, let alone explain it to the public. In fact, to do excavation and interpretation, only rely on traditional craftsmen is not enough, craftsmen will do, but may not understand the culture behind, which requires more professional scholars and communication forces to participate in it, and truly explain the traditional culture.

Beijing News reporter Zhou Huaizong

Edited by Zhang Shujing Proofread by Chen Diyan