The picture shows the intangible cultural heritage of Beijing - fire-painted gourd. Courtesy of Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism
Beijing, 28 Jan (Xinhua) -- Recently, Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr., member of the International Olympic Committee and chairman of the Coordination Committee of the International Olympic Committee for the Beijing Winter Olympic Games, visited the Beijing Winter Olympic Village. During the visit, he received a gift: the intangible cultural heritage of Beijing - fire-painted gourd.
"Thank you very much, I will cherish this special gift from the Beijing Winter Olympic Village." Samaranch Jr. said.
It is understood that this exquisite fire-painted gourd is a gourd artwork painted by the inheritor niu of Shunyi District, Beijing, using the fire-painted gourd technique. During this year's Spring Festival and the Beijing Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism organized a series of publicity activities on the theme of "Beijing 2022" Beijing Winter Olympics and Intangible Cultural Heritage, and organized the Beijing Intangible Cultural Heritage Exhibition in the winter Olympic villages and the main media centers of the Beijing Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games in Beijing and Yanqing, as well as in various districts of the city.
The fire-painted gourd technique is a traditional gourd decoration technique, which refers to the use of high temperature to carbonize the skin of the gourd, and the thickness of the carbonization is used to complete the picture. During the Qing Guangxu period, the Manchu Bai Wensan used fire painting techniques to make gourds, which were recognized by beijing players such as the palace belle and officials because of their exquisite paintings. Bai Wen's three apprentices Niu Guohe inherited his skills and brought them back to Shunyi Longwan Tun, to the fourth generation of Mr. Niu Guohe inherited the family inheritance of craftsmanship In the process of inheritance and development, the traditional fire painting techniques were retained and more borrowed from classical Chinese painting techniques, forming a certain style characteristic, which is a representative of the gourd appreciation in the Beijing flavor culture.
In September 2021, the Beijing Municipal Government officially announced the fire painting gourd technique as the fifth batch of municipal intangible cultural heritage representative projects in Beijing.
Beijing Auspicious Eight Treasure Gourd Handicraft Production and Marketing Professional Cooperative, as the "Fire Painting Gourd Technique" inheritance and protection unit, this time for the Beijing Winter Olympics "tailor-made", design and production of "Meilan Bamboo Chrysanthemum" as the theme of the intangible fire painting gourd works nearly a thousand pieces, has now been stationed in the Winter Olympic Athletes stay in the hotel each athlete bedroom, becoming a "very good gift" on behalf of the Beijing Municipal Intangible Cultural Heritage to participate in the Winter Olympic Games.
The inheritor Niu Guo said: "I am particularly happy, the fire painting gourd skills that have been passed down for a hundred years have been happy, last year it was just rated as a representative project of municipal intangible cultural heritage, and this year it showed the fire-painted gourd to samaranch and athletes from all over the world at the Winter Olympics, our intangible cultural heritage in Shunyi, Beijing, and the villagers of our cooperative have more energy to inherit the skills, and we must pass on our intangible cultural heritage projects well in the future." ”
The relevant person in charge of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism said that intangible cultural heritage is the common wealth of mankind and reflects the cultural diversity of mankind. The Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism will take the Winter Olympics as a platform, take the intangible cultural heritage as the link, fulfill the responsibilities of the host city in the best state, display the characteristics of Chinese culture, tell the story of the Beijing Intangible Cultural Heritage of the preparation of the Winter Olympics and the hospitality of the Chinese people, and believe that Beijing will make the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics leave a deep impression and good memories to the world. (End)