Shen Dongfang, a Website of the State Supervision Commission of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, reported that American bobsleigh athlete SummerBridge and his teammates followed the intelligent AI to learn to play tai chi in the Winter Olympic Village, with a lower back and raised legs; The British steel frame snowmobile player Matt Weston posted his own "Olympic" Spring League on social media, with the text "Enjoy every detail of the Olympic Games so far"; Japanese journalist Tsujioka Yoshido, who wore 6 "ice pier" badges for pre-game reporting, was obsessed with the winter Olympic mascot "Ice Pier", and repeatedly recommended it to the audience in the report ...... Inside and outside the Winter Olympics, the Chinese wind is blown.
The Beijing Winter Olympics is not only a global event for athletes to show their sportsmanship, but also an important window for the mainland to show its comprehensive national strength and cultural self-confidence. As an important part of the world's sports culture, what kind of development has China's ice and snow culture experienced? Traditional culture is increasingly being used in the design of large-scale events, what role does this play in telling the Chinese story well?
China's traditional ice and snow culture is an important part of the world's sports culture, and its connotation has evolved from adapting to nature and resisting foreign enemies to leisure and entertainment, and watching competitions
42 years ago, the 13th Winter Olympics were held in Lake Placid in the United States, and Chinese ice and snow athletes participated in the Winter Olympics for the first time, and the five-star red flag flew in the Olympic ice and snow arena. The fate of the Chinese nation and the Winter Olympics was thus concluded, and the story of this nation and ice and snow sports began as early as 10,000 years ago.
In the late Paleolithic period, hunting was one of the important sources of food for humans. The ice and snow in winter bring challenges to hunting, and in order to be able to adapt to the natural environment and continue to survive, "snow hunting" came into being.
With the continuous advancement of production technology, the role of ice and snow sports is no longer limited to survival, and it has begun to shift to entertainment and competition. Since the Song Dynasty, records of the rich life of ice and snow sports have gradually emerged, including building snow lions, making "snowflakes" and "snow lanterns".
By the Qing Dynasty, the technical level and artistic expression of traditional ice and snow sports in the mainland had reached a high level, of which the "Ice Frolic Ceremony" was typically represented. The "Ice Frolic Ceremony" is a national custom and is held in the Imperial Palace almost every year. In addition to the function of leisure and entertainment, it can also invite envoys from various countries through grand events, which is an important way of diplomacy of the Qing government.
In the "Ice Drama Diagram" drawn by the Qing Dynasty court painter Jin Tingbiao, several children slipped on the ice, and several other children stood on the steps and watched and hesitated. (Source: The official website of the Palace Museum)
Traditional Chinese ice and snow culture is an important part of the world's sports culture, and the Concept of Chinese Culture is also reflected in the Winter Olympics. "From the perspective of the project itself, the way some Winter Olympics are competed coincides with the concept advocated in Chinese culture. For example, the scoring criteria for figure skating events are not the only criterion for technical difficulty. In addition to being faster, taller, stronger and more united, it also pays attention to the requirements of integrity, which is advocated by the Chinese cultural concept, which is similar to the performance and ornamentality of martial arts projects. Huang Yaling, a professor and doctoral supervisor at Beijing Sport University, said.
Chinese characters, seal carvings, paper-cutting, traditional colors, and historical relics jointly interpret the Chinese beauty of the Winter Olympic design
From the countdown to the twenty-four solar terms at the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics, to the emblems, mascots, tinder lights, to medals and uniforms, every detail shows the profound heritage of Chinese civilization.
Chinese characters are the backbone of the texture of Chinese culture and an important carrier for inheriting the history of Chinese civilization. Inspired by the Chinese character "Winter", the emblem of the Beijing Winter Olympics combines abstract slides and ice and snow sports with calligraphy and paper-cutting art. The "BEIJING 2022" seal below the emblem draws on the characteristics of Chinese paper-cutting, enhances the cultural connotation and expressiveness of the font, and also reflects the overall sense and unity of the emblem graphics.
The sports icon design is also inspired by Chinese characters, with the art of seal engraving as the main form of presentation, focusing on the "Han seal" style, through the calligraphy penmanship embodied in the blade and the high magic cloth white between the square inches, the combination of calligraphy and engraving, between the square inches, the weather is ever-changing. It is worth mentioning that the icon echoes the design concept of the emblem of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, which is not only the unique cultural imprint left by Beijing, the "City of The Two Olympic Games", but also reflects the cultural inheritance of the Olympic Movement.
According to statistics, there are currently 767,000 immovable cultural relics and 108 million state-owned movable cultural relics (sets) on the mainland. How to make the cultural relics stored in museums and the heritage displayed on the vast land come alive? Deeply integrating them into modern design, this is the answer given by the Beijing Winter Olympics.
Known as the "first lamp in China", the changxin palace lamp of the Western Han Dynasty is the treasure of the town hall of the Hebei Provincial Museum and the inspiration for the tinder lamp of the Beijing Winter Olympics. The design of the Changxin Palace lamp is very clever, the palace maid holds the lamp in one hand, and the sleeve of the other hand seems to be blocking the wind, which is actually a rainbow pipe to absorb oil smoke, which not only prevents air pollution, but also has aesthetic value. Tinder lamp also absorbed this idea, and through the meaning of "long letter", expressed people's pursuit and yearning for light and hope. The ceremonial tinder table adopts the curved shape of the traditional Chinese bronze vessel Zun, with a calm base, symbolizing "all things on the ground".
The picture shows the Tinder lights of the Beijing Winter Olympics. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Peng Ziyang
"Seeing the prosperity of the world, Fang knows the country's color and fallen city." Xiaguang red, Great Wall gray, Tianji blue, Ruixue white, the main colors in the Winter Olympic color system outline the magnificent scene and space of the Winter Olympic Games, as well as the Chinese charm of the Winter Olympic uniforms. The "Xiaguang Red" in the uniforms of staff and technical officials, taken from the rising sun and xiaguang of Beijing in winter, is a symbol of warmth and hope; the "Tianji Blue" in the volunteer uniforms is the color of the Ji Blue Glaze of the traditional Chinese ceramic treasures, with a calm hair color and a jewel-like luster; the harmonious color of the uniform, "RuiXue White", symbolizes the purity and purity of the world under the snow cover, and the auspicious language of "Ruixue Mega Year" is also in line with the beijing Winter Olympic Games - Spring Festival.
The construction of winter Olympic venues integrates many Chinese elements, and modern architecture reflects natural landscapes, history and culture, reflecting Chinese culture and Chinese temperament
Snow Dragon, Snow Flying Swallow, Snow Ruyi, Ice Ribbon... Almost every Winter Olympic venue has its own Chinese "name". As the city's business card and landmark, the design of the Beijing Winter Olympic venues not only meets the requirements of the overall urban planning, reflects the style and charm of a big country, but also fully integrates with traditional Chinese culture and highlights the charm of Chinese elements.
"Ice ribbon is the design of hard ice into a soft ribbon, which contains the respect for nature and the wisdom of rigidity and softness in Chinese thinking." Zheng Fang, head of the national speed skating hall and the national aquatics center curling field design, said that from the material point of view, ice should be hard in texture, but after design thinking, ice has become a curved and woven ribbon. "It's a feeling of rigidity and softness, containing traditional Chinese wisdom."
The picture shows the interior of the "Ice Ribbon" of the National Speed Skating Hall. (Source: Visual China)
Brick by brick of the Olympic venues can be seen in the flow of Chinese culture.
The National Bobsleigh Center adopts the chinese cultural totem "dragon" creativity, 16 angles, slopes of different curves, overlooking down as a meandering dragon coiled on the ridge, is figuratively called "Snow Dragon"; the overall outline of the National Alpine Ski Center is like a swallow that flutters its wings, and the athletes are also like flying swallows when they glide, so they are named "Snow Flying Swallow"; the design inspiration for the central garden of the Beijing Winter Olympic Village comes from the Chinese traditional ice sports activity scroll "Ice Frolic Map" during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty. Coupled with landscape plants, it creates the artistic conception of classical Chinese gardens; Yanqing Winter Olympic Village adopts a low-rise, high-density "mountain village" style architectural layout, which not only shows the cultural characteristics of the northern mountain residence, but also does not break the shape of the mountain and does not seize the mountain view...
The picture shows the National Snowmobile Bobsleigh Center "Snow Tour Dragon" and Yanqing Winter Olympic Village. (Source: Visual China)
The silent building depicts a three-dimensional image of China. "As far as the design of the venues for the Beijing Winter Olympics is concerned, the venues in Beijing, Zhangjiakou and Yanqing are all supported and designed by Chinese architects, carrying many traditional Chinese cultural elements, which is the expression of cultural self-confidence." Zhang Li, dean of the School of Architecture of Tsinghua University and head of the design of the Zhangjiakou Competition Area of the Beijing Winter Olympics, said that the Beijing Winter Olympics will show the world a more open image of China, respect for nature, attach importance to sustainable development, and more willing to share with the world.
With cultural self-confidence to tell the Chinese story to the world, there is still room for excavation in the combination of Chinese culture and sports in the new era
On November 16, 2021, the "Together to the Future - Beijing Winter Olympics Promotion Conference" was held at the Chinese Cultural Center in Paris, France, and more than 100 people from the cultural, artistic and sports circles of China and France, as well as representatives of overseas Chinese and overseas Chinese, attended the event. The new media commissioner of the center combined video, images and text to show the delegates the emblem, sports icons, mascots, torches, medals and other graphic elements of the Winter Olympic design that contain the connotation of traditional Chinese culture. French architect Bernard de Moulin said: "The Beijing Winter Olympic venues are magnificent and modern, and the technology and wisdom contained in them have greatly shocked me. I believe that the Beijing Winter Olympics will definitely bring surprises to the world. ”
As the host, China uses the Winter Olympics, an international sporting event, to tell the story of China with its profound cultural heritage and attract global attention. Not only on the stage of the Winter Olympics, but also in the traditional Chinese culture with a history of 5,000 years, it is also increasingly infiltrated into various international events, and its influence in the world is constantly expanding through the link of sports.
It is worth noting that the cultural elements used in current sports events are generally based on traditional Chinese culture. In the new era of the combination of Chinese culture and sports, how to further explore new possibilities?
"The core lies in a high degree of cultural self-confidence, and we need to further dig into the core of Chinese culture." In the process of combining culture and sports, we must not simply stack up various cultural elements, but find commonalities with sports, so as to ensure further organic integration. ”
The picture shows the winter Olympic mascot "Ice Pier" and "Snow Rongrong" in Beitucheng, Beijing. (Source: Visual China)
Huang Yaling pointed out that if foreign sports projects do not go through the interpretation of Chinese culture, directly follow the concept of Western culture, which will lead us to understand foreign sports only in their superficiality; on the other hand, in the export of domestic traditional sports, if they are not further interpreted through local culture, they cannot guarantee that the other party can accept it. Therefore, while further excavating the essence of Chinese culture, we should find the middle ground between Chinese culture and other cultures. Moderately breaking down the cultural barriers between China and the West can promote the "walking in" of foreign sports and the "going out" of traditional Chinese sports to become smoother.
Source Central Commission for Discipline Inspection State Supervision Commission website
Process Editor Wu Yue