Core reading
The twenty-four solar terms are the ancients' accurate grasp of the relationship between natural time and agricultural production, embodying the life experience and cultural memory of the traditional farming society of the Chinese nation, and containing the survival wisdom and life philosophy of the Chinese tradition
Continuous re-creation in the process of adapting to the changes of different eras is the basic law and important task of the inheritance and development of intangible cultural heritage. The twenty-four solar terms are combined with the practice of production and life in various places to continuously enrich their own appearance and glow with lively vitality
Spring has arrived. As the first of the twenty-four solar terms, Lichun is also the starting point of the four seasons. "One waits for the east wind to thaw, the second waits for the sting insects to vibrate, and the third waits for the fish to be negative ice", three concise and bright spring phenology, outlining the scene of the earth in the early spring. From Lichun to The Great Cold, the ancient Chinese people observed the annual movement of the sun, referred to natural phenomena such as celestial phenomena, meteorology and objects, summarized the changes in the seasons and climate of the year, and formed a time knowledge system of twenty-four solar terms. The twenty-four solar terms are the ancients' accurate grasp of the relationship between natural time and agricultural production, embodying the life experience and cultural memory of the traditional farming society of the Chinese nation, and containing the survival wisdom and life philosophy of the Chinese tradition.
As part of China's excellent traditional culture, how do the 24 solar terms fit into contemporary life? Flowers know that the times bloom, people follow the trend, sing harmony with heaven and earth, and harmonize with all things - how does the concept of "the unity of heaven and man" embodied in the twenty-four solar terms help the lives of contemporary people? Over the years, relevant departments have carried out the protection and inheritance of cultural heritage related to the 24 solar terms from multiple levels and dimensions, and promoted the living inheritance of solar term culture in various places. Especially in recent years, with the heating up of China's excellent traditional culture, people's cultural consciousness has been increasingly enhanced, and the twenty-four solar terms have shown vigor and vitality in contemporary life in various appearances and forms.
Combined with festivals and folklore, to achieve value cohesion. The 24 solar terms are not only rich in their own connotations, but also have a close relationship with traditional festivals and traditional folk customs such as the Spring Festival, the Dragon Boat Festival, and the Mid-Autumn Festival. To inherit and develop the 24 solar terms culture, we should combine important festivals and local folk customs to expand cultural connotations and strengthen emotional ties. Every autumn, Huayuan County, Hunan Province, will usher in a grand autumn festival. The crops are ripe, the harvest is imminent, and people blow, sing, and dance to celebrate the new year and pray for happiness. Nowadays, Huayuan's autumn activities are rich and colorful, and the surrounding masses have also gathered in the "Autumn Field" to watch and participate in dragon and lion dances, eight-person swings, knife ladders, martial arts and other activities. Huayuan autumn is also combined with the Chinese farmers' harvest festival and global tourism, attracting many tourists to participate in it. On the basis of the festival culture of honoring "autumn", more cultural vitality is rejuvenated and more economic value is created. "The spring equinox wheat gets up, and a moment is worth a thousand gold." Anren Rush Branch is a seasonal cultural event held by the masses in Anren County, Hunan Province, on the Spring Branch Day. Gatherings and performances, rushing to trade, food and medicine farming, people exchange agricultural experience and health care methods, singing club dramas, stepping on stilts, putting on river lights, and wonderful cultural and entertainment activities. These activities have released the vitality of rural production and life, and also enriched the cultural connotation and emotional connotation of the twenty-four solar terms.
Focus on the needs of the masses and integrate into daily life. The cultural relics in the museum should be "alive", especially the intangible cultural heritage that embodies the unique wisdom and production and lifestyle of the Chinese nation. Only by focusing on the needs of the masses and organically intertwining with the current production and life can the twenty-four solar terms be rejuvenated. On the occasion of the establishment of summer, the summer is coming, and some areas in the south of the mainland not only maintain the traditional customs of eating black rice broad beans and drinking Lixia tea during the summer season, but also transform and innovate to further exert the functions of the summer customs in leisure and entertainment, diet and health. For example, the "Running Mountain to Welcome Summer" activity is held to integrate the customs of Lixia into the festival and tourism development of the Grand Canal; the inheritance and innovation of the "Sending Spring and Welcoming Summer" ceremony is carried out to select and extract the display content of the traditional Lixia ceremony; the construction of a 24-year solar theme park, the transformation of tourism resources into the customs of the Summer Festival, and so on. This series of colorful activities will help strengthen community cohesion, meet the physical and mental health needs of the people, and improve the quality of life.
Leverage literary and artistic forms to achieve diversified communication. As an important part of China's excellent traditional culture, the 24 solar terms permeate poetry, painting, music, dance and traditional crafts. In recent years, cultural products with the theme of the 24 solar terms have become increasingly abundant. The TV program "Twenty-Four Solar Terms" tells the wisdom of people and nature, and visualizes and visualizes the knowledge of the twenty-four solar terms; the book "Huang Xiao Chef's Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter" focuses on the historical and cultural story of food and the twenty-four solar terms, which is loved by people; the documentary program "24 Solar Terms Life" adopts the recording method of real-life shooting to present the twenty-four solar terms culture in daily life. The rich connotation of the twenty-four solar terms in phenology, scenery, humanities and other levels has made it a favored theme for cultural and creative design. Twenty-four solar terms-themed folding fans, bookmarks and other cultural and creative products emerge in an endless stream, showing the beauty of the seasons in daily use. Giving full play to the strengths of different literary and artistic forms and using the multimedia communication pattern, the forms, contents and channels of the transmission of the 24 solar terms culture have been expanded, and the cultural vitality contained in them has also been activated.
Enrich the form of education and deepen the connotation of educating people. Inheriting and developing the 24 solar terms culture, the youth group is an indispensable new force. "The spring rain shocks the spring valley days, and the summer is full of mango and summer and summer are connected. Autumn dew autumn frost falls, winter snow snow winter small cold. "'Twenty-Four Festivals Song' is very popular for incorporating knowledge into popular and catchy nursery rhymes. Classical poetry, traditional painting, embroidery, weaving, etc. related to the twenty-four solar terms can also carry out excellent traditional cultural education among underage groups in a silent way, helping the majority of young people to establish a correct world outlook, outlook on life, and values. Since 2013, the inheritors of Guizhou Shiquan "Say Spring", who use ethnic tunes and rap, have walked into local schools to hold creative exhibitions and inheritance activities, teaching students to make native cattle and write "Say Spring" teaching materials. These activities not only vividly introduced the knowledge of the twenty-four solar terms, but also cultivated the feelings of young people who love the motherland, love their hometown and love the people.
Since 2006, "24 solar terms of the lunar calendar", "custom of playing spring cattle in the inner countryside", "Shiquan said spring", "Banchun persuaded farmers", "Meiyuan Mangzi Plough Festival", "Mid-levels Summer Customs", "Sending Summer Boats", "Three Gates Festival", etc., have been successively included in the list of representative items of national intangible cultural heritage. In November 2016, the "24 Solar Terms" was officially selected into the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, which fully demonstrated the charm of China's excellent traditional culture. Continuous re-creation in the process of adapting to the changes of the times is the basic law and important task of the inheritance and development of intangible cultural heritage. The twenty-four solar terms are combined with the practice of production and life in various places to continuously enrich their own appearance and glow with lively vitality.
Today, in the context of promoting rural revitalization and new urbanization, we should use new life contents, cultural expressions and means of dissemination to further refine, sublimate, disseminate and carry forward, so that the traditional Chinese wisdom contained in the twenty-four solar terms can bloom with vitality.
(The author Lin Jifu is a professor at minzu University of China)
Draft: Zhao Kairu
Image source: Image China
People's Daily (February 11, 2022, 20th edition)