This young "old expert" who has been practicing art for nearly 20 years has one biggest wish...

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Opening Remarks:

When the youth are prosperous, the country is prosperous, and when the youth are strong, the country is strong. If contemporary young people have ideals, responsibilities, and skills, the country will have a future and the nation will have hope. This newspaper has set up a column entitled "Strivers Are Young" to tell the experience of the growth and talent of young committee members, the wonderful stories of entrepreneurship and officials, for the benefit of readers.

The countryside was once a spiritual home that people deeply loved and laid down nostalgia for. As urbanization has evolved, many young people have jumped out of the countryside and taken to the cities. When more and more people take root in big cities, the loneliness of the countryside is even more obvious. How can we make the homeland feel more at home? This is also what Tian Jing, member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, vice chairman of the Youth Federation of Yunnan Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture, and representative inheritor of the national intangible cultural heritage Jianshui Purple Pottery Firing Technique Project in Yunnan Province, has been doing – exploring a new path for combining culture and rural revitalization.

△ Tian Jing, member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, vice chairman of the Youth Federation of Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture in Yunnan, and representative inheritor of the provincial level of the National Intangible Cultural Heritage Jianshui Purple Pottery Firing Technique Project in Yunnan Province (Source Yunnan CPPCC Daily)

Let the children love the local culture

In May, at dusk, Tian Jing came out of the studio "Tao Cha Ju" and habitually looked around. On the same street, the Zhujia Garden, known as the "Grand View Garden of Southern Yunnan", is quaint, and the soft sunset turns into a little bit of broken gold sprinkled on the ancient wall tiles. Even if she is here every day, the quiet beauty of the ancient city still makes her intoxicated.

At this time, the children studying at Tao Cha Ju also finished their afternoon classes, exchanged greetings with the teacher, and prepared to go home.

"Teacher, why did my work fail today?" A child muttered in frustration.

Tian Jing smiled and touched his little head, "Then we will discuss the reasons for the failure in the next lesson, okay?" The child nodded, thoughtful.

In the afternoon, the course consists of making homemade shampoos from ingredients such as soap horns. Why learn this?

"To let the children know how cabbage is grown, saying it a dozen times may not be effective, but plant it yourself once and quickly remember it." For example, it is this seemingly "useless" knowledge that strengthens the children's understanding of the wisdom of the ancients from common sense, so that the ancient and modern are connected, and a solid foundation is laid for understanding handicrafts and learning purple pottery.

Tian Jing's hometown is jianshui county in Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province. As a young "old expert" and non-hereditary inheritor who has been engaged in the production of Jianshui purple pottery for nearly 20 years, it is Tian Jing's greatest wish to pass on the craft. As a result, she launched the "Little Heirs" program, which offers cultural and craft classes for children who are willing to learn, with an estimated duration of 20 years.

"Making purple pottery is not an overnight achievement, nor can it be flattered." This kind of mineral mud grows from the hot soil under the feet, and only by loving the local culture and knowing what it comes from can you understand the code. Therefore, it is the best way to let children immerse themselves in traditional culture from an early age and let cultural self-confidence grow in their hearts. Tian Jing said.

Trade your craft for a better life

Jianshui traditional culture flourished, not only the cultural context of the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, but also the fusion of Han culture and the culture of ethnic minorities such as the Hani and Yi ethnic minorities. "Jianshui is a very poetic place," Tian Jing always said proudly when introducing her hometown to people.

At the same time, it is inevitable that, like many places, the brain drain is also one of the problems faced by Jianshui, a small western city, in the process of rural revitalization.

Why is it that hometown is so good, but excellent young people are flying to the big cities with their wings? In the revitalization of rural areas, how can we make local culture truly attractive? How can ancient intangible cultural heritage skills contribute to rural revitalization? As a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, every proposal submitted by Tian Jing in recent years is inseparable from rural revitalization and cultural inheritance. Because, whether it is rural revitalization or cultural inheritance, it is inseparable from people, and the so-called "people live and art live".

Jianshui Purple Pottery is known as the "Southern Yunnan Qiongyu" reputation, because of its unique disposition, whether it is made as a tea set, or a steam pot, adding to the taste of food. Tian Jing's intangible cultural heritage workshop covers an area of 4,500 square meters and is full of tea sets. It is her pursuit to combine pottery and tea more closely and make a beautiful and easy-to-use traditional tea set; it is also Tian Jing's motivation to let young people in the countryside become familiar with a complete set of skills and then use a skill to exchange for a better life.

△ Source yunnan CPPCC newspaper

In 2018, Tian Jing established the Jianshui Purple Pottery Skills Transmission Center to pass on skills and teach apprentices for free. Mud making, drawing blanks, carving filling, pot making... The young people of the Ten Mile Eight Townships, through Tian Jing's hand-in-hand teaching, can even make a teapot in a similar way.

What makes her even happier is that these disciples who have been trained, because they have mastered an employment and entrepreneurship skill, can burn purple pottery at the doorstep of their homes without going out to work, with an annual per capita income of 40,000 yuan, and the annual per capita income of some senior technical backbones has reached more than 80,000 yuan, becoming the "top pillar" of the family. Some people are still young girls when they first come to study, but now they are married, have children, and are willing to continue learning...

In the Internet era, intangible cultural heritage cannot be "raised in the deep boudoir", while having superb skills, it also needs logistics packaging, communication and other talents to empower. In this regard, Tian Jing launched a training for returning college students last year. During the training, 8 college students expressed their willingness to stay and contribute to the protection and inheritance of purple pottery skills.

"Returning home to work"

Yang Jianmei, 22, is a native of Jianshui who studied at a college in Kunming.

"What are the characteristics of Jianshui purple pottery?" "Tuanshan Village's ancient architecture is very famous, which dynasty?" In the past, when asked about the history and culture of her hometown, Yang Jianmei could not answer one. "Why do I have to understand these histories and cultures when I am a Jianshui person?" I will not go back to Jianshui in the future. She always said that.

However, on the eve of May Fourth Youth Day, Yang Jianmei told reporters with excitement that she had decided to return to her hometown to work.

Why is there such a big shift? Originally, affected by the epidemic this spring, Yang Jianmei and some small partners participated in the "10,000 Talents Xingwan Village" action jointly organized by the Organization Department of the Jianshui County Party Committee and the Youth League County Committee to carry out learning and practice activities. This also became an opportunity for her to truly know her hometown and have a strong sense of belonging. And the person she is most grateful to is "Master" Tian Jing.

In the practical activities that Yang Jianmei participated in, Tian Jing undertook a project: leading young people to participate in rural revitalization research, cultural publicity and learning purple pottery skills.

Passed 108 square grams into a tool. In the process of tasting the purple pottery technique, Yang Jianmei found that this craft is not as boring and tedious as originally imagined, and the huge effort invested is not at all lost to the international big-name luxury goods.

When visiting the famous places in her hometown, Tuanshan Mountain and Zhujia Garden, through Tian Jing's explanation, Yang Jianmei was touched by the beautiful yearning of traditional Chinese for her homeland; why is it still necessary to maintain a sense of devotion to the wisdom of her ancestors today? In the process, she and her classmates gradually developed a deeper attachment and love for their homeland.

Seeing that more and more young people are willing to return to their homes, Tian Jing is deeply relieved. She told reporters that rural revitalization is everyone's responsibility. As an inheritor, what is more needed at this time is the "slow down" mentality. "Our generation shoulders the mission of inheriting the context, and the people who can continue the context must be the young people who have stubble after stubble. We give them seeds and take care of the blossoming fruits, which is a natural law and a long process. ”

Only in this way can this traditional craft and the wisdom it contains be truly promoted.

Source: People's Political Consultative Conference Daily (2022-05-06 01 edition)

Reporter: Si Jinli

New Media Editor: Xue Jing

Review: Jiajia Zhou