【Watch Home】
The combination of "expert learning" and "popular learning"
——Written on the occasion of the publication of the Great Dictionary of China's Intangible Cultural Heritage
Chao Gejin (Member of the Faculty of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Director of the Institute of Ethnic Literature, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences)
In the long process of civilization, human beings have developed amazing wisdom and produced a huge amount of knowledge and complex culture, most of which are gradually formed through extremely difficult exploration and long-term practice, so they are very valuable. With the development of productive forces and the progress of civilization, the need for the accumulation, development and inheritance of knowledge and culture in human society has become more and more urgent, and corresponding institutional arrangements and guarantees have begun to emerge. In Europe, ancient Greece had schools for children of the nobility, teaching gymnastics, music, and grammar. In China, Confucius taught with poetry and music, and there were 3,000 disciples and 72 sages under his door, indicating that the institutionalized transmission of knowledge and ideological culture is a very early thing.
Book shadow Li Yun / Guangming pictures
Photo by Li Yun/Guangming Pictures
Man is biological and social unity. Human biology is transmitted through heredity, and sociality, that is, culture, is accomplished through indoctrination. The linear genetic characteristics of organisms and the non-linear transmission and transmission characteristics of culture make cultural acquisition very important. In general, people cannot easily change their biological characteristics, but they can change their cultural identity and appearance by learning and mastering cultural knowledge. In a word, for individuals who are members of society, the importance of learning cultural knowledge cannot be overstated.
Before society was divided into classes, people's knowledge and culture were unified and shared by the whole people. With the emergence of classes, the phenomenon of stratification of culture has gradually emerged. Lenin pointed out that in a class society, there are two cultures in every national culture, the culture of the ruling class and the culture of the ruled class. Explaining folk culture, Zhong Jingwen said that in traditional society, there are two cultures, the upper class and the lower culture. In different contexts of use, terms such as elite culture and grassroots culture are sometimes used.
The materialist view of history holds that the masses of the people are the main force promoting historical progress, and the culture and knowledge they have developed in the long-term practice of production and life are the precious wealth of human society and should be valued, protected and inherited, but this is often not the case. All over the world, we can observe such a phenomenon: the upper culture represented by the upper class is given special attention; The mass culture represented by the lower classes is often despised and despised. This bias is also reflected in the education system. The knowledge genealogy related to elite culture is systematically sorted, imparted and accumulated, while the knowledge related to the grassroots is ignored or even discarded. In many parts of the world, after the invention and use of writing, it is often associated with the upper culture such as royal power and aristocracy, and language serves the whole people as always. However, in terms of the dichotomy between the upper and lower cultures, the use of literature and language has played a role in exacerbating the separation between them to a certain extent.
Photo by Li Yun/Bright Pictures
Photo by Li Yun, traditional weaving cloth of Taiwanese alpine people/Guangming Photo
The intellectual community's awareness of the underlying culture, at the academic level, began around the Brothers Grimm. In Western Europe, the concept of "folklore" appeared in the middle of the 18th century, as well as the corresponding discipline advocacy. The beginning of Chinese folklore was not until the May Fourth Movement. The founding of Peking University's "Song" weekly and the development of corresponding research are landmark events.
After a long period of deliberation, UNESCO's Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2003 officially sounded the clarion call to the international community to protect "intangible cultural heritage". The intangible cultural heritage here, once called "oralandintangible heritage of humanity", mainly refers to the culture created, enjoyed and passed on by people. This is because the international academic community is increasingly aware that in the inheritance of human civilization, oral and written are the two wings of the bird and the two wheels of the car. Linguist Li Yuming said that more than 80% of human information is recorded, transmitted, and stored by language ("Language and Human Civilization"). This is tantamount to saying that more than eighty percent of the culture and knowledge that mankind has ever created and transmitted has been recorded, transmitted and stored in oral traditions. Therefore, it is reasonable to use the term "oral and intangible heritage of mankind" to refer to the culture inherited among the people. From a common sense point of view, in the previous education system, more than eighty percent of the culture and knowledge were excluded from institutionalized education. Therefore, it can be said that human beings generally have a one-sided and narrow understanding of the knowledge and culture they have created and inherited.
Photo by Zhangzhou puppet Li Yun/Guangming Pictures
Miao embroidered coaster photo by Li Yun/Guangming picture
In humanities academia, for centuries, elite, upper-class culture took center stage. Although there have been endless international calls for attention to popular culture in the past two hundred years, they have not fundamentally changed the existing pattern. Now, with the strong east wind of international "intangible cultural heritage", the trend of "looking downward" has begun to strengthen. However, as the saying goes, freezing is not a day's cold, traditional inertia and habit continue to play a role, and there are still many obstacles to the process of the knowledge and culture of the general public. Correction requires extra force, and someone needs to play the role of "open top wind boat". Therefore, we are pleased to see that the "Dictionary of China's Intangible Cultural Heritage" edited by Mr. Wang Wenwen was grandly launched. This dictionary can be regarded as another important achievement of the mainland government and all sectors of society in promoting the protection of intangible cultural heritage, and it is an important achievement that has appeared at the right time. Why do you say that? I think there are the following reasons:
First, since the promulgation of the Law of the People's Republic of China on Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2011, party and government departments and all sectors of society have become increasingly aware of the importance of intangible cultural heritage work. Especially since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core has attached great importance to the protection of cultural heritage and instructed to support and support the protection of intangible cultural heritage. The relationship between intangible cultural heritage work and the mainland's social and cultural construction has been more in place. The cultural authorities have become more proactive in leading the national intangible cultural heritage work, and as a result, the mainland's intangible cultural heritage work has a more forward-looking planning and strategic vision in terms of overall layout, and a stronger ability to mobilize forces from all walks of life. Today, the description and summary of people's knowledge and practices has reached a considerable scale, and it is time to systematically organize and summarize them. The emergence of this great dictionary is in response to the need in this regard.
Second, the main content of intangible cultural heritage is the experience, knowledge, emotional activities and related exercises of ordinary people, which does not seem to be particularly profound, but in fact it is not easy to accurately understand and scientifically describe intangible cultural heritage. Whether it is the rational thinking and interpretation of intangible cultural heritage in the international academic circles, or the considerable number of domestic intangible cultural heritage research results, it shows that it is still very difficult to summarize and grasp the basic theories, characteristics and laws of intangible cultural heritage. The people's understanding of intangible cultural heritage in various places is often limited by its cultural habitat and ecological and cultural system, and it is difficult to have a more comprehensive and systematic understanding, not to mention that the professional summary of intangible cultural heritage needs to be grasped by the terminology and conceptual tools commonly used in the academic circles. Therefore, in my opinion, intangible cultural heritage is both "the study of the people" and "the study of experts". It is said that intangible cultural heritage is the study of the people because the people are the masters of intangible cultural heritage, which is embodied in them as holders, practitioners, inheritors and reformers of intangible cultural heritage. Experts often need to consult the public, otherwise it is difficult to understand the ins and outs of intangible cultural heritage, connotation functions, characteristics and taboos. It is said that intangible cultural heritage is also "the study of experts", because it is difficult for non-professional workers to do a good job in grasping the whole picture, professional depiction, systematic summary, etc., especially the work of comparing different cultural traditions.
Hengshui inner painting Li Yun photo/Guangming picture
Hmong traditional batik photo by Li Yun/Guangming picture
Third, this dictionary is characterized by the deep combination of popular knowledge and professional knowledge. From the composition of the team of contributors to the dictionary, it can be seen that there are many experts who have been thinking about intangible cultural heritage professional knowledge and basic theories for a long time, and there are also people who have been engaged in related work on the intangible cultural heritage front for a long time. This ensures that the knowledge presented here in the centralized system is full of earthy fragrance and embodies the wisdom of the people; It also has a relatively uniform format and professional requirements that can be shared, disseminated, compared, and interpreted on a larger scale.
Fourth, intangible cultural heritage is a vast ocean, a knowledge and cultural system created and passed on by the people for a long time, no one can fully grasp all the knowledge, but in the actual protection work and academic research, it is necessary to frequently consult and understand the relevant knowledge, so it is particularly necessary to have a sufficiently professional, comprehensive enough, sufficient systematic and authoritative enough reference book to provide more accurate answers for many readers who want to master and understand relevant cultural content. Therefore, the publication of this dictionary is timely. With its academic rigor and scientific grasp, it not only provides a practical tool for the practice of intangible cultural heritage protection, but also makes important contributions to the theoretical construction of intangible cultural heritage protection in the mainland.
Guangming Daily (October 30, 2022, 12th Edition)
Source: Guangming Net-Guangming Daily