Jilin promotes young people to succeed old craftsmen to inherit intangible cultural heritage projects

The exhibition site of the intangible cultural heritage project in Jilin City is photographed by Shi Hongyu

Jilin, June 12 (Reporter Shi Hongyu) On the 12th, 37-year-old Dai Yue threaded needles and threads on the fabric, and the pattern of embroidery was completely different from the popular elements, quite traditional. As the "apprentice" of the Manchu embroidery inheritor, her "brothers and sisters" are not yet 32 years old.

It is "Cultural and Natural Heritage Day" in 2021. The reporter learned from the exhibition of traditional art intangible cultural heritage projects held in Jilin City, Jilin Province, that there are constantly young people in the local area "taking the baton" of old craftsmen, so that the intangible cultural heritage skills that were once on the verge of being lost can get rid of the existential crisis. Some intangible cultural heritage projects have also been "drifted to the sea" through development and inheritance, which is favored by foreign friends.

Jilin City is the second largest city in Jilin Province and one of the birthplaces of the Manchu people, with nearly 350 intangible cultural heritage projects of various types.

A total of 26 intangible cultural heritage items were exhibited in the exhibition, including Chen's spending money carving, Su's engraving technique, Zhao's hot stamping, Lu's wood carving, Ulaliang carpenter's root carving, Manchu traditional embroidery craft, Manchu purse (qipao ornament), Jilin Xishan pinch carving, leather decoration craft, Fahrenheit cloth sticker, Manchu tearing paper, Manchu calligraphy, Si's fabric art and folk paper-cutting.

Dai Yue said she began to be exposed to Manchu embroidery at the age of 28, when the ancient craft was in danger of being lost in the local area. "There are fewer and fewer people who have mastered this technology, and the goods produced are not competitive in the market."

After the jilin city officially called on young people to pay attention to the intangible cultural heritage projects, Dai Yue, as a designer, shouldered the responsibility of inheritance.

After mastering this skill and understanding its historical origins, Dai Yue and his teachers went to Russia to participate in the exhibition. "Manchu embroidery is mainly used to make accessories for qipao, and we have made some improvements to match it with modern clothing." Foreign guests rave about this skill.

Since then, this traditional craft has opened up the market through various domestic and foreign exhibitions. Recently, Dai Yue's studio has also developed Manchu embroidered epidemic prevention items – tattooing patterns on masks.

Wang Dongjie, a staff member of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Department of the Jilin Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television and Tourism, introduced that the local non-genetic inheritance protection work has bid farewell to the "rescue" protection stage 10 years ago and entered the period of "orderly and benign development", realizing the replacement of "new and old" inheritors, and the market development prospects are promising.

According to reports, some local colleges and universities also invite non-hereditary inheritors to open courses and majors, and college students can engage in related work after graduation. At present, local carpenters, embroidery, performances and other non-heritage categories, graduates have broad employment prospects. (End)

Source: China News Network