The intangible cultural heritage of famous cities cannot be disconnected from contemporary life
Half Moon talks about reporter Feng Yuan Wang Xuetao
A famous historical and cultural city, as the name suggests, must have a heavy cultural heritage. Intangible cultural heritage, as a way of life and production passed down from generation to generation, has played a unique role in retaining the style and temperament of famous cities. Today, the living conditions of different intangible cultural heritage are uneven, and some intangible cultural heritages have gradually lost their function of activation and utilization after being protected, and their glory is no longer there. How to activate the traditional intangible genes, effectively integrate them into contemporary life, and continue to flourish for the historical city?
Taizhou Capital City Wall (Image source: Visual China)
Intangible cultural heritage, which is out of touch with contemporary life, is clearly lacking in vitality
"The thousand-year-old Taizhou capital, full of cultural people." Linhai City, Zhejiang Province, is home to the taizhou capital city with a history of nearly 1,400 years, and Ziyang Street in the city was selected as the fourth top ten historical and cultural streets in China in 2012, becoming the second historical and cultural street in Zhejiang. On this street, the "Cai Yongli Scale Shop" has been open for 150 years. However, with the development of the times, the demand for rod scales is shrinking. In the local vegetable farm, electronic scales replaced rod scales. Only in traditional ceremonial weddings, some grooms will use a rod scale to pick up the bride's red hijab, implying that the family affair is "satisfactory". "Yongli wooden pole scale making technology" is the intangible cultural heritage of Zhejiang Province, and its fifth generation Cai Xuezhen is facing the problem of lack of inheritance.
There are more than 100 intangible cultural heritage projects at all levels in Pingyao, Shanxi. Among them, the national non-hereditary inheritor of the "Pingyao Shaoge Opera People" has passed away, and his son is a county-level non-hereditary inheritor. In addition, there are 1 provincial and municipal inheritors of this project, and 3 inheritors are 50 or 60 years old. Huo Wenzhong, director of the Pingyao County Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Center, believes that the vitality of intangible cultural heritage is generally still eaten and used by contemporary people, such as Pingyao beef, which makes countless tourists feast, and some intangible cultural heritage that is out of touch with contemporary life obviously lacks vitality.
Although the product is not worried about sales, Liu Xingdong, a non-hereditary inheritor of traditional gold and silverware making skills in Jinzhong City, Shanxi Province, also has troubles, that is, it is not easy to recruit apprentices. "Silversmiths have been masters for at least 3 years, and good silversmiths have to stay up for at least 10 years." Now young people have many ways to earn money, can't stand loneliness, and work for a few days and leave. The master did not dare to criticize the apprentice, and if there were children who were willing to come to learn, they would like it. ”
Guo Yi, director of the Zhejiang Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Center, analyzed that some intangible cultural heritage still has a large number of needs in the lives of the people, and will continue to change and innovate in the market, while some non-genetic inheritance is not particularly good, and it is necessary for intangible cultural heritage protection institutions to find specific market groups for them and build a bridge between the two.
"There are a small number of intangible cultural heritage projects that, with the exquisite skills behind them, will form a niche market, and such projects can take the low-luxury route." Guo Yi said that some intangible cultural heritage projects have lacked practical functions, and we can consider improving and transforming them, implanting a certain life scene to let it continue.
Famous cities and non-heritage gods are both
On Ziyang Street, the studio of Zheng Xianhong, the inheritor of Zhejiang Provincial Intangible Cultural Heritage "Linggen Straw Weaving", has been open for more than 5 years, in addition to the traditional straw hat fan, it has also developed intangible cultural heritage products such as straw dragonflies and straw rabbit lamps, which are welcomed by customers.
"There are 8 provincial intangible cultural heritage exhibition halls like this on Ziyang Street." Zhang Zhijun, director of the Linhai Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Center, said that in 2021, the center cooperated with the Linhai City Cultural Tourism Company to open an intangible cultural heritage exhibition hall in the Wang Zongmu family compound on the edge of Ziyang Street, turning the former "one door and three patrols" into a new place for citizens to feel the cultural heritage of the ancient city. "If you enter the ancient street, the ancient street will have more life."
In the ancient city of Pingyao, Liu Xingdong's silverware workshop was booming. "Many customers in big cities such as Beijing and Shanghai and in the southern region have a soft spot for traditional jewelry, especially Chinese-style jewelry that pairs jewelry with silverware." He said.
Shaoxing yellow wine, Yue kiln celadon porcelain, Shaoxing bronze carving... In the northwest corner of Shaoxing Ancient City, Ying'enMen Style Water Street, the first "Shaoxing Intangible Cultural Heritage Living Room", which has been open for more than half a year, gathers more than 30 high-quality local intangible cultural heritage resources. Staff member Chen Huiliang said that it is expected to achieve breakeven by the end of the year.
In the drum tower and opera tower area of Xindai County, a city of Shanxi Yuncheng, a famous historical and cultural city in China, drummers of the national intangible cultural heritage Daizhou Drum Art Troupe rehearsed the newly compiled daizhou drum music classic repertoire
"The cultural connotation of a famous historical and cultural city is mainly composed of tangible cultural heritage and intangible cultural heritage, the former is embodied in the spatial pattern, architectural style, cultural relics and monuments, etc., and the latter is embodied in the ideological concepts and humanistic values of the famous city." Yu Qiang, an associate researcher at the Institute of Culture of the Zhejiang Academy of Social Sciences, believes that the famous city is the material carrier of the intangible cultural heritage, and the intangible cultural heritage is the source of the vitality of the famous city.
Government-enterprise cooperation to avoid excessive commercialization
"My courtyard is in the alley, the rent of the storefront on the main street is too expensive, and I hope that the government department can set up an intangible cultural heritage workshop to organize the intangible cultural heritage projects of Pingyao Ancient City." This is Liu Xingdong's wish for many years. Huo Wenzhong also wanted to form an intangible cultural heritage agglomeration area in the ancient city of Pingyao to attract tourists, but this idea has not been realized for more than 10 years. "The property rights of houses in the ancient city are complex, and only under the leadership of the government can we find suitable plots of land."
The first "intangible cultural heritage living room" in Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province, is the product of government-enterprise cooperation. The neighborhood it is located in is developed by Beihai Street and operated by the team that coordinated the introduction of the Yuehong Museum by the Shaoxing Cultural and Tourism Department. Chen Huiliang introduced that this museum is opened by tea enterprises, a private museum engaged in the inheritance and utilization of "Yue black tea" intangible cultural heritage skills, and enterprises have certain experience in the marketization of intangible cultural heritage products. However, the investment cycle of cultural projects is long, which is inseparable from government support, and choosing a government-led and enterprise investment and operation method is also an exploration.
"The cultural and tourism department negotiated with the street, reduced the rent, and concentrated a number of intangible cultural heritage projects in the city into the living room, forming a scale effect, and everyone developed in groups." Chen Huiliang said that government-enterprise cooperation can make a good degree of commercialization, and "excessive commercialization will make consumers stay away."
Guo Yi believes that it is necessary to properly handle the relationship between protection and utilization, inheritance and development, do a good job in the short-term, medium-term and long-term planning of intangible cultural heritage protection, and let intangible cultural heritage protection and urban development support and integrate with each other. At the same time, we will deeply study and refine the connotation of intangible cultural heritage itself, promote the capacity building of inheritors and protection units, and adapt non-genetic inheritance protection to the development of the times.
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