Author: Hu Yuanyuan, reporter of Zhaoqing Rong Media Center, Wen Tianqun, special reporter Du Zhefeng
In the twilight of spring, strolling in Baishi Village, a community in Huanggang Street, Duanzhou District, a quiet and beautiful pastoral picture comes into view. The quaint stone road is winding, and the rows of blue brick houses are distributed on both sides of the village road, and the inkstone piles in front of each house are like hills. Under the eaves, the villagers are concentrating on carving the inkstone in their hands, and the air is filled with a faint fragrance of ink......
Walking in Baishi Village, a community in Huanggang Street, Duanzhou District, a quiet and beautiful pastoral picture comes into view. Photo by Liang Xiaoming, reporter of Zhaoqing Rong Media Center
Since the Tang Dynasty, Baishi Village has had a tradition of making duan inkstones, which has been around for more than 1,300 years. Cheng Ba, a villager, said that Zhang Zhidong, the governor of Liangguang in the Qing Dynasty, had approved Huanggang stonemason Liang Nianzhong and others to mine inkstone as tribute, so the local people specially erected a monument to commemorate this event.
Resident Cheng Ba explained the history of Duanyan. Photo by Hu Yuanyuan, reporter of Zhaoqing Rong Media Center
Master Duan Yan and the villagers are concentrating on carving the Duan Yan in their hands. Photo by Liang Xiaoming, reporter of Zhaoqing Rong Media Center
On March 29, the 52nd National Four Treasures Art Fair and the 14th National Primary and Secondary School Students' Calligraphy and Painting Supplies Expo were held at the Beijing Exhibition Center, and Zhaoqing, which passed the re-evaluation of "China Yandu" in 2023, was awarded. This is Zhaoqing since 2004 won the title of "China Yan Capital", four consecutive times successfully passed the re-evaluation and won the license, fully demonstrating the high recognition of the artistic value of Zhaoqing Duan Yan from all walks of life and the unremitting efforts of Zhaoqing City to inherit and innovate the Duan Yan culture.
Nowadays, under the guidance of the party building, the Duanyan industry in Huanggang Street is moving towards the fast lane of high-quality development, and the quality of life of residents is gradually improving.
Party building leads and activates the "spring water" of the industry
In recent years, Huanggang Street has been based on the positioning of a town with strong comprehensive strength for the high-quality development of culture, business and tourism, focusing on the implementation of the decision-making and deployment of the "Millions of Projects" at the provincial, municipal and district levels, guided by party building, and adhering to the principle of "where the industrial chain extends, the party organization will cover it, and the party building work will follow up wherever it is", dig deep into tourism and cultural resources, optimize the construction of infrastructure facilities, enrich the cultural and tourism economic formats, empower the high-quality development of the industrial chain with the party building chain, and vigorously build "production, learning, research and tourism" The four-in-one Duanyan cultural characteristic industrial base will make every effort to create a new business card for Zhaoqing tourism and a new landmark for cultural and leisure tourism in the Greater Bay Area.
Duanzhou District Duanyan Industry Chain Committee was inaugurated. Courtesy of Duanzhou District
On October 24, 2023, the Duanzhou District Duanyan Industry Chain Committee was officially established, which has a far-reaching impact on realizing the efficient allocation of industrial chain resources, promoting the healthy development of on-chain studios, and promoting the high-quality development of the Duanyan industry. Lu Ye, director of Duanyan Industry Development Center of Duanzhou District, said that since the establishment of the committee, it has always adhered to party building to lead the development of Duanyan industry, given full play to the role of Duanyan Party organization as a fighting fortress and the vanguard and exemplary role of Party members, united the majority of employees, and achieved the continuous improvement of comprehensive output value.
E-commerce empowerment and embarking on the road of common prosperity
Keeping up with the development trend of e-commerce, innovating the "Internet +" e-commerce sales model has become the key to the vigorous development of many traditional industries. Today, a community in Huanggang under Huanggang Street has actively expanded e-commerce sales channels and created a live broadcast e-commerce base for Duanyan, injecting fresh blood into the traditional Duanyan industry.
The Duanzhou Operation Center of Duanyan 020 Industrial Park is busy. Photo by Hu Yuanyuan, reporter of Zhaoqing Rong Media Center
"Please appreciate the stone pattern of this Duanyan - Azure ......" In the Duanzhou Operation Center of Duanyan 020 Industrial Park in Baishi Village, the Duanyan live broadcast e-commerce base is busy. Wang Wei, general manager of the operation center, said that since 2020, they have helped Duanyan masters sell their works through live broadcasts, and have established cooperative relations with 189 Duanyan masters. "Nowadays, we mainly conduct live broadcasts according to customer needs, not only detailing the characteristics and production process of Duanyan works, but also sharing the history and culture of Zhaoqing. The total number of fans of the live broadcast account has exceeded 200,000, of which the 'Yanxiang Sisters' has the largest number of fans, reaching more than 100,000. ”
"At present, the outstanding performance in the e-commerce field is the inkstone master studio and the 020 studio, with a total annual auction amount of more than 25 million. Lu Ye said that more than 300 merchants have settled in the e-commerce platform, and they will fully support the development and growth of these e-commerce platforms, develop characteristic industries according to local conditions, broaden product sales channels, and provide strong momentum for the village-level collective economic income.
Optimize the environment and reshape the quality village
"In the past, most of the inkstone production was carried out in simple small workshops, and the working environment was relatively poor. Today, many of the artists have their own art galleries, and the environment of Baishi Village has been significantly improved by the government's renovation, which has attracted many customers to buy it. Cheng Zhenliang, a Duanyan master who has lived in Baishi Village since childhood, said.
Villagers play ball and exercise in the rest area by the lake. Photo by Liang Xiaoming, reporter of Zhaoqing Rong Media Center
Focusing on the rural revitalization strategy and taking advantage of the "Millions and Thousands Project" policy, Huanggang Street closely focuses on the three elements of tourism development of "resources, tourist sources and services", and continues to improve the public infrastructure around Duanyan Cultural Village and Baishi Village. The relevant person in charge of the street said that at present, the problem of sewage outflow from Baishi Village, a community in Xiahuanggang, has been solved, and the central lake purification and treatment project is being fully promoted, eliminating black and odorous water bodies, beautifying the central lake and its surrounding environment, and turning it into a cultural "inkstone" to provide tourists and villagers with a leisure and comfortable viewing point. In addition, the flower, bird, fish and stone park at the bottom of the bridge, cultural and leisure areas and cultural tourism check-in points will be added, and the idle space at the bottom of the bridge will be used to build a convenient road to connect the two main roads of Duanzhou Road and Jianshe Road, so as to improve the comprehensive transportation service level of Duanyan Cultural Village and create a high-quality living circle. In-depth excavation of the historical and cultural value of Duanyan, the addition of Duanyan cultural elements "micro landscape", cultural and creative shops, lakeside resting places, the lakeside workshop to carry out a unified façade transformation, showing the style of "Yan Village".
Make full use of resources and polish the distinctive brand
Duan inkstone is one of the four famous traditional Chinese inkstones, which are famous for their delicate stone, smooth ink grinding, and long-lasting water storage. The inheritance of carving skills is not only the protection of handicrafts, but also the inheritance and development of excellent traditional Chinese culture.
A teacher from Huanggang Primary School is tutoring students in carving inkstones. Photo by Hu Yuanyuan, reporter of Zhaoqing Rong Media Center
"Students, before carving, please carefully observe the texture of the inkstone and design the most suitable shape and pattern of the inkstone. Let's start with simple lines and patterns...... "At Huanggang Primary School in Baishi Village, fifth-grade children are learning how to carve an inkstone under the guidance of their teachers. Lu Zhiqiang, director of the general affairs office of the primary school, told reporters that in order to better carry out inkstone education, the school has compiled a special reading book of "inkstone", so that students can learn the culture of inkstone step by step in six years. "We will often invite Duanyan masters to come over and explain Duanyan culture and carving skills to teachers and students. ”
In addition to carrying out inkstone education in the school, Huanggang Street also actively innovates the research model. On the one hand, efforts will be made to build a talent station for the Duanyan industry, make full use of the idle properties in the cultural village, build an "intangible cultural heritage sharing studio" for the inheritance of Duanyan production skills, create a comprehensive service platform for Duanyan production, and strive to build a "Youth Yanyi Creative Workshop"; It is reported that the local government organizes more than 30 education and training sessions in Duanyan skills and other aspects every year, including Duanyan production, Duanyan theme exhibitions, Duanyan knowledge preaching, etc., with about 1,500 people educated and trained throughout the year.
Focusing on the construction of Zhaoqing Duanyan Cultural Industrial Park, digging deep into cultural resources and creating a business card of Zhaoqing cultural tourism is the key to promoting high-quality development of Huanggang Street. The relevant person in charge of the street said that he would fully protect and make good use of the historical and cultural resources such as the stele site, the Li family compound, and the Li clan ancestral hall left by Zhangzhidong for the mining of inkstone, and make every effort to build a street of "intangible cultural heritage" display of Duanyan production skills and a Duanyan trading gathering place, and strive to open up a new path for the integrated development of Duanyan culture, historical relics, and eco-tourism through "Duanyan art + cultural and creative development", and constantly polish the characteristic cultural brand of "China's inkstone", and create a "Huanggang model" with deep integration of culture, business and tourism.