Editor's note: From October 12 to 13, 2021, the first National Academic Symposium on Contemporary Expressions of Folk Culture - "Folk Culture and County Development" was held in Pinghu City, Zhejiang Province. The academic seminar was hosted by the China Folk Writers Association, the Zhejiang Provincial Folk Writers Association, and the Pinghu Municipal People's Government. More than 80 people from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Nanjing University, Zhejiang Normal University, Southwest University for Nationalities, Hubei Academy of Fine Arts and other units and grass-roots folk art workers attended the meeting, including outstanding papers, selected thesis representatives, and representatives of Pinghu folk writers and folk art workers. A total of 110 papers were submitted for the seminar, and 20 outstanding papers were selected. Zhao Datai and Li Yuanhui, assistant researchers of Wuwei Liangzhou Cultural Research Institute, submitted "Exploration of the Path of Intangible Cultural Heritage to Help Rural Revitalization: Taking Liangzhou District of Wuwei City as an Example" was rated as an excellent paper. This article was also published in The Ancient And Modern Culture and Creation, No. 43 of 2021.
Intangible cultural heritage helps explore the path of rural revitalization
——Take Liangzhou District of Wuwei City as an example
I. Introduction to Liangzhou Intangible Cultural Heritage
Wuwei City, Gansu Province, was one of the four counties of Hexi established after Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty defeated the Xiongnu (the four counties were Wuwei County, Zhangye County, Jiuquan County, and Dunhuang County). Wuwei ancient, also known as Liangzhou, has a long history and splendid culture, located at the eastern end of the Hexi Corridor, guarding the eastern gateway into the western region, and was an important town of the ancient Silk Road.
Wuwei City administers Liangzhou District, Tianzhu County, Gulang County, Minqin County and other "three counties and one district". Liangzhou District is the seat of the ancient Guzang City, which is the famous Capital of Hexi and Qin long. The Northern Wei dynasty writer Wen Zisheng wrote in a poem called "Liangzhou Music Song": "Travel far away from Wuwei County, and look at Guzang City from afar." The carriages and horses are intertwined, and the songs are blown in the sun. The poem reflects the prosperity of ancient Liangzhou.
In the long history of more than 2,000 years, the people of Liangzhou have created a wealth of tangible cultural heritage and intangible cultural heritage. The tangible cultural heritage first promotes "one horse, one temple, one monument, one temple and one cave", that is, The Chinese tourism symbol - copper galloping horse, the western region high monk tongue relics are placed - Kumarosh Temple, the national treasure of the Western Xia Chinese language contrast - the Western Xia Monument, the crown of the Longyouxue Palace - Wuwei Wen Temple, the originator of the Chinese grottoes - The Tiantishan Grottoes. At present, there are 44 intangible cultural heritage items in Liangzhou District, including 3 items at the national level: Liangzhou Tapping Drum Zi, Liangzhou Xianxiao, and Liangzhou Treasure Scroll; 9 provincial-level items: Liangzhou Bantai Opera, Liangzhou Shadow Puppet Play, Liangzhou Water and Land Painting, Xixia Clay Movable Type Printing, Xixia Ceramic Firing Technique, Wuwei Re-engraving Paper-cutting, Liangzhou Yellow River Lantern Festival, Zushi Anesthesia Plaster; 19 municipal projects, and 13 district-level projects.
At present, the Liangzhou Intangible Cultural Heritage Project presents different inheritance formats. Liangzhou Tapping Drum has developed well, established a training base and a study center, established an Offensive Drum Art Troupe and An Art Association, and Yang Menyuan, a national inheritor, has established an Offensive Drum Culture and Art Media Company to regularly carry out commercial performances. Liangzhou Baojuan has established a garden-style training center, relying on the Tiantishan Grottoes Scenic Area to occasionally carry out commercial performances. Individual artists of Liangzhou Xianxiao can get a certain remuneration by accepting interviews with scholars and media, invited to participate in various performances, and many blind artists have carried out online live broadcasts on platforms such as "Kuaishou" to obtain tips from the audience, replacing the traditional wandering and selling model. Liangzhou shadow puppetry, puppet theater, half-stage opera and other operas rarely have commercial performances, relying on the establishment of training centers by protection units, which basically belong to the self-entertainment of peasant groups, and occasionally participate in performances of a government-level support and protection. Zushi hemp plaster, Liangzhou smoked vinegar, Laojiao liquor, wine, Xixia ceramics, etc. are inherited in the form of enterprises, but they are facing the dilemma of small enterprise scale and difficult to become bigger and stronger.
2. Six ways for intangible cultural heritage to help rural revitalization
Chinese culture is essentially a local culture, the root of Chinese culture is in the countryside, we often say that the countryside, rural scenery, nostalgia, rural sounds, neighbors, rural morality, etc., constitute Chinese vernacular culture, but also make it the basic core of China's excellent traditional culture. The implementation of the rural revitalization strategy is also a major measure to reconstruct China's local culture, that is, a major strategy to carry forward China's excellent traditional culture. Intangible cultural heritage refers to all kinds of traditional cultural expressions that exist in intangible form and are closely related to the lives of the masses and have been passed down from generation to generation. Intangible cultural heritage is undoubtedly the core component of China's excellent traditional culture and Chinese local culture, and is playing a huge role in the rural revitalization strategy, and will play a greater role in the future.
(1) Promote village protection and brand building with the strategy of "one village and one intangible cultural heritage"
China is essentially a rural agricultural country, and the foundation of its culture lies in the local area, and the village is an important carrier of the local culture. The essence of revitalizing the countryside is to return to local China, and at the same time to surpass local China and build a socialist new China under the background of modernization and globalization.
"Intangible Cultural Heritage" is a cultural wealth that has been preserved to modern times by ancestors through the use of daily life. Although natural generation and continuous development and fluidity in the long river of history continue to innovate this intangible cultural heritage that has been passed down from generation to generation with the changes in the environment in which the ethnic group is located, the interrelationship with the natural world and the historical conditions continue to be innovated, but the sense of cultural identity and history of the heritage remains unchanged. While emphasizing the protection of intangible cultural heritage, that is, the protection of villages, the places on which intangible cultural heritage depends, the so-called "skin does not exist, hair will be attached".
Combined with reality, the use of intangible cultural heritage projects can make each village bring its own light, its own brand, and its own personalized label, thus promoting the revitalization of the countryside. At present, some villages in Liangzhou District already have such a foundation, such as the "Liangzhou Tapping Drum" in Zhaizi Village of Siba Town, the "Liangzhou Treasure Scroll" in Dengshan Village in Zhangyi Town, the "Liangzhou Xianxiao" in Louzhuang Village in Gaoba Town, the "Liangzhou Rolling Lantern Dance" in Shibei Village in Yongchang Town, and the "Liangzhou Shadow Puppet Play and Puppet Show" in Zhongsha Village in Qingyuan Town.
(2) Promote rural grain production with the strategy of "one village, one cuisine"
The implementation of the strategy of rural revitalization is a powerful grasp of firmly holding the rice bowl of the Chinese in one's own hands. China is a populous country, the people take food as the sky, and food security has always been the foundation of national security. General Secretary Xi Jinping said that firmly holding the rice bowl of Chinese in his own hands is to make grain production, the core of agricultural production, the top priority, and the strategy of rural revitalization is to make agriculture develop and grain harvests.
Agricultural production is the fundamental place to ensure food security, but the expansion of the agricultural industry chain is also an inevitable choice, extending to the secondary industry is naturally the deep processing of food, and expanding to the tertiary industry is the catering industry in the service industry.
Liangzhou is a "foodie's paradise", many traditional food snacks, have been included in the intangible cultural heritage, such as Liangzhou smoked vinegar, Wuwei traditional old cellar liquor, Liangzhou cold noodles, Liangzhou noodles, Liangzhou noodles, Liangzhou rice soup oil steamed buns, Liangzhou mooncakes, Liangzhou three sets of cars, Liangshan yam rice soup, Liangzhou Manchu dumplings and so on.
We can rely on the abundant raw materials and labor force in the countryside, cheap land, energy, water sources, etc. to vigorously develop the deep processing industry of green agricultural products, forming a situation of "one village and one food factory".
It is necessary to gather "Liangzhou snacks" to form a brand effect, promote the development of Liangzhou cuisine like "Shaxian snacks", and encourage "mass entrepreneurship" and "mass innovation" to let Liangzhou snack restaurants open inside and outside the Great Wall, north and south of the great river, and drive farmers to increase their income. Through the development of the catering industry, it can also drive the production of raw materials and the production and processing of characteristic agricultural products.
(3) Enliven rural spiritual and cultural life with "one village and one literature and art"
Most of them are expressions of the reverence and attitude of the ancestors in labor and life for sorrow, life and death, marriage, ancestors, nature, heaven and earth, and are living cultures that meet people's natural needs, social needs and spiritual needs. Its practicality is achieved on the basis of people-oriented. In the practice of intangible cultural heritage protection, through in-depth excavation of the cultural quality of intangible cultural heritage, we can effectively protect and inherit the cultural roots of rural areas.
Traditional arts in the intangible cultural heritage, such as qu art, dance, music, drama, etc., can be performed on the stage and can be classified as performing arts. Among the 44 intangible cultural heritage items in Liangzhou District, 11 can be classified as performing arts, including Liangzhou Xianxiao, Liangzhou Treasure Scroll, Liangzhou Tapping Drum, Liangzhou Shadow Puppet Play, Liangzhou Puppet Show, Liangzhou Bantai Opera, Xi Liang Music Dance, Liangzhou Rolling Lantern Dance, Liangzhou Lion Dance, Liangzhou Bamboo Horse Zi, liangzhou folk songs. Combined with the actual conditions of villages, promoting "one village and one literature and art" and developing rural performing arts can enliven the spiritual and cultural life of rural areas.
In the work of rural revitalization, we should also pay attention to the intangible cultural heritage projects of martial arts. Taking Liangzhou District as an example, the intangible cultural heritage items of martial arts include Liangzhou Strip (Stick Technique), Liangzhou Luohan Fist and so on. In rural areas, attaching importance to the traditional worship of "Guan Gong" and "Ma Wangye" can carry forward the spirit of "advocating culture and martial arts", advocate the traditional values of "loyalty, filial piety, benevolence and righteousness", and also promote the national fitness movement and develop healthy recreational activities.
(4) Reconstruct the field of rural cultural activities with "one village and one folk custom"
Rural folk activities, such as traditional "temple fairs", provide an irreplaceable "field" for farmers' public economic and cultural activities. In the process of rural revitalization, attention should be paid to reconstructing this field and creating a good collective activity place and atmosphere for farmers.
Liangzhou folk customs activities, including the provincial project Liangzhou Yellow River Lantern Festival, the city-level project Liangzhou Shehuo (including Wang Castle Shehuo), the Liangzhou Temple Festival includes Haizang Temple, Guanyin Mountain, Lotus Mountain, Xiashuang Temple Temple Festival, Liangzhou Horse King Worship Customs, Liangzhou Word Creation and Recitation Customs. In addition, there are not included in the list of Wuwei Wen Temple Festival, Liangzhou Lantern Festival, etc. Relying on rich folk festivals and festivals, it can also promote the development of rural tourism, such as the "Liangzhou 10,000 People Community Fire" activity in 2019, which has achieved remarkable results.
(5) Revive the development of rural handicrafts with "one village and one workshop"
In the context of modern large-scale industrial production, the traditional handicraft industry is declining, but it is not without a way to live. In the revitalization of rural areas, traditional handicrafts can also be revitalized. Using policy support such as "intangible cultural heritage + poverty alleviation" and "intangible cultural heritage poverty alleviation employment workshop" to explore new models and revitalize traditional handicraft industries, it is also a rural industrial development path that cannot be ignored.
The traditional handicraft intangible cultural heritage projects in Liangzhou District include Liangzhou paper-cutting (including Wuwei re-engraving paper-cutting), Liangzhou water and land painting painting technology, Liangzhou three-string production technology, Liangzhou palace lamp making technology, Liangzhou Han Dynasty jade hollow round carving technology, Liangzhou grain calligraphy painting production technology, etc., as well as Liangzhou shadow puppet making technology, Liangzhou puppet making technology, Liangzhou bamboo horse production technology, Liangzhou pile embroidery, etc. that are not included in the list. Through the strategy of "one village and one workshop", non-high-quality labor force such as the elderly, weak, sick and disabled in rural areas can be absorbed, the problem of peasant employment and peasant income can be solved, and different villages can also have different characteristic industries to avoid vicious competition of homogenization.
(6) Promote the optimization of rural governance structure with "one village and one township sage"
Traditional Chinese rural society is a typical acquaintance society, which plays an important role in the governance structure of clans and village sages, and has become an important force in resolving contradictions, harmonizing neighborhood relations, promoting social harmony, and becoming a useful supplement to government governance.
Non-hereditary inheritors at all levels are often local elders with high moral standing, craftsmen with extraordinary skills, and rich and capable people with good management, who often have strong appeal and influence in the countryside and play the role of "village sages".
In the work of rural revitalization, it is necessary to attach importance to the role of non-hereditary inheritors as "village sages", give full play to their pioneering and exemplary role in economic construction, social governance, and cultural inheritance, and promote the improvement of rural governance structure.
III. Conclusion
The central authorities' formulation and implementation of the strategy of rural revitalization is aimed at fundamentally solving the current problem of "three rural areas" in which China's agriculture is not developed, the rural areas are not prosperous, and the peasants are not rich. By firmly establishing the "five major" development concepts of innovation, coordination, green, openness and sharing, we will achieve the "three lives" coordination of production, life and ecology, promote the integrated development of the "three industries" of agriculture, processing industry and modern service industry, truly realize agricultural development, rural transformation, and farmers' benefits, and finally build a beautiful countryside and beautiful China that can "see the mountains, see the water, remember the homesickness", retain people.
Because of its unique attributes, intangible cultural heritage is naturally closely linked to agriculture, rural areas and farmers, so it is playing an important role in the rural revitalization strategy, and will also make great achievements in the future and go to a higher level. Combined with the protection and development of intangible cultural heritage, the implementation of strategies such as "one village and one intangible cultural heritage", "one village and one cuisine", "one village and one literature and art", "one village and one folklore", "one village and one workshop", and "one village and one village" in rural areas undoubtedly provides a unique way of thinking and channel for our rural revitalization.
About author:Zhao Datai, Master of Education, Assistant Researcher of Liangzhou Cultural Research Institute in Wuwei City. Li Yuanhui is an assistant researcher at the Liangzhou Cultural Research Institute in Wuwei City.