Liu Delong: Adherence to tradition and reform and innovation go hand in hand

(Vice Chairman of Shandong Province Federation of Social Sciences, Vice President of China Folk Society, Vice President and Researcher of Shandong University Cultural Heritage Research Institute) The productive protection policy came into being in the exploration and implementation of my country's intangible cultural heritage protection work, which has important guiding significance for the protection of related intangible cultural heritage projects in my country.

However, due to the deviation in understanding of its connotation, this concept has aroused controversy among experts, scholars and people in related fields once it was put forward: some people tend to be conservative, emphasize the "authenticity" and "original ecology" of intangible cultural heritage, and believe that inheritance, inheritance are higher than development and innovation.

They adhere to the cultural standard of heritage, hope that all intangible cultural heritage will be pure and unchanging, resolutely oppose commercialization and industrialization, and hate the behavior of heritage development in the name of protection.; Others are relatively radical, emphasizing the "variability" and "liveliness" of intangible cultural heritage, or advocating that inheritance is development and innovation from an academic point of view.

They believe that a considerable number of intangible cultural heritage projects have no survival value without change, or in practical actions Promote the industrialization, commercialization and scale of certain intangible cultural heritage projects.

Therefore,"persistence" or "flexibility" has always been the focus of debate in academic circles when discussing the productive protection of certain intangible cultural heritage events, especially folk handicraft projects.

Liu Delong believes that adhering to tradition and reform and innovation go hand in hand.

Only by adhering to tradition can we reflect the original meaning of the intangible cultural heritage elephant and not become beyond recognition; only by innovation and development can we continuously stimulate the vitality of the intangible cultural heritage elephant itself and make it Continue to sublimate and better inherit it.

Liu Delong pointed out that it should have important academic value and practical significance to carefully analyze relevant issues in this regard and sort out some relationships that should be handled well in the productive protection of intangible cultural heritage.

Protecting tradition and developing innovation "In the protection of intangible cultural heritage projects such as handicrafts, we must not only adhere to the 'authenticity' of intangible cultural heritage, inherit and inherit the essence of traditional crafts, and ensure the 'original ecology' of traditional core skills.

We must also adhere to development and innovation, keep pace with the times, and combine it with current production practice to maintain strong vitality." Liu Delong said that traditional crafts originate from production practice.

If we adhere to tradition, do not know how to adapt, and adopt a museum-style protection method, it will inevitably lead to their disconnection from social development and gradually become separated from the real life of the people.

Naturally, it will not be able to maintain their vitality.

Sooner or later, it will be abandoned in the garbage dump of history.

"At the same time, if we overemphasize the value of heritage in modern economic development, pursue economic benefits to the greatest extent, focus on development and ignore protection, blindly engage in commercialization and industrialization of heritage, especially over-development in the name of protection, this will essentially subvert the meaning of heritage protection and is very different from UNESCO's purpose of protecting heritage.

It is difficult for the temporarily prosperous economic benefits to ensure the long-term inheritance and healthy development of intangible cultural heritage.

We should focus on maintaining the authenticity, integrity and inheritance of intangible cultural heritage, transform intangible cultural heritage and its resources into a protection method for products in material form.

In production practice, we should not only preserve the authenticity of traditional crafts, but also incorporate their cultural connotations and technical values into physical products, allowing the public to not only feel its profound historical and cultural connotations and superb traditional craftsmanship, but also make full use of its practical value and truly integrate it into real life." Liu Delong said that Dong 'e Zhenfu brand E-jiao production technology and Zibo ceramic firing technology are both typical examples of protecting tradition and developing innovation.

Product production and art production Liu Delong said that to this day, basically all the production of products that people need in daily life has adopted mechanized production, and many works of art that are not necessary for social development and the daily life of all people have their production methods.

It retains the tradition of raw materials and pure handicraft processing and production that have been used for decades or centuries.

The products produced by machinery are single and convergent, lack individuality, lack cultural connotation and artistic characteristics, and are mainly to meet people's daily life needs, but it is difficult to achieve the purpose of improving the quality of life.

The art produced by handicrafts contains more of human nature, society, region and history.

It has rich cultural connotations and high artistic taste.

It pays more attention to meeting people's needs for elegant life.

After people meet their basic material needs, the demand for art is always increasing, and they pay more and more attention to the making of art, which ultimately makes traditional handicrafts occupy an indispensable and important position in today's social production.

This is also one of the goals of intangible cultural heritage protection.

He said that productive protection is the inheritance and protection of traditional skills.

It does not require the production process of art to be "purely handmade" and strive to exclude other tools.

Instead, it emphasizes the need to maintain the core skills of handicrafts, which is the best reflection of workers.

Creativity, wisdom, ability, and part of its cultural and historical accumulation of skills.

"In the process of making works of art, in order to reduce the physical consumption of the producer and not affect the quality of the work, of course, tools can be used to produce, which can greatly improve production efficiency and output.

However, in some parts that are closely integrated with human emotions, in areas that cause differences, and in areas where human wisdom can be extended, their craftsmanship should be highly maintained.

Only in this way can we ensure the advantages of human wisdom and craftsmanship be perfectly reflected." Liu Delong said that the biggest difference between the art production process and the production process of daily life products is that the core skills are completed manually.

This is the most important value of manual labor and the focus of productive protection of intangible cultural heritage.

In this regard, targeted protection can achieve twice the result with half the effort.

Traditional crafts and modern crafts Liu Delong pointed out that improving traditional crafts, fully tapping the practical and artistic potential of traditional crafts, making them consistent with the needs of modern society, and ultimately becoming a new coordinate for leading trend consumption, is an urgent need for productive protection.

The problem to be solved.

Although traditional crafts and modern crafts have their own advantages and disadvantages, traditional crafts have obvious disadvantages in the market competition with modern crafts.

The shortcomings of traditional crafts, such as time-consuming, small output, and expensive prices, cover up many advantages such as high artistic level and rich cultural connotation.

If they cannot be improved in time and cannot be accepted and consumed by society, then traditional handicrafts will naturally no longer be able to devote themselves to creation with enthusiasm, and traditional crafts will face the dilemma of no successor.

How to find a suitable point for the development of traditional crafts in contemporary society is particularly important: First, follow the route of high-quality products.

The national intangible cultural heritage list Dongchang gourd carving art is well-known at home and abroad.

Representative inheritors have high requirements for the quality of their works.

The number of works created every year is not large, but each piece is high-quality, and each piece is priced at tens of thousands of yuan.

The price was bought by collectors.

The high price is an affirmation of their artistic quality and also an affirmation of traditional handicrafts.

The second is to follow the popularization route.

Traditional crafts originate from people's living practices.

Traditional handicrafts such as clay sculpture, dough sculpture, and paper-cutting are very popular among ordinary people.

They have a deep mass foundation among the people.

As the popularity of traditional crafts continues to increase, more people will have more interest in them.

The third is to follow the market-oriented route.

Feicheng peach wood carving received orders of four to five million yuan in two days at the first China Intangible Cultural Heritage Expo.

Through this expo, the domestic market was completely opened up, providing a good opportunity for the inheritance and development of Feicheng peach wood carving.

In fact, traditional crafts such as New Year paintings and stone carving all have strong market demand.

Only by following the market-oriented route can their cultural connotation and technical value be recognized by more consumers.

"Compared with modern crafts, traditional crafts have their own advantages and disadvantages.

However, at present, although traditional crafts have obvious disadvantages, with the continuous deepening of productive protection, the popularity of traditional crafts will continue to increase, and I believe that it will usher in a spring of development." Liu Delong said.

"The production and inheritance of culture must never be eager for quick success, let alone simply pursue economic benefits.

What it requires is persistence, patience, and even an attachment to culture." Liu Delong pointed out that in the process of intangible cultural heritage protection, we must pay attention to its cultural heritage and fully grasp the humanistic connotation in productive protection.

Productivity must obey the needs of protection and inheritance.

Development must not change the connotation of intangible cultural heritage.

It must not blindly seek greatness, completeness, and innovation.

Instead, it must respect history and tradition, respect the production methods and sales channels that have been formed, and adhere to traditional craftsmanship.

The integrity of the process and the authenticity of the core skills must not change the traditional production method of intangible cultural heritage at will.

The industrialization of traditional crafts is not absolutely desirable, but the authenticity and integrity of traditional crafts must be adhered to, and "productive protection" must not be misinterpreted as only talking about "production" and ignoring "protection".

(The original text was published in "China Culture News" on September 14, 2012)