[Ye Chunsheng] Activate folk heritage and keep it forever among the people
[Abstract] Nowadays, rescuing and protecting human oral and intangible cultural heritage has gradually become a consensus.
However, how to better rescue and protect cultural heritage, and what kind of method is the sustainable development way to better rescue and protect cultural heritage, different functional departments and different experts and scholars in society are conducting different perspectives, different levels, and different methods of discussion and practice.
We believe that rescuing and protecting folk cultural heritage is not only a need for the development of today's society, but also to enable it to "activate" and develop in the work of rescuing and protecting it, so that it can be passed down from generation to generation, and that it can be preserved among the people forever.
In addition, it should also be transformed into productive forces in a timely manner, so that the developed folk cultural heritage can "activate" and promote and promote the development of material civilization, spiritual civilization and political civilization.
[Keywords] Folk cultural heritage; rescue; protection; activation [China Map Classification No.] K890
[Document identification code] A
[Article Number] 1008 - 72 (2004) 05 - 0084 - 03 The rapid development of modern industrial civilization has brought a strong impact on traditional culture.
In today's society, there is an endless call to rescue and protect human oral and intangible cultural heritage.
How to rescue and protect? Each division has its own method.
However, this article believes that it is a very important part to activate those folk heritage that is on the verge of extinction and keep it forever among the people.
1.
Activating folk heritage is a necessity for the development of today's society.
The progress of science and technology and the prosperity of the economy have enabled our contemporary society to develop at an unprecedented high speed.
Our world has gradually entered the "knowledge economy era", and the "information world" has become The image description and synonym of this rapidly developing society.
The 21st century has highlighted the development trend of globalization, leading to economic integration, knowledge technology, communication networking, and cultural convergence.
In the competition and development of globalization, modern "technological civilization" has launched a fierce challenge to classical civilization and traditional culture, causing a strong impact.
Modern "technological civilization" is nibbling and devouring ancient civilization and traditional culture through multi-channel media propaganda, complex cultural carrier, modern people's fast-paced lifestyle and "fast-food" cultural consumption psychology.
In our country, in addition to the above-mentioned common culture and threats from various aspects brought about by economic globalization, the social and economic development itself has also brought great influence to our traditional culture, especially the folk culture rooted in the lower class.
"Industrialization" stripped the material carrier of folk culture, the pace of "town and urbanization" narrowed and changed the gathering place of folk customs, and the neon of urban life made traditional artists change their profession and become useless.
"Modernization" has melted and dismantled the boundary between folk tradition and modern art."Technological civilization" has caused our folk culture to lose many tangible material carriers and intangible artistic forms.
Due to its unofficial and non-mainstream consciousness, as well as its lack of reasonable protection on its own and external sides, folk culture has become modern "technological civilization" and cultural globalization in the continuous collision, integration and struggle of "technological civilization" and traditional culture.
Conscious and unconscious victims of globalization.
Among them, human oral and intangible cultural heritage, due to its single form of existence, the lack of variability in its carrier of existence, and the special nature of its inheritance methods, is facing greater challenges, is subject to more fierce impacts, and continues to enter a difficult situation and is on the verge of extinction.
We know that the oral and intangible cultural heritage of mankind is a cultural community based on tradition, passed down orally through imitation or other means, expressed by a group or individuals, and considered to be in line with the expectations of the community and as a way to realize its value.
A culturally and socially distinctive expression.
It includes language, literature, music, dance, games, mythology, etiquette, habits, handicrafts, architecture, etc.
Once it is lost, it cannot be regenerated.
No matter how realistic the imitator is, it does not have original ecological value.
Faced with such changes in the trend of folk culture, as folk literature and art workers, we should actively participate in the rescue and protection projects of these cultural heritage.
This is only the starting point of our work.
We should also link this work with the research, inheritance and development of folk culture to make it an organic whole, carry out macro layout and overall consideration, seek development through rescue, and seek innovation through protection.
2.
Activate folk heritage and pass it down from generation to generation.
To rescue and protect folk cultural heritage, it is now a popular practice in many places to use various means to collect and record it, and then preserve it in multiple carriers.
For example, editing books and storing them after recording, storing them through audio recording, storing them through video photography, etc.
These practices in rescuing and protecting folk cultural heritage have many merits.
It is also worth mentioning that these practices also cleverly combine traditional collection and recording methods with the advantages of modern science and technology.
They are a relatively gratifying breakthrough in rescuing and protecting folk cultural heritage.
However, it should be pointed out that there are many places that have locked these carefully rescued and protected folk culture into museums and shelved it high.
No one has ever cared about it since, turning the rescue and protection work into a simple "collection-sorting--archiving".
This is a shortcoming that people have pointed out in a discussion more than 20 years ago.
The result of this work can only be to freeze our folk culture in photo frames, lock it on images, and discard it in the exhibition halls of museums and exhibition halls.
The rescue and protection carried out in this way is essentially a "static" rescue and protection, which we call "death protection".
Of course, do you want this kind of "dead guarantee"? The answer is yes: yes.
In this way, it can preserve human oral and intangible cultural heritage and is a faithful record of human history and culture.
However, this kind of "dead protection" has a limited life even with the most advanced modern sound and light equipment.
First, the carrier itself will age.
Second, once these things that were originally rooted at the grassroots level are separated from people's lives, their social functions will be greatly reduced.
Therefore, it is necessary to activate it in people's lives, pass it on, and continue to move forward with society.
development.
This kind of "activated state" rescue and protection is called "living protection".
That is to activate folk culture, cultivate batches of successors, and pass it down from generation to generation, so that it can be rooted in the people, preserved in the people, and live forever.
For example, for the Kirin Dance in Zhangmutou, Dongguan city, Guangdong Province, the practice of Zhangmutou Town Committee, Town Government and Cultural Station belongs to "living protection." They not only compile books and videos for widespread publicity, but more importantly, popularize them.
Zhangmutou currently has more than 170 Kirin dance teams, with more than 1000 official members, and even children as young as seven or eight have signed up to participate.
Dancing the Kirin Dance in Zhangmutou has gradually become a voluntary, spontaneous and conscious behavior.
Kirin dance is not only a festive folk song and dance form, but also becomes the best way for Zhangmutou people to exercise, fitness, socialize and create a brand.
Recently, Zhangmutou was awarded the titles of "Hometown of Kirin Dance in China" and "China Kirin Dance Training Base" by China Folk Literary and Art Association due to the widespread spread and continuous development of Kirin Dance.
Moreover, Suixi County, Guangdong Province, the hometown of lion dancing in China, has also done a good job in "living and protecting" folk culture.
Lion awakening teams have been set up in all towns and villages across the county to dance high-pile lions.
The Wencha Lions team also represented our country in Paris and won the gold medal in the world competition.
Dali, Nanhai, Foshan City, holds the annual "Lion Awakening Festival" on the 14th day of the first month of every year.
Young lion Awakening teams have also been established in many villages, which not only develops folk culture, but also promotes economic growth.
Whether it is tangible folk cultural heritage or intangible cultural heritage, it is the evidence of human historical life and the inheritance of popular culture.
Therefore, in order to enable folk culture to withstand the impact of "technological civilization" and the subversion of global integration, and to be renewed and prosperous over time, we should "activate" folk cultural heritage in the rescue and protection of folk cultural heritage, so that it can be rooted in the people and preserved forever among the people.
Rather than shelving it away from the people and life.
We should closely link these folk styles with people's lives, make them promote each other and develop together, and achieve our ultimate goal of rescuing and protecting folk cultural heritage: inheriting people's culture, promoting modernization, and promoting social development.
3.
Activate folk heritage and transform it into productive forces.
Folk culture is a living culture created, enjoyed and passed down by the broad masses of people in a country or nation.
At the same time, folk culture is still a skill that is operable and generatable.
Under appropriate conditions, it can be transformed into productivity and create economic value.
The transformation of this folk skill into productivity is different from the transformation of science and technology.
It contains more cultural factors, and it is also divided into two different manifestations in terms of creating economic value: direct and indirect.
The Lion Awakening Letucine Fair held on the eighth day of the first month in Shakeng, Panyu, Guangzhou City, is transformed from a traditional Letucine Fair and mainly focuses on lion Awakening competitions, meeting friends, and attracting investment.
It is accepted by the general public as a way of strengthening the body, entertaining and celebrating, and inspiring fighting spirit, thus laying the foundation for promoting production and developing the economy physically and mentally.
This is an indirect effect.
Their superb lion art has been recognized by the market.
Now it is a performance project at a tourist attraction, charging 15,000 yuan per performance, but it is still overwhelmed.
That is a direct benefit.
There is also a more impressive thing, namely folk culture.
As a skill, it can also create cultural brands and urban brands, thus serving economic and cultural construction in a deep sense and creating greater economic benefits.
After winning several championships at home and abroad, the lion dance in bunker became famous.
The spirit of unity and struggle of bunker people was trustworthy.
This attracted a large number of merchants to develop real estate and processing trade.
The whole village's economy quickly reached a new level.
In 1996, it jumped into the ranks of 100 million yuan villages.
So far, the lettuce fair has been held for 8 times, and the more it is held, the more it is getting popular.
During the 2004 birthday party, 800 seats were held to entertain visitors from all over the world and attract more than 100 million yuan in investment.
To transform folk skills into productivity and make them create economic benefits, the key is to create high-quality products, bring forth the new, and go to the market.
Our country is rich in folk resources, including woodblock New Year paintings in Henan, paper-cutting in Shandong, shadow puppets in Shaanxi, Nuo operas in Guizhou, face changing in Sichuan, face figures in Hebei, etc.
Guangdong's folk customs are more distinctive, with the three major folk groups colorful.
People have made Hakka folk songs and thunder songs into VCDs, and introduced puppet shows and water-color performances to the market.
However, there are still some traditional high-quality projects, such as Guangzhou embroidery and Guangzhou color, that are on the verge of extinction.
It is even more necessary to cultivate successors and constantly innovate to meet the needs of the market.
4.
Activate folk heritage and promote spiritual civilization.
Once formed, folk culture becomes a basic force regulating people's behavior, language and psychology.
It is also an important way for people to learn, inherit and accumulate culture and create results.
Therefore, activating folk cultural heritage will play a positive role in promoting the national spirit, enhancing national cohesion, cultivating collective consciousness, carrying forward the spirit of cooperation, enriching cultural life, improving the quality of the people, stimulating innovative thinking, and promoting the construction of spiritual civilization.
(1) Promote traditional culture, enhance national cohesion and activate folk cultural heritage, so that people's understanding of traditional culture can be built on a solid foundation, which is impressive, sensible, learnable and usable, making folk culture "vulgar but not earthy", with deep connotation.
For example, the Zhangmutou Hakka Kirin Dance contains a strong national cultural spirit.
"The dragon gives birth to nine sons, and the eldest son is the Lin." The Kirin is an important branch of the dragon group.
Zhangmutou is a Hakka town.
The Hakka people come from the Central Plains and are descendants of the dragon.
Dancing the Kirin dance, promoting Kirin culture, and not forgetting the family's heritage, is a righteous act of loving the country.
The Kirin Dance highlights the championship and adds a glorious page to Guangdong's construction of a major cultural province.
(2) Cultivate collective consciousness and carry forward the spirit of cooperation.
Folk cultural heritage, with its activation trend, expresses the collectivity of people's lives on a broader level.
Through exercises on the activation of folk cultural heritage, people can enhance collective consciousness and carry forward cooperation.
spirit.
For example, in Wuchuan, Zhanjiang, there are layers of people stacked on top of each other.
It is impossible without the spirit of teamwork.
Mutual cooperation fully demonstrates a strong collective consciousness.
In this way, through the performance of activated forms, people have made clear the importance of enhancing collective consciousness and carrying forward the spirit of cooperation, and regard this as an important criterion for measuring and judging people's thoughts.
(3) Enrich cultural life and improve the quality of the people.
The important purpose of rescuing and protecting oral and intangible cultural heritage is to promote national traditions, inherit national culture, promote modernization, and promote social development.
The activated form of folk culture makes it easy for people to participate in and integrate into folk activities, which not only enriches people's cultural life, but also instill the traditional virtues of the Chinese nation through these activities, which invisibly regulates people's behavior and guides people.
The role of life can be forged over time, and a kind of thought and spirit can be formed, thereby improving the people's ideological and cultural quality in a deep sense.
(4) Stimulate innovative thinking and adjust working ideas In the rescue and protection of oral and intangible cultural heritage, on the one hand, we lament the impact of modern "technological civilization" and the subversion of global economic integration; on the other hand, we also regret the gradual disappearance of traditional folk culture.
The activated form of folk culture allows us to see that the extinction of traditional folk culture is the result of comprehensive social, historical and political factors, and is also the inevitable result of its own development and adjustment.
In order to better protect and rescue these heritages, it is crucial to enhance the concept of keeping pace with the times and promote innovative thinking.
We should have less "dead guarantees" and more "living guarantees" consciousness, constantly adjust our thinking, and objectively strengthen our own ideological construction.
Why not?
This article was originally published in Issue 5 of Folk Culture Forum, 2004.
Please refer to the original print issue for annotations.