[Liu Xiaonan and Yang Xinji] Pilot and protection: Practice and enlightenment of Shanghai's ethnic and folk culture protection project
China's Ethnic and Folk Culture Protection Project launched the application for pilot projects in 2003.
One project in Shanghai in folk folk arts was selected into the second batch of national pilot projects, and two municipal pilot projects were established at the same time.
As a result, the Shanghai Ethnic and Folk Culture Protection Project has also been officially put into operation.
The protection of pilot projects is a process of practice and thinking.
It must not only be conducive to the inheritance and development of ethnic and folk cultural heritage, but also be conducive to accumulating protection experience, enriching protection methods, improving protection standards, and comprehensively realizing various protection goals.
As participants in the ethnic and folk cultural protection project, we have the honor to be involved in the creativity, planning and operation process of all the city's work.
Therefore, we would like to focus on some issues of the three pilot projects of protection from a personal perspective and talk about the author's thoughts and suggestions.
Focus 1: Regional characteristics and pilot projects
Shanghai is a modern metropolis, with world-renowned achievements in economic development and urban construction.
Shanghai's culture is very special.
Since its opening as a port, it has been in the conflict and mutual penetration of Chinese and Western cultures, urban culture and traditional culture for a long time; the living space of ethnic and folk culture in Shanghai is not abundant.
Therefore, frankly speaking, since the launch of the Shanghai Ethnic and Folk Culture Protection Project, it has been somewhat confusing and lacks sufficient psychological and institutional preparation.
Protection must have objects, and there are strict standards for identification of objects.
According to the definition of the UNESCO Convention for the Protection of Intangible Cultural Heritage, ethnic and folk cultural heritage refers to those "expressed by a group, or individuals, and considered to be in line with the expectations of the community as its cultural and social characteristics.
Forms, norms and values, passed down orally through imitation or other means." Its manifestations include "oral legends and expressions, performing arts; social customs, etiquette, festivals; knowledge and practice about nature and the universe, traditional handicraft skills, etc."
There is no doubt that when it comes to confirming pilot protection projects in Shanghai, they should at least have several characteristics commonly referred to as "localization, grassroots and historical sense." However, finding "affordable" projects that meet this scale is much more difficult than imagined.
Statistics from the Shanghai National and Folk Cultural Resources Survey show that as of the end of 2004, there were 45 categories included.
Some of them are very popular, but trace their origins but do not originate locally; or although they have the brand advantages and prestige of local folk art, they are shorter than historical accumulation and inheritance.
Therefore, out of regional dignity and closeness to traditional culture, no one will openly and pessimistically judge that "Shanghai is poor in ethnic and folk cultural resources." However, for a rigorous and rational ethnic and folk cultural protection project, it faces The grim reality is self-evident.
However, another opinion dominates, which is that the pilot should focus on the principle of "reflecting the unique characteristics of the local or ethnic group, having great historical, cultural and scientific value, and having a certain working foundation", especially the sentence "Have a certain working foundation" is crucial.
Although the "Top Ten Collections of Folk Literature and Art" compiled in the 1980s has not yet been raised to the level of protection, it has considerable cognitive ability to select projects that reflect Shanghai's characteristics, creating a certain foundation for today's pilot protection., giving us room for leisurely choices.
Relying on the joint efforts of academic theory circles, art circles and folk cultural figures who have a special interest in traditional culture, and through careful analysis and demonstration, the Nanhui Gong Drum Book, Qingpu Tian Ge, Songjiang Gu Embroidery three pilot projects were finally discovered from the historical mounds.
They not only provided sufficient historical basis for Shanghai's rich ethnic and folk cultural resources, but also successfully declared as the second batch of pilot protection projects in the country.
Qingpu Tian Shan Ge and Songjiang Gu Xiu are both Shanghai-level pilot protection projects, filling Shanghai's gap in the protection project of ethnic and folk culture in China, which means that the Shanghai ethnic and folk protection project has since opened a new realm.
Focus 2: Value, Endanglement and Rescue
Can Nanhui Gong and Drum Books, Qingpu Tian Folk Songs, and Songjiang Gu Embroidery represent the most distinctive ethnic and folk cultural heritage in Shanghai? The raising of this issue is of course related to the status and influence of Shanghai.
People have high expectations for Shanghai, and "what to get" and "whether to get it" leave people with double suspense.
We disagree with the statement that "Shanghai has no protected resources", nor do we agree to impose restrictions on us with the extravagant hope that "the world has none and the country has only one".
The relationship between characteristics and pilot projects should be inevitable and unified.
Whether they are "available" or not depends on our comprehensive and dialectical understanding of the greatest value, greatest cause of danger, and urgency of urgent rescue of the three pilot projects.
The so-called maximum value: that is, under the same time and space conditions, no other project can surpass it in terms of historical and cultural status.
The value of Nanhui gongs and drums is mainly reflected in the oldest and original form of Shanghai folk art.
Its predecessor was Taibao Shu.
It is said that it originated in the late Han and early Jin Dynasties.
It was originally a kind of sacred witch ritual in Taoist temples.
It sang karma during sacrificial activities or carried out activities to eliminate disasters.
It has a strong religious atmosphere; Later, it also sang folk stories and mythological legends, mainly singing, with only one person playing a drum and a gong, spreading in the suburbs of Shanghai, the Pinghu area of Jiaxing, Zhejiang and the adjacent areas of Jiangsu; In its artistic practice, it has also absorbed the rhetoric of Shanghai Pinghua, the performance form of cymbal Zishu, the music used to announce the scrolls, and the fighting scenes of folk martial arts, becoming a unique form of folk literature and art.
Qingpu Tianshan Song is a folk song scenery in the rice farming culture era.
It originated from the impromptu singing activities of farmers while working in the rice fields.
It began to flourish during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty.
The singing form is unique and the tone is high and loud, which can not only express sorrow, but also relieve fatigue.
It has been passed down from generation to generation and has spread widely; in the 1950s, the performance of Tian Ge in Beijing was praised by the music industry and reported in newspapers and radio stations.
Gu embroidery techniques originated from the Northern Song Dynasty and were associated with traditional China calligraphy and painting art.
They have transcended the limitation of embroidery as mere ornaments and sublimated to the realm of elegant art.
They were developed and created by the family group of Gu Mingshi, a Shanghai celebrity in the Ming Dynasty, and passed down on the outstanding achievements of individual female families.
They can be regarded as a unique feature in the history of Shanghai folk culture; The silk thread, satin and other materials were the product of Shanghai's prosperous commercial economy and developed textile technology in the Ming Dynasty.
The background of its achievement was closely related to the urbanization process after Shanghai was opened to the port.
Although Gu embroidery was a valuable palace collection, the creative group and creative place have always existed among the people.
Gu embroidery has also been passed down to this day as a China folk embroidery.
It even has the same cultural strength as China Confucian culture, martial arts culture and medical culture, and can transcend national boundaries and influence world civilization.
Therefore, the experts participating in the review unanimously agreed that they are the pilot protection projects with the most Shanghai characteristics.
The so-called greatest cause of endangerment refers to the greatest threat to survival: Endangering and protection are the relationship between cause and effect, Endangering is the status quo of things, and protection is the act of eliminating threats; those who do not pose a threat need not be protected, and those who pose a light threat can be postponed.
Those who pose a serious threat need to be protected.
All three projects are among the key protection items, which shows that their threat levels are basically the same.
Internationally, the causes of extinction are defined as: plagues, disasters, armed conflicts, wars and various forms of national unrest; at the same time, it is also recognized that the risk of disappearance is faced by the process of global economic and social change or urbanization, or cultural migration.
Even in the same area, the reasons why different projects are endangered are not entirely true.
So, what are the biggest threats to the three pilot projects? The statements on the reasons for extinction in the protection declarations of Nanhui, Qingpu and Songjiang district governments are listed as follows:
projects
Causes of danger
Nanhui Gong and Drum Book
Political turmoil, aging artists, loss of lyrics, shrinking creation
Qingputian folk songs
The survival carrier of farming disappears, artists age, and is influenced by fashion and art
Songjiang Gu embroidery
War turmoil, factory disintegration, artists aging
Obviously, Nanhui Gong and Drum Books urgently need to resolve the crisis involving creativity; Qingpu Tiange should open up a new stage for performance activities due to the disappearance of the old farming lifestyle; Songjiang Gu Embroidery needs to rely on a new production site.
The so-called urgent need of rescue: Rescue and protection refer to taking measures to ensure the vitality of ethnic and folk cultural heritage, but it is more urgent in terms of meaning.
International measures, whether rescue or protection, include confirmation, documentation, research, preservation, protection, publicity, promotion, inheritance and revitalization.
It can also be seen from the above table that when other endangered causes fade out or disappear,"artist aging" becomes a common threat of endangered products.
Judging from the urgency of rescue, what is urgently needed at present is naturally "aging artists".
Aging is an inevitable natural law of life, but the aging of folk artists poses a particularly serious threat to national and folk cultural heritage.
They condense the history and essence of national and folk culture, and contribute greatly to resource excavation, data preservation, especially the inheritance and continuation of the vitality of national and folk culture.
The "Gong and Drum Shu Performance Art Training Class" opened in Nanhui District relies on veteran artists to lead class demonstrations and teach performance skills.
It has trained a large number of young students who can perform on stage.
In less than a year, the inheritance of Gong and Drum Shu has increased from more than 50 people to more than 200 people.
Dai Mingjiao, the oldest artist in Songjiang Gu Embroidery, is 84 years old.
He began to learn art in the 1920s and taught as a professor in the 1980s.
Today, his disciples have become masters of Gu Embroidery and have trained more than a dozen young "embroiderers", making Gu Embroidery unique skills continue to be popular.
Rescue measures can be divided into long, medium and short term.
Some commentators think that protecting old artists is a short-term act, but the author believes that from a long-term perspective, it is urgent to rescue and protect old artists if there is no fear of running out of firewood.
Focus 3: Breaking through funding obstacles
On February 18, 2005, the Shanghai Branch of Xinhua Agency sent a telegram to the whole country: "Shanghai distributes art subsidies to veteran folk artists," introducing Shanghai's first measure to grant art subsidies to 27 veteran folk artists in three pilot protection projects before the Spring Festival.
The message was not long, but it had a great impact on the ongoing ethnic and folk cultural protection project.
It attracted the attention of media in various places, and it was forwarded and broadcast one after another, forming a hot topic in public opinion.
In the past years, national and folk culture has continued, including the important contributions of old folk artists.
They have been unknown for a long time, endured hardships, and devoted their lives to creating and continuing the vitality of folk art, enriching and inheriting folk skills.
In rescuing the endangered ethnic and folk cultural heritage, the first point is to strengthen the protection of old folk artists and provide a solid guarantee for the promotion and inheritance of ethnic and folk culture.
In 2004, during the census of ethnic and folk cultural resources in Shanghai, we also conducted a survey on the living conditions of old folk artists.
According to statistics, most of the existing old folk artists are old and frail.
Just as the census was being carried out, four veteran gongs, drums and calligraphy artists passed away one after another in Nanhui District.
We were deeply shocked by this and increasingly realized the urgency of taking practical and effective measures to improve their living conditions and activity environment.
Therefore, in accordance with the relevant spirit of the China Ethnic and Folk Culture Protection Project, higher-level leaders decided to allocate part of the limited ethnic and folk culture rescue funds and take the lead in providing annual art subsidies to veteran folk artists in three pilot projects in Nanhui District, Qingpu District and Songjiang District to reflect the government's emphasis on rescue work and its determination to protect folk arts and technology.
The subsidy standards are 1000 yuan for 65 - 70 years old, 1200 yuan for 70-75 years old, and 1500 yuan for 75 years old.
There are 27 veteran artists enjoying the subsidy, totaling more than 30,000 yuan.
We hope that this measure will allow veteran folk artists to truly enjoy the care and encouragement brought to them by the protection project, always maintain their artistic youth, expand career inheritance, and make new contributions to promoting the spiritual blood of the nation!
But afterwards, our hearts were a little heavy, and we deeply felt that insufficient funds were the biggest obstacle to protection.
More than 30,000 yuan is a drop in the bucket, but it is better than nothing.
The financial side once planned to allocate a sum of money for the protection project of ethnic and folk culture, but it was troublesome and exciting.
Fortunately, the competent department, the Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio and Television, was very determined to squeeze out this expense from its limited funds, and implemented the subsidy measures before the Spring Festival.
At the same time, the Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio and Television also officially issued a document to its district and county cultural, radio and television bureaus, requesting that funds be allocated and artistic subsidies be also provided to relevant veteran folk artists in accordance with the city's subsidy standards.
The Spring Festival in Shanghai in 2005 was filled with a strong atmosphere of ethnic festivals.
The old artists received government subsidies for the first time in their lives.
They were extremely excited and said: "We must try our best to recall the past, sort out all our experience and skills, and pass them on to young people..."
Old folk artists 'response to protection is to make more contributions.
Focus 4: New topics and new issues
The overall strength of protection is not equal to funds, but also includes the need for high professional knowledge and the ability to solve major problems.
Conservation projects are a new historical topic and often encounter some unforeseen problems.
Dealing with and solving these problems is of great practical significance for improving the level of protection.
The contradictions surrounding the protection of the three pilot projects are an example.
The protection of Nanhui Gong and Drum Books has touched on a sensitive issue, that is, the reason for their extinction described above as "political turmoil" was actually caused by the abolition of feudal superstitions in the 1950s and the "Cultural Revolution" in the 1960s because it involved witchcraft activities.
It was banned and almost extinct.
Today, the international academic and theoretical community defines the so-called "witchcraft activities" in human intangible cultural heritage as "knowledge and practice about nature and the universe." Korean witchcraft is listed as a folklore research topic, and Shamanism research in Northeast China and Inner Mongolia has also attracted world attention.
In its review conclusions on the Nanhui Gong and Drum Shu, the Review Committee of the China Ethnic and Folk Culture Protection Project recommended that "the protection of the original form of the Gong and Drum Shu should be included, pay attention to the characteristics of traditional Taibao Shu as religious culture, literature, music, rituals, etc.), and appropriately organize some displays and performances." However, there are still doubts about this among the old artists.
We plan to submit this topic to the academic and theoretical community for discussion, and believe that social consensus will be formed on the scientific track.
Qingpu Tian folk songs have faced controversy in two aspects: one is that they are inseparable in value from Shanghai such as Baoshan Hengsha folk songs and Chongming Island folk songs; the other is that they compete with neighboring areas in Jiangsu and Zhejiang where Tian folk songs are also prevalent.
In fact, as a cultural space, it is not distributed according to the division of administrative regions.
Culture is shared.
Cross-regional projects can be declared jointly or separately.
Moreover, in the 1950s, Qingpu peasant singers entered Beijing to participate in the national folk song competition and won the title.
The Ministry of Culture named it "Qingpu Folk Songs" reflects the authoritative recognition of the national consciousness.
The value contained in the relationship between cultural tradition and cultural history and its degree is unique.
Therefore, it is still approved as a municipal pilot project.
Gu embroidery's experience of breaking off from the ivory tower and falling into a folk embroidery workshop five hundred years ago has revealed the common commodity characteristics of folk craft projects.
The protection of them must pay more attention to the combination of protection and benefits, and a win-win situation for enterprises and society.However, some enterprises in the current society that are involved in protection work often regard the cultural heritage that is the common spiritual wealth of society as the enterprise's "brand" and apply to the industry and commerce for "brand" registration.
This means that any public welfare related to the name of the "brand" in the future.
Cultural activities will constitute infringement to enterprises.
Commodities can be bought out, but culture cannot be monopolized.
Reflecting on this situation, it is not difficult to judge that the crux of the problem lies in the fact that the current mechanism of "social participation" is not mature yet and there is a lack of regulations on rights and obligations, which makes it difficult to restrict some behaviors called protection actually commercial hype.
With the success of the pilot project protection and its expanding social impact, more groups, organizations, enterprises or individuals will surely be enthusiastic about participating.
This is indeed a good thing to strengthen the protection power.
However, judging from the medium-and long-term situation of protection work, I am afraid that the introduction of relevant laws, regulations, policies and systems at the same time can no longer be delayed.
Focus 5: Suggestions
As a historic project, the protection of ethnic and folk culture is progressing rapidly, with accompanying mechanism innovations emerging one after another, and the potential for development is incalculable; new problems, new ideas, and new countermeasures are inevitable phenomena, and it is impossible to predict the future by god.
The practice of protection in pilot projects has brought many inspirations and should attract people's attention.
Revelation 1: Government leadership is the key.
The successful implementation of art subsidies to veteran folk artists shows the key role of the government in formulating plans, organizing forces, implementing funds, and strengthening management.
The role of other groups, organizations or individuals cannot be compared with the government.
Some major issues should be effectively coordinated by the government to truly benefit protection.
Revelation 2: Establish an authoritative evaluation agency.
Issues involving specialized knowledge such as project confirmation, or in order to avoid protective damage, only declaration but not protection, etc., evaluation, review, supervision and inspection should be carried out in accordance with standardized procedures; members can be recognized by government documents and given authority.
Revelation 3: Accelerate the process of legislative protection.
Realizing the legalization of protection has become a global trend.
In particular, it is necessary to strengthen knowledge protection and properly handle new problems arising from social participation.
With legal basis, a fair, fair and harmonious protection atmosphere can be created.
Revelation 4: Hold displays, performances, academic seminars and external exchanges and inspections of the city's protection achievements to improve the overall level of Shanghai's protection work.
These thoughts at least convey the following message: Shanghai will increase the process of protecting ethnic and folk culture, implement various protection measures in a more pragmatic manner, form a protection mechanism that suits its own needs, and ensure that Shanghai's ethnic and folk culture protection project achieves greater progress.
Note: This article has been included in an exchange article by the Suzhou Forum on the Protection of Intangible Cultural Heritage in China
Source: Shanghai Intangible Cultural Heritage Network)