[Zhang Limin] Self-consistent evolution: An analysis of the inevitability of the rational commercialization of "intangible cultural heritage"--Taking traditional handicrafts as an example
[Abstract]: The origin of some intangible cultural heritage has commodity attributes, and its development is also inseparable from social economy.
Respect and face up to the commercial attributes and modern cultural creative potential of such intangible cultural heritage, break the thinking model of "cross-section" protection, allow and promote its self-consistent transformation to adapt to modern aesthetic needs and life needs, and pass intangible cultural heritage Only through rational commercialization can productive protection and the inheritance and revitalization of "intangible cultural heritage" be achieved.
[Keywords]: traditional handicrafts; intangible cultural heritage; self-consistent evolution; rational commercialization
Folk traditional culture and other cultures enter the same social stage, and competition and collision, exchange and integration are inevitable.
If any culture wants to survive naturally on this stage, it must have existence value and survival ability.
This is the "law of survival of the fittest" in the cultural world.
The rational combination of excellent traditional folk culture represented by "intangible cultural heritage" and modern commerce (cultural industry, social service industry, etc.) to realize the contemporary value of traditional culture is an inevitable choice for its current and future survival and development.
Mr.
Wu Bingan pointed out in his book "Principles of Folklore":"In the intersection, mutual infiltration, conflict and grafting of traditional folk culture circles and modern industrial culture circles, we must deeply explore the carrier groups of folk inheritance and their representative Folklore descendants have important cultural historical significance and application value in creating new folk culture in the future." Census, recording, archiving and academic research are necessary processes to protect "intangible cultural heritage", but they are not the ultimate goals.
"Protection is not about enclosing it in a past historical time and space.
Protection is not about historical research in a study, nor is it about providing certain exhibits to museums." The Convention for the Protection of Intangible Cultural Heritage formulated by UNESCO clearly states in the "Definition" article: "'Protection 'refers to the adoption of measures to ensure the vitality of intangible cultural heritage, including the recognition and establishment of all aspects of such heritage, research, preservation, protection, publicity, promotion, inheritance (mainly through formal and informal education) and revitalization." Protecting "intangible cultural heritage" is to ensure its vitality and enable it to be promoted, inherited and revitalized.
This will be a key task in the "post-intangible cultural heritage" era.
The author believes that only by analyzing the commercial factors of the ontology of intangible cultural heritage and respecting its inherent needs for self-consistent evolution and the external needs of today's society can it be possible to face up to and promote its reasonable commercialization.
This is an important perspective on the productive protection of "intangible cultural heritage" and contemporary revitalization issues.
1.
The protection of "intangible cultural heritage" of traditional handicrafts and the thinking process of academic circles
Practice has proved that, on the one hand, it is difficult to revitalize "intangible cultural heritage" by relying solely on government subsidies and exhibitions and sales.
On the other hand,"intangible cultural heritage" projects that rationally use the market and rationally carry out self-consistent development have made great progress in terms of the size of the inheritors., technical level, economic benefits, social impact and other aspects.
The traditional handicraft culture represented by the art of "clay figurine Zhang" is a typical example.
As a cultural heritage of mankind, Japanese scholars such as Liu Zongyue and Yano Yematsu began to study traditional handicrafts from the perspective of aesthetics, cultural function and social function in the mid-20th century.
Mr.
Liu Zongyue's works such as "The Way of Crafts","Forty Years of Folk Arts","Japanese Handicrafts" and "Craft Culture", as well as Mr.
Yano Yonematsu's "Keeping Crafts", based on Japanese craftsmen (craftsmen), through long-term field follow-up interviews, in a compassionate atmosphere, enumerates the "completely incredible beauty" of traditional handicrafts, calling for the rescue of traditional handicrafts.
Before the "Intangible Cultural Heritage" protection project was officially launched, Chinese scholars had noticed the crisis of traditional handicrafts.
At first, the research on folk handicraft mainly focused on the field of folk art, such as Shan Yinggui, Zhang Daoyi, Li Xinhua and other scholars 'research on woodblock New Year painting.
In 1995,"Art Research" published Liu Shuqi's article "A Talk about the Present and Past of the Painted Sculpture of" Clay Figurine Zhang ", which also discussed it from the perspective of art.
The 1996 academic seminar on "Traditional Arts and Crafts in Contemporary Social Change" was a summary of the traditional folk arts and crafts at that time.
At the meeting, the proposal of "Protecting Traditional Crafts and Developing Handicraft Culture" was discussed and approved, proposing the ideal state of my country's handicraft industry: part continues to provide general daily necessities to the masses in traditional ways as a supplement to industrial production; part is preserved and displayed as a legacy of history and culture; part is transformed into aesthetically oriented art; part is transformed into products with a sense of warmth from traditional culture.
This proposal fully affirms the practical value, cultural aesthetic value and commercial value carried by handicrafts.
In 2000, Professor Zhang Shishan's book "Art Folklore" took rural art as the axis and established an academic paradigm that cut into village life scenes and rural art from the dual perspectives of folklore and art, marking the establishment of folk art research in this discipline.
More than ten years after the implementation of the "Intangible Cultural Heritage" protection project, most of the academic research on the "Intangible Cultural Heritage" project has been conducted within the scope of cultural ontology, seriously criticized the problems of cultural destruction that have emerged, and constantly called on the government and Businesses to stop the over-development and utilization of traditional culture, but few specific and implementable protection plans have been proposed, resulting in a helpless situation where one side is crying out and the other is destroying it.
"When we talk about 'cultural heritage', we seem to regard it as an object that is frozen in time and space.
Moreover, when it comes to 'protection', in our hearts, we often want it to remain this way.
From a theoretical perspective, there is a question of the pursuit of authenticity here." From static protection to original ecological protection, from living protection to productive protection, from scholars 'appeals to legal construction, from folklore to multidisciplinary contention...
As for how "intangible cultural heritage" can be passed down and developed in today's society, the academic community The discussion never stops.
The government's "intangible cultural heritage" protection measures mainly focus on the number of representative inheritors and application project levels.
Various "intangible cultural heritage" exhibitions and public and private "intangible cultural heritage" museums have appeared in large numbers.
The political achievements are quite heavy and the development and protection of cultural noumenon flow.
There is no follow-up strategy; The commercial benefits brought by "intangible cultural heritage" have triggered the business community to re-understand and re-explore traditional crafts, time-honored brands, folklore, etc.
Enterprises have taken the initiative to apply for "intangible cultural heritage" projects and have even repeatedly sued them in court, which is more extensive, in-depth and intense than the development of time-honored brands in the early days of reform and opening up.
However, it has been widely criticized by the academic community for the destructive consequences caused by the blind, excessive "commercialization" and "industrialization" development of "intangible cultural heritage" projects.
This was inevitable in the historical stage and social and economic environment at that time, and there were no very successful cases in the academic community to follow.
Saving, sorting out and recording endangered "intangible cultural heritage" phenomena as much as possible, slowing down and stopping cultural sabotage activities as much as possible, and arousing national cultural awareness were the urgent work goals and cultural responsibilities at that time.
In 2004, Professor Qiao Xiaoguang's book "Living Culture" took my country's accession to the World Cultural Heritage Convention and the Representative List of Oral and Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity as the context, and analyzed China's "Intangible Cultural Heritage" with a large number of practical cases.
The protection and destruction status of "intangible cultural heritage" and initially discussed the ideas for the protection of living culture.
From the field of traditional handicrafts, excellent intangible cultural heritage such as traditional woodblock New Year paintings and "clay figurines", which have been valued by the government since liberation, has once again been valued and protected in the "intangible cultural heritage" protection project.
Mr.
Feng Jicai initiated and implemented the woodblock New Year paintings census and protection project as a typical example.
The research results on traditional New Year paintings, paper horses and other folk handicrafts have emerged one after another, which can be said to be numerous and numerous.
It can be said that the state-led "intangible cultural heritage" census and protection project has saved a number of endangered folk handicrafts across the country from the brink of extinction in more than ten years, attracting attention from all walks of life to folk traditional culture.
It has laid the necessary academic accumulation for the development, inheritance and revitalization of the "post-intangible cultural heritage" era, and created a social atmosphere and cultural context.
Although there are flaws and problems during this period, its great achievements must be recognized.
In recent years, the understanding of "intangible cultural heritage" protection has become more rational, and many discussions have been held around how to "live inheritance".
Shi Aidong bluntly stated in his article "Academics and Life: Collaborators Who Separated":"It is the irrational and 'uncultured' new legends produced by local elites that have brought direct benefits to the local economy and are quickly accepted by the local people.
Academic achievements can always only be part of the truth in a specific profession.
If they are used to guide life, they will surely pay attention to one thing and lose sight of the other.
Life is only the object of academic observation and description, not criticism." It reflects on the subject positioning of academia, clarifies the subjective and objective relationship between academic research and "intangible cultural heritage", and emphasizes the "life" nature of the living inheritance of "intangible cultural heritage".
In 2009, Professor Qi Qingfu proposed that "the survival of" living inheritance "is the basic criterion for measuring the rationality of intangible cultural heritage protection methods", and Zhang Zhiyong wrote "Many experts and scholars appeal-Intangible cultural heritage should focus on productive protection", The ultimate goal of "intangible cultural heritage" protection points to people's consumption (material cultural consumption and spiritual cultural consumption).
Professor Huang Yonglin pointed out in his article "Research on the Protection Model of Intangible Cultural Heritage Inheritors" that we should "actively carry out productive development on the basis of increasing rescue protection and deepening living inheritance...
It is also necessary to make good use of the cultural brands of the inheritors." Mr.
Liu Xicheng also discussed the industrialization of "intangible cultural heritage".
In 2013,"Folklore Research" published several papers to discuss and reflect on the protection of "intangible cultural heritage".
Associate Researcher Liu Zheng 'ai,"Whose culture, whose identity? -- Cognitive Dilemma and Rational Return in the Movement for the Protection of Intangible Cultural Heritage "questions the dual" intangible cultural heritage "protection model of cultural essentialism and advocates objectification and rational thinking on it.
Researcher Liu Delong dialectically discussed the protection of tradition and development and innovation, product production and art production, traditional crafts and modern crafts, and the popularization of products in "Persistence and Variation-Several Relations in the Productive Protection of Intangible Cultural Heritage".
The issue of popularization and niche of products pointed out that the fundamental purpose of productive protection is to promote the integration of "intangible cultural heritage" and modern life, which is essentially different from the so-called "cultural industrialization" and believes that "the commercialization of intangible cultural heritage cannot be completely avoided, Industrialization, but we must not completely replace manual labor with machine production..."" Intangible cultural heritage "must continue to innovate itself while ensuring the authenticity and integrity of the tradition.
Zhu Yiqing took the "intangible cultural heritage" of handicrafts as an example and proposed the idea that such cultural heritage should return to people's daily life, maintain its core skills and core values in production, and carry out development and innovation at the same time.
2.
Analysis of commercial factors and potential of traditional handicrafts
In the era of comprehensive informatization transformation brought about by the scientific and technological revolution, the original practical value of many traditional handicrafts and their products no longer exists.
"The changes of society are bound to make some things disappear and others appear.
This is the inertia of historical development.""No matter how well protected old crafts are, they cannot change the fact that no one uses them or the demand is becoming increasingly scarce." Handicraft production has lost its dominant position in today's economic society, and people's lives and consumption have undergone tremendous changes.
Traditional craftsmen have lost their original economic security and community respect and have to give up the crafts they rely on for a living.
Under such circumstances, why do you think that traditional handicrafts can still realize their value in today's people's lives? Only by solving this problem can we have room to discuss how to innovate and develop.
(1) Traditional handicrafts have inherent commercial factors
"Handicraft" contains two conceptual factors, namely "handicraft" and "art".
"Handwork" refers to the production process, production tools and products that are the result of purposeful actions and behavioral behaviors carried out by workers 'hands under the control of the brain;"Art" refers to special techniques and skills on the one hand, and on the other hand It refers to the aesthetic ability of cultural holders, and its finished products have certain aesthetic value.
When "handmade" products incorporate the factors of "art", they become "handicrafts", and the practice of "art" itself is also the process and result of human physical labor.
Mature handmade products must have practical purposes-toys for children, clay sculptures for sacrifices, prints for praying, and costumes for wearing.
In a broad sense, the manual production carried out by humans for the purpose of use objectively incorporates a certain aesthetic concept, resulting in handicraft products with aesthetic value; the necessary element to measure the quality of handicraft products is the production of handicrafts.
Practical value and aesthetic value.
In a certain period of handicraft evolution, the development speed of practical demand lags behind the development of aesthetic demand relatively, that is, after the practical function is basically perfect, it will enter a stable period, and the aesthetic demand based on practicality will continue to develop until the higher practical demand gives birth to a new technological revolution.
Before the industrial age, it was all about crafts.
It can be said that the objects created by human beings at that time with formal beauty, from large buildings to small bags, are all "handmade products" in a broad sense, or "craft products".
The "craft products" of early human beings have been prepared for the commercial behavior of barter and equivalent exchange in both "practical" and "aesthetic" aspects.
"Whether it is 'intangible cultural heritage' items consumed by the masses, such as New Year paintings, paper-cuts, kites, toys, weaving, silk flowers, etc., or high-end products consumed by the rich, collectors or aristocrats, such as lacquer carving, brocade, jade carving, wood carving, etc., all realize their value through the market." Tools or items that are easier to use and more beautiful condense more skilled manual labor, often get more exchange opportunities, and practitioners can also earn higher profits.
With the development of productivity and economy, some handicrafts have developed in a direction that emphasizes practicality rather than aesthetics, while some handicrafts have focused on aesthetics and developed into works of art, with relatively lack of practical value.
The practicality, craftsmanship and aesthetics of handicraft products are essential (innate) attributes, and their commercial value is social (acquired) attributes.
Handicraft products that do not have inherent attributes have relatively low commercial value.
Either craftsmen improve their skills or are eliminated by the market.
Taking block printing as an example, after the middle of the Tang Dynasty, people began to use block technology to publish daily books, such as almanacs, medical books, agricultural books, etc.
Some newly printed books by Jianyang Bookstore in Fujian, such as "Shi Wen Lei Ju", attracted "people from Sichuan who came to buy them in thousands at a time." When block printing enters the publication of literary and artistic illustrations and folk books, the market plays a huge role in promoting the aesthetic creation capabilities of block printing technology.
By the Northern Song Dynasty, the feudal economy achieved great development, which promoted the rapid improvement of various handicraft technologies.
Fine woodblock printing technology was widely used in newspapers, advertising, etc., making it increasingly refined and beautiful.
"(Creation) What kind of work is like and what kind of audience it will have are market considerations.
If I do what I like, the audience may not like it very much and the market may not like it very much." Mr.
Zhang Chang, the successor of "Clay Figurine Zhang", once said:
Zhang Mingshan, the first generation of "clay figurine", has loved clay sculpture since he was a child.
He has been learning clay sculpture skills from his father since he was a child when he was 6 years old...
He wanted to do something new, so he did something after his father left.
His father came back and found that it was different, so he was very angry.
Because it was a favorite theme and shaping at that time, and it was the main production to support a family.
According to now, it has been market-tested and popular with employers.
Now that you change it, can others still buy it? His father was very helpless and could only take these and sell them in the market.Zhang Mingshan was afraid that the clay sculptures he made would not be able to sell and would likely be beaten, so he would crawl into bed earlier than usual.
Unexpectedly, his father would come back earlier than usual that day, singing a tune and carrying some snacks, and told Zhang Mingshan's mother that today everyone thought that the new thing he (Zhang Mingshan) had made was "stupid" and said,"Look how cute this little monkey is!" His works are popular in the market and some people still need to order them again.
It can be seen that handicraft products that were not recognized by the market would also lose their living space in that era, while products that were recognized by the market would form their own influence and form brands.
This truth also applies to our current economic society.
This is the realization of the social significance of the product itself when the commercial value composed of practical factors and aesthetic factors generated by handicrafts interacts with the commodity society and participates in economic life.
It is also the expression of the social and cultural value generated by craftsmen.
It is precisely because of the existence of commercial factors that it provides the possibility of self-consistent docking for the contemporary survival of traditional handicrafts.
(2) Commercial space where traditional culture exists in today's people's lives
After the reform and opening up, when we experienced the convenience of industrial products, we also discovered their emotional coldness, environmental pollution, spiritual poverty and aesthetic monotony."People don't feel friendly to objects" and we also missed using natural objects to make them by hand.
Warm, environmentally friendly, diverse and durable practical articles for life,"as good companions in life, these objects evoke people's sense of intimacy and attachment." This process has already implied that traditional handicrafts have the significance, value and possibility to continue to exist in contemporary society.
The artificial value of traditional handicrafts, the aesthetic inertia of the people and the commercial attributes of handicrafts can still be found in current and future societies.
Space for living inheritance.
The reason why this process occurs is that the traditional beliefs and folk aesthetics in daily life have not undergone subversive changes in the field of consciousness in the people in the period of social transformation.
Professor Lu Pintian believes that there are three "constant themes" in folk art, which obviously maintain a corresponding relationship with the three basic conditions necessary for human survival and development and the natural requirements for the existence of life: first, pray for children to extend their lives; second, solicit blessings and wealth; and third, exorcise evil and eliminate disasters.
Such spiritual needs have laid the cultural foundation for the modern inheritance of "intangible cultural heritage".
"Living inheritance" is not limited to the existence of life and successors of cultural inheritors, but refers to the life state of cultural noumenon.
It is the achievement of civilization in the agricultural era that can find living space, have viability, and survive in the industrial era.
Some "intangible cultural heritage" objects did not originally have significant commercial value in agricultural social life.
However, with the changes of social culture, their practical functions have gradually weakened.
On the contrary, they have highlighted their aesthetic value in today's society, and at the same time they have been absorbed and developed by cultural and creative industries.
"Intangible cultural heritage" phenomena with commercial potential can be self-consistent and developed according to social needs through productive protection, based on their own core skills and cultural values, seek economic benefits, achieve living inheritance, and even Revitalization.
3.
Analysis of the inevitability of rational commercialization of "intangible cultural heritage" revitalization
The early "intangible cultural heritage" living protection and productive protection were difficult to resolve the contradiction between economic interests and traditional inheritance, because although we recognized the value of traditional handicrafts, we also recognized their practical value.(including the use of spiritual beliefs); recognized the existence of traditional aesthetics, but it is difficult to integrate with the overall aesthetic structure of today's society (mainly occurring among the people themselves and government officials); recognized the commercial value of traditional handicrafts, but denied its desire and ability to adapt to the modern market.
Cutting out the intangible culture that was originally an integral part of life, evaluating and presenting it, this thinking model that focuses on historical and cultural cross-sections also exists in the protection of other "intangible cultural heritage" projects, making traditional cultural research and The current social and economic separation has led to the abandonment of academic research and new cultural creation.
What living protection needs to do is to enable intangible cultural heritage to produce economic benefits in today and future society, from the government's "blood transfusion" to helping inheritors "produce blood".
It can not only support more inheritors (not just Representative inheritors), but also live with dignity.
(1) The basic completion of the national rescue model for "intangible cultural heritage" protection, and objective development requires the intervention of the market economy
At the beginning of the 21st century, my government launched an intangible cultural heritage protection project, with the main purpose of rescuing endangered "intangible cultural heritage" and using census, declaration, collation and research as the main means.
At the national level, its main operation methods include: formulating relevant laws and regulations for the protection of intangible cultural heritage, and establishing and improving a complete intangible cultural heritage system based on these laws and regulations, so as to ensure that the protection of intangible cultural heritage has laws to follow., if there are laws, they must be followed; mobilizing and funding cultural organizations or departments to conduct census, declaration and protection of intangible cultural heritage; Organize experts and scholars to conduct project-based and thematic systematic research on "intangible cultural heritage" and encourage researchers to conduct independent, multidisciplinary and multi-angle academic research; the government provides basic education for the inheritance of intangible cultural heritage through the education system.
Art, humanities education and professional cultural vocational training.
At this stage, the "intangible cultural heritage" protection work and academic research under the national rescue model pay more attention to the historical appearance and survival status of cultural heritage.
When the "intangible cultural heritage" census and declaration work faces the complex culture left over from the farming era and encounters huge pressure on project screening, relevant experts must classify the project and set up a hierarchical declaration system.
The evaluation of representative inheritors is to a large extent based on their inheritance of "tradition".
This working process is necessary and inevitable.
At the same time,"intangible cultural heritage" museums and exhibitions at all levels sponsored by government departments appeared, creating a climax of "intangible cultural heritage" protection and making all sectors of society realize the value of traditional culture, but they did not build an effective life cycle system for it.
"Due to the excessive emphasis on the deliberate operability of culture, it has resulted in the current situation that is incompatible with the culturalism and traditionalism of local society." Because a lot of our work focuses on emphasizing the value of the "intangible cultural heritage" tradition, requiring inheritors to inherit the tradition and maintain the so-called "original ecology", and using this as a measure of whether they are "qualified","authentic", and "valuable".
We use the recording and display of cultural "cross-sections" to complete academic and administrative tasks, and disagree with the evolution of intangible cultural heritage in accordance with the times and the market, so we do not help "intangible cultural heritage" find a way to revitalize.
On the contrary, it artificially prevents some "intangible cultural heritage" from gaining their own development through the national context.
"Intangible cultural heritage" is "non-competitive and non-exclusive on a macro level, and presents the basic characteristics of pure public goods.
However, when it comes to a certain intangible cultural heritage, it is partially competitive and exclusive...
Correspondingly, the protection of intangible cultural heritage should also follow the objective laws of the supply of public goods and quasi-public goods...
It has the nature of both public goods and private goods, and can be provided in a public way or in a mixed way." The national rescue model is not only the basic model for protecting "intangible cultural heritage", but also the top-level structure and national context of "intangible cultural heritage" protection projects.
To inherit and revitalize the historical task of "intangible cultural heritage", it is not enough to rely solely on the national protection model.
Releasing tigers back into the mountains, throwing fish into the water, and returning to people's lives requires the market economy to play a decisive role.
(2) The economic and cultural development of modern society objectively requires the continuation and revitalization of "intangible cultural heritage"
Ancient literati in China had a tradition of advocating handicrafts."The ancients still used utensils and did not hesitate to spend anything.
Therefore, the production is extremely well-prepared, not as simple as that of future generations...
They all take pleasure in being excellent, and bandits are just engraved with gold and stone." From the perspective of national life, with the advent of the post-industrial era, high-pollution and energy-consuming lifestyles have aroused modern people's reflection, while environmentally friendly and recyclable traditional handicrafts have begun to enter the lives of some urban elites.
Using the "local groceries" of the past and living in courtyards and seaweed houses has become a noble and tasteful lifestyle.
Two intrinsic factors of the "intangible cultural heritage" of handicrafts are suitable for modern market operations: one is manual production, and the other is that it can adapt to the aesthetic needs of modern life and demonstrate personalization.
"The 'handmade production' advocated by the modern West directly means 'high-quality products'and should have the meaning of trusting the hands of mankind." In such a market space, there are segments of collectible-level, high-end, and ordinary cultural consumer goods.
In economic operation, there is a rule that "rare things are more expensive".
Smart inheritors are very sensitive to market reactions.
Under the guidance of high profit returns, when they recognize cultural value and artificial value, they will naturally not easily give up traditional core skills and cultural spirit.
At the same time, they will pay more active attention to market demand.
Improve their works based on the market, adapt to modern aesthetic changes, and actively explore and introduce modern commercial marketing methods.
In addition to niche collectible-level handicrafts, high-end and ordinary consumer goods point to the public's living space.
In the context of promoting and protecting traditional folk culture, the people's cultural consciousness, national cultural self-esteem and self-confidence have been awakened again, and the cultural consumption market of "intangible cultural heritage" has also been promoted accordingly.
Not only in the tourism market and time-honored commercial fields, but from the perspective of my country's modern art design and cultural industry, the industry has also begun to actively absorb traditional cultural factors.
From drawing on characters and storylines in the early stage, to later adopting traditional artistic styles and spiritual connotations, to now regaining traditional handicrafts and creating modern art, or integrating folk art elements into modern city architectural exterior, interior design, clothing, tableware, tea sets, etc.
Both have gained rich experience.
When our oral epics and stories are displayed in movies and animations, when folk New Year paintings, paper-cuts, and batiks become handicrafts with national cultural characteristics...
modern social needs deconstruct traditional culture, but it cannot be said that this is a modern form of traditional culture.
Communication model.
From the perspective of self-consistent evolution of culture, this is a living and developing phenomenon, and should not be stopped from the perspective of adhering to tradition and taking tradition as the "true" culture.
From the perspective of cultural globalization, representative works of intangible cultural heritage are symbols of national and national identity and soft power to participate in international economic and cultural competition.
In February 2012, the General Office of the CPC Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council issued the "Outline of the National Cultural Reform and Development Plan for the Twelfth Five-Year Plan": establishing a national cultural development fund to implement tax incentives for the operation of cultural content creative industries and intangible cultural heritage projects.
In November 2013, the Cultural Industry Committee of China Folk Society was officially established.
It can be seen that the economic and cultural development of modern society objectively requires the continuation and revitalization of "intangible cultural heritage".
(3)"Intangible cultural heritage" has the ability to evolve self-consistently to adapt to the market and inherent needs
From a historical perspective, the traditional handicrafts that have survived to this day have their own evolutionary experience of adapting to the market and society.
Those handicrafts that cannot adapt to social changes and lose market value have been or are being eliminated by history.
No craft is immutable.
In addition to changes in skills, tools, and materials, there are also changes in aesthetics, changes in market demand, changes in folk beliefs, etc., which will contribute to the final changes in handicrafts.
Self-consistent evolution is an inevitable requirement for the existence and development of handicrafts.
Zhang Hongyue believes that:
This is the basic quality that a successor should possess.
Each generation of "clay figurines Zhang" has its own characteristics.
They all achieve their own development on the basis of inheriting and negating their predecessors, and improve where their predecessors are imperfect.
It is in this process of negating that they continue to form their own artistic characteristics and artistic style.
Mr.
Zhang Chang and his descendants adhere to the path of "seeking development through change".
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the party and government implemented policies to protect, support, and develop ethnic and folk culture.
Mr.
Zhang Chang was transferred to work in a Beijing university and established the "Clay Figurine Zhang" studio.
The workshop business model of "Suguzhai" was changed and the family tradition was adopted.
Measures to simultaneously recruit apprentices and run schools were adopted.
Mr.
Zhang himself has extensively absorbed the nutrition of my country's local traditional sculptures, Western classical sculptures and modern art, and especially praised the works and concepts of international sculptor Moore.
In 1992, Mr.
Zhang created "Afu" for the "China Year of Friendship Tourism." The work is based on my country's folk themes, is re-decorated and designed, adds auspicious elements such as lotus, silver carp, bats, and longevity peaches, and uses the regional symbol pattern of the Great Wall, making the work both auspicious and national symbolism., has a modern artistic language and art form, and has been unanimously recognized by the government and the public.
He concluded:
The reason why "clay figurine Zhang" has developed and influenced now is because "clay figurine Zhang" can integrate into and reflect the times, which is very critical.
The first generation of Zhang Mingshan reflected more of the four great classics of China, folk stories, and especially portraits; then the second generation extended to reflect 360 lines and more folk themes; the third generation of Zhang Jing not only worked on traditional themes, but also had works that reflected the social reality of the time.
He wrote many works on resisting U.S.
aggression and aiding Korea, such as "Iron Guards" and "The Surrender of the United States".
Later, when he was communized, there was "Ode to the East Wind"...
On the one hand, it must be suitable for society, and on the other hand, it must also have its own aesthetic pursuits, so only through changes can it better integrate into the times it lives in and become more colorful.
It can be seen that strong self-consistency is one of the factors that enable intangible cultural heritage to survive to this day.
Needless to say, the carrying and inheritance of "intangible cultural heritage" by folk craftsmen does not take "cultural protection" as their subjective and fundamental purpose.
Endangered folk culture was originally part of people's economic life, and craftsmen were also ordinary working people."These simple craftsmen are by no means saints and gentlemen, let alone national treasures on earth.
They are the most ordinary people who work hard every day to support their families." The occurrence of self-consistent evolution mainly lies in the instinctive pursuit of economic benefits by craftsmen.
When handicrafts and industrial products collide in the market, handicrafts with higher labor costs will be defeated by cheap industrial products within a certain period of time.
Traditional craftsmen cannot obtain the economic benefits of maintaining their own survival and development and their families, and can only give up traditional production skills.
At the national level, it is the disintegration of the small-scale peasant economy under the trend of global economic integration, which in turn leads to the decline and disintegration of agricultural civilization under the impact of industrial civilization.
A large number of traditional economic practitioners have given up their original means of making a living and moved to the modern market economy.
Ethnic culture and folk customs affairs have either undergone drastic changes or even disappeared under the influence of different cultures, or have been commercialized or market-oriented, resulting in a large amount of traditional culture being passed down.
Economic interests are the inherent need for the inheritance and revitalization of "intangible cultural heritage", the necessary economic foundation for cultural development, and the fundamental issue that the traditional cultural crisis must inevitably face during the social transformation period.
Social resources (including human resources and financial capital) always flow naturally to profitable fields, especially in the absence of cultural awareness among the whole people.
This law is so strong that it cannot be resisted for a long time by scholars 'appeals.
If the inheritors of "intangible cultural heritage" can learn new marketing methods in the actual combat of modern commercial operations to make money and form a brand, supplemented by protection policies and public opinion guidance to improve their social status, thereby attracting more people to enter The field of traditional cultural practice, then cultural inheritance will naturally no longer be endangered, and living protection and inheritance will eventually be realized.Mr.
Zhang Chang said from his personal experience:
"Clay Figurine Zhang" has many descendants, which is why it became popular.
After gaining popularity, it developed its own works, forming a genre and its own artistic style, which was widely spread in society.
Coupled with the social influence and social effects of "Clay Figurine Zhang" itself, the descendants of "Clay Figurine Zhang" participated in the market economy.
Some people have done well in such a big environment.
It is precisely because of this that "Clay Figurine Zhang" has had an influence and development.
The Beijing City Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Center organized folk craftsmen to hold an advanced seminar on market operations.
In this class, they talked about brand operation, modern management concepts, management methods and methods, target markets and product research and development, etc.
Zhang Hongyue commented:
I think this is a good thing.
Class is to instill this concept in you.
You have to combine your own situation and practice it in the market.
It may not be obvious yet how much practical it will be.
I think that as time goes on, this conceptual change of the inheritors will have a good operation for the market.
As a social and cultural existence, living cultural heritage has no natural and correct authority to simply judge its spiritual value based on authenticity and authenticity.
Otherwise, it is a non-historical subjective assumption.
Such so-called "judgment standards" are likely to distort the historical appearance of cultural ontology and belittle its value due to factors such as changes in the judge's knowledge system, subjective judgment, and timeliness of context.
"When we realize that there are so many complex factors competing behind the determination of a natural and correct judgment standard, should we lament the disappearance of a certain static form of culture and the 'authentic' appearance, or should we be more vigilant about whether this 'true/false' judgment standard is conducive to the independent development of culture and the growth of cultural diversity?" In the context of social transformation,"intangible cultural heritage" matters are required to adhere to tradition and believe that maintaining tradition means implementing protection.
This cross-section protection idea is anti-historical.
Maintaining tradition is not the ultimate goal of protection.
Only when intangible cultural heritage can be passed down, developed and even revitalized today and in the future can the protection of "intangible cultural heritage" be considered successful.
Therefore, as cultural protectors, we should never undergo self-consistent changes due to "adapting to the market" to question the inheritors of "intangible cultural heritage" or even require them to adhere to tradition from a "scholar" perspective and "academic" requirements.
As government departments at all levels, we should actively organize and cultivate the market enthusiasm of "intangible cultural heritage" inheritors, provide preferential policies for their market-oriented behaviors, and support their growth and growth.
4.
Rational commercialization: the inevitable result of the self-consistent evolution of "intangible cultural heritage"
The main body of "intangible cultural heritage" inheritance is the inheritors.
This group is the real carrier of culture.
They must have economic needs and dignity needs for their own development.
Only by realizing and meeting the economic needs and social dignity needs of the inheritor group, providing an economic foundation for the development of culture, creating a cultural atmosphere, expanding market space, and allowing "intangible cultural heritage" inheritors to carry out self-consistent development based on tradition and combined with contemporary times can it be possible to realize the modern transformation and sustainable development of traditional culture.
Therefore, the joint participation of inheritors, governments, scholars, cultural enterprises, and people (consumers) is the source of synergy for the self-consistent evolution of "intangible cultural heritage".
The result of the joint efforts will be that the rational commercialization of "intangible cultural heritage" will bring cultural revitalization.
The so-called "rational commercialization" means taking the inheritance and revitalization of "intangible cultural heritage" as the overall goal, taking the inheritors as the main body of protection and interest, taking government policies as the guarantee and support, and guided by relevant applied research and rationalization suggestions., taking productive protection and living inheritance as the basis for implementation, respecting, encouraging and promoting the self-consistent evolution of "intangible cultural heritage" events with commercial operation potential, and through modern commercial creativity, marketing and other commercial behaviors, Give full play to the decisive role of the market economy, reintegrate into modern people's lives, and form stable cultural consumption habits and consumer groups, thereby improving the economic benefits and inheritance capabilities of inheritors, attracting more people to become inheritors, and achieving the continued prosperity of folk culture.
Yimatsu Shiano "always emphasizes that if a craft wants to find a space for survival, three conditions must be met first.
First, maintain an environment where craftsmen's products can be sold; second, find relatively cheap raw materials; Third, this industry must have an inheritor." [36]From the perspective of actual life, some artistic "intangible cultural heritage" incidents have indeed lost the actual needs of people's lives due to the innovation of modern life, and some have temporarily encountered market difficulties.
For the remaining intangible cultural heritage, scholars should study the necessary factors and external conditions for its living survival in accordance with the relationship between the intrinsic attributes and social attributes of folk culture, change the thinking model of cross-section protection of traditional culture, and promote it.
Continue to develop, affirm the reasonable existence of new folk customs and new cultural forms, fully respect and deeply explore the commercial attributes of folk culture; Cultural enterprises and inheritors should "take the core skills (not just technology) and core values (original cultural connotations) of intangible cultural heritage projects as the premise"[36], and comply with changes in modern aesthetics and market needs, carry out necessary cultural creativity reproduction.
This "cultural creativity" does not advocate the commercialization and industrial expansion of the "intangible cultural heritage" cultural ontology, but is based on economic rules, market needs and cultural benefits.
Use "intangible cultural heritage" as the core and creative theme of cultural spirit to win the market; On the basis of existing work, government policies should further change the protection ideas that favor political achievements and display, strengthen the introduction and implementation of practical and operable measures, strive to improve the social status of inheritors of "intangible cultural heritage", and build a cultural conscious environment, advocate people's self-respect for traditional culture, create conditions for the contemporary transformation and sustainable development of traditional culture, and on the premise of helping "intangible cultural heritage" projects with commercial potential to achieve social and cultural recognition, Encourage and protect their independent business behaviors and reasonable cultural and creative behaviors, give sufficient market development space, and promote their value enhancement.
It is hoped that through the path of rational commercialization, we will truly help the wisdom crystallization of agricultural civilization find its existence value today and even in the future, so that intangible cultural heritage can form a positive development trend in which flowers bloom, each has its own beauty, beauty, and beauty is shared, and get rid of it.
Endangered dilemma.
The article is published in: Folk Studies, No.
2, 2014, pages 66-74.
Please refer to the original text for the quotation.)