KEEPING CULTURAL GENES ALIVE

A two-day forum discusses how to better preserve China’s rich living heritage By Bai Shi

COVER STORY

KEEPING CULTURAL GENES ALIVE

A two-day forum discusses how to better preserve China’s rich living heritage By Bai Shi

China’s contemporary culture and the protection of its diverse cultural heritage have become some of the most talked about issues today.Cultural prosperity was put forward as an important objective of the Central Government’s national development strategy last year. However, the industrialization and commercialization of China’s culture have been both criticized and celebrated. Many scholars believe industrialization and enormous government investment may not be the best means to protect intangible cultural heritage (ICH).

The Ninth Forum on International Cultural Industries was held by Peking University in Beijing between January 7 and 8. Over 400 guests, including scholars, experts, of fi cials and entrepreneurs, discussed the state and future of cultural issues during the two-day meeting. The protection and revival of intangible cultural heritage were also a heated topic of discussion.

Saving endangered heritage

While it is a driving force of cultural diversity, living heritage is very fragile. But it has received international recognition in recent years. Protecting distinct traditions, art and craft forms has become one of the priorities of international cooperation thanks to UNESCO’s leading role in the adoption of the Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage.

China has a continuous civilization of over 5,000 years, and is therefore endowed with a rich cultural heritage. By the end of 2011, UNESCO had inscribed 29 Chinese ICH items on its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, and seven on the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding. China is home to more UNESCO certi fi ed ICH traditions than any other nation in the world.

Despite this recognition, many of China’s folk traditions and cultural rites are on the verge of extinction due to lifestyle changes and technological advances. Still, the country has made enormous efforts to save this fast vanishing heritage.

“During the past five years, China has made a lot of efforts to protect its living heritage,” said Ma Shengde, Deputy Director of the Department of Intangible Cultural Heritage under the Ministry of Culture, in a speech at the forum.

To protect the country’s living heritage,the State Council, China’s cabinet, also released a national list for it. Initiated in 2006, the list now comprises 1,219 items.According to a nationwide survey, there are nearly 870,000 living heritage items in China.The government has also certified 1,488 masters—craftsmen, jewelers, carpenters, and cooks, who have inherited and will pass on distinct traditions.

As of 2011, the special fund for protecting intangible cultural heritage stood at 1.5 billion yuan ($237 million). Crucially, China’s first law protecting intangible cultural heritage was passed by the National People’s Congress on February 25, 2011, and went into effect on June 1, 2011.

“All these measures are echoed strongly and widely in the country,” Ma said.

Avoiding commercialization

In addition to policies and laws, China has also incorporated the notion of “protection through production” into its preservation philosophy.

“Productivity and market appeal are common features of a lot of intangible cultural heritage,” said Ma. “The approach has proved very helpful in protecting heritage, particularly traditional crafts.”

Nevertheless, “protection through production” has been criticized for commercializing traditions and damaging their authenticity.

Some see this commercialization as effectively eroding cultural heritage. For example, the fact that fi ne arts works are manufactured in large quantities in factories instead of being handmade in workshops is threatening the sustainable inheritance of traditional craftsmanship.

“These cultural items are invaluable. We can’t produce them limitlessly like mining coal resources,” said Ma. “Cheap copies of traditional crafts dominate the market, affecting the existence of authentic artworks.The commercial production ofThangka,traditional Buddhist scrolls painted in Tibetan areas, is one example where mass production is eroding the livelihood of real artisans.”

DRAWING THANGKA:Painters are working on their Thangka works in an exhibition center in Xiehe County of Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu Province

Before drawing an authenticThangka,painters must hold a worship and cleansing ceremony to express their respect to the Buddha and their ancestors, which is the core value of this Tibetan cultural heritage.Machine printedThangkaloses this cultural connotation and spirit.

“Ancient traditions of fine arts will be destroyed by over-commercialization if we don’t stop the excessive industrialization and commercialization of living heritage,” said Ma.

Overseas experience

China is not the only country facing the challenge of protecting its ancient traditions and cultural heritage. Many other countries initiated efforts to preserve, revive, and reinvigorate their traditional culture several decades ago and China can bene fi t by learning from their experiences.

Zhou Qingshan, a researcher of the Institute for Cultural Industries at Peking University, spoke about the efforts other countries have made to protect their heritage.“Legislation is an important approach to protecting cultural heritage in Japan,” he said.

“Japan issued a special bill for protecting cultural heritage as early as in 1950, establishing a human treasure identification system to ensure intangible cultural heritage can be transmitted successfully,” said Zhou. “In contrast to the rich experience of Japan, we still have a long way to improve the related laws and regulations.”

Denmark is another example. Eric Messerschmidt, Chairman of the Danish Culture Institute, mentioned the use of creative and cultural events for preserving the traditional culture of Denmark. The Danish Cultural Institute is a non-governmental organization that promotes cultural exchanges between Denmark and China.

“Creativity helps foster fl exibility, openness and the ability to adapt and see new ways of doings,” said Messerschmidt. “Intangible cultural heritage must be regarded as a living tradition which can only be safeguarded by its constant reinvention.”

One example he offered was the literature of Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen.

Worldwide readers are acquainted with his stories, but until recently his work was in hibernation and treasured by only a few scholars and experts, instead of being a vivid part of contemporary Danish cultural life and practice.

“Thanks to the use of creative, cultural events, and multimedia, these stories are regaining their central position in the consciousness of Danish people and what is even more important: They’ve become part of the national brand or story,” said Messerschmidt.

Education plays an important role in protecting tradition too. “In an increasingly globalized world with tremendous competition, Danes have realized that the only means to succeed lies with an education system that can provide us with a competitive advantage as a nation and as a region,” he said.

Sticking to tradition

As experts are now paying more attention to problems in living heritage protection, mass production of fine arts and craft works has been extensively criticized.

“Sticking to tradition should be the fundamental principle for heritage protection,” said Tian Qing, Dean of the Music Institute at the Chinese National Academy of Arts.

Tian gave the example of carved lacquer.Carved lacquer is an ancient Chinese cultural heritage. According to traditional methods,each piece of lacquer ware should be brushed with varnish to form 80 to 100 layers in a period of six to eight months. After painting,workers begin to carve various designs into the lacquer. A piece of handcrafted lacquer ware usually takes a year to complete.

However, some small factories use plastic and integrated technology rather than natural paint and hand-carving to make fake lacquer ware today, which has seriously damaged the reputation of Chinese lacquer.

Tian also gave the example of Chinese operas which are now being melded with popular dramas to attract more viewers.

According to Chinese aesthetics, dramatists usually set the scene by means of abstract performance. For example, a horsewhip often shows that the performer is riding a horse in the story. But many artists try to modify traditional operas by using modern dramas and musicals as a reference.

“That’s not the correct way, if the cultural tradition, the soul of intangible cultural heritage,is changed by modifications, then the so-called development is bound to fail,” said Tian.

Ultimately, while people favor rapid development of the economy and technology,returning to tradition is necessary in order to better protect intangible cultural heritage.“Cultural heritage is a way of life that people inherit from their ancestors and transmit to their descendants. It’s not something that can easily be modi fi ed, improved or disseminated with modern technology,” he said.

Allowing these distinct and invaluable traditions to survive and flourish will be a major challenge for the Chinese people and government over the next few decades.