Intangible cultural heritage + short video, let the traditional old craft "break the circle"
Yang Zhenguo, the inheritor of straw weaving skills in Baizhai Town, Quzhou, Hebei, introduced the straw weaving skills to children at home.
Xinhua News Agency
The craftsmanship of Chengdu silver filigree is handed down, and humanity is making double-eared peony vase decorations.
Xinhua News Agency
In Gaolou Village, Guhuai Town, Changle District, Fuzhou, Fujian, Chen Guorui, the non-genetic inheritor of high-rise rice noodles, is making handicrafts.
Xinhua News Agency
Li Xue, an artist of the Xihe Drum Intangible Heritage Project in Hejian, Hebei, performed the Xihe Drum through a live webcast.
Xinhua News Agency
Hua Xingfu, the inheritor of the paper tearing skills, is using short videos to demonstrate his production skills.
Photo by our reporter Dong Bei/Guangming Picture
Would you go to a remote mountain village to watch an old man in sixties weaving bamboo baskets? Would you go to a remote ancient town to admire a girl dyeing floral cloth in the yard? Maybe not, but when these "stunning" craftsmen picked up their phones and walked into the screen, they attracted thousands of netizens to watch and like them on the short video platform.
Under the tide of the Internet, short video platforms such as Kuaishou and Douyin have once again brought back traditional handicrafts that are drifting away from our daily lives. When traditional culture meets new media technology, the old and low-key intangible heritage craftsmanship is infused with new vitality and vitality. How to seize the opportunity to inherit and innovate, enhance the self-survival and development capabilities of intangible cultural heritage projects, and make traditional culture "live" is a brand-new issue faced by communicators and inheritors of traditional old craftsmanship.
1. Transformation-old craftsmanship "shakes" new tricks
[Case] Qiao Xue is the inheritor of the intangible heritage Qiao's handmade leather art. In 2020, Qiao Xue and his team made more than 200 live broadcasts on the Douyin platform, with a maximum of 10,000 people online at the same time, and a total of nearly 3 million yuan in sales. At present, Qiao Xue's Douyin account has attracted 571,000 followers and 2.987 million likes. She also founded her own leather art products company and created her own brand "Master Qiao".
Making handmade leather art products is a time-consuming and energy-consuming task. The creation of a handmade leather art product requires 72 hours of drawing, 100,000 knives of carving, 600,000 percussions, and 3,360 minutes of coloring, and a total of 126 process flows. Since learning handcraft leather art, Qiao Xue has firmly adhered to the polishing of handcraft skills. “The texture formed by hand-stitched threads is beyond the reach of the most advanced instruments now.” Qiao Xue said, letting young people “back” traditional craftsmanship is the true inheritance.
With the rapid development of new media, the living conditions of more and more non-genetic inheritors have been changed bit by bit. Nowadays, as long as you own a smart phone, you can record and disseminate old intangible cultural heritage craftsmanship.
The intangible cultural products rich in classical beauty and the craftsman spirit of excellence have been recognized by more people, and the new cultural experience has also opened up new creative ideas for many non-genetic inheritors.
Li Niangen, the non-genetic inheritor of bamboo weaving in Xinyudong Village, Jiangxi Province, has been learning bamboo weaving since he was 9 years old. He is 61 years old this year.
Forty or fifty years ago, Master Li, who was exquisite and highly efficient, was famous in his hometown, and everyone liked to buy his bamboo products.
However, with the development of the times, industrialized products with extremely short production cycles have severely impacted the living space of traditional handicrafts. Master Li's bamboo weaving industry has also been affected, and his fellow teachers and apprentices have switched careers.
Master Li, who has adhered to the skill of intangible cultural heritage bamboo weaving for 52 years, has always refused to give up.
Finally, the short video made this bamboo weaving craft "popular" on the Internet.
Master Li also played different tricks of bamboo weaving. The two-dimensional code of bamboo weaving that can be scanned and many interesting objects have attracted the attention and love of many young people.
Short videos have various forms of expression and outstanding visual impact. In just a dozen seconds, they can show the most beautiful, true, and most attractive side of the old intangible cultural heritage craftsmanship.
The ancient intangible cultural heritage is spread with the help of new technologies and new carriers, allowing more and more people to appreciate the charm of traditional handicrafts.
In today's social and economic development and people's affluent life, many young people have the ability to choose and cultivate their own hobbies, and begin to pursue spiritual comfort and the realization of their own values.
Xiao Fang, director of the Department of Anthropology and Folklore of the Chinese Academy of Social Management/School of Sociology, Beijing Normal University, believes that traditional old craftsmanship requires quiet scenes and moods. In the process of hand-made handicrafts, rare spiritual relaxation and value realization can be obtained. Therefore, many "post-90s" and "post-00s" will naturally be attracted by old craftsmanship.
Recently, the "Opinions on Further Strengthening the Protection of Intangible Cultural Heritage" jointly issued by the General Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the General Office of the State Council proposes to adapt to the trend of in-depth media integration, enrich communication methods, expand communication channels, and encourage news media to establish intangible cultural heritage. Special topics, columns, etc., support the strengthening of documentary creation on related themes, run related excellent programs, and encourage various new media platforms to do a good job in related communication.
2. Dissemination-Let the traditional skills "live" in the present
[Data] According to statistics, on the Kuaishou short video platform, an intangible cultural heritage video is generated every 3 seconds. There are over 15 million intangible cultural heritage content creators producing intangible cultural heritage related content videos in Kuaishou. With 224.5 billion video views, over 6.7 billion likes were gained and revenue generated over 1.5 billion yuan; on average, each video was viewed by at least 6263 people and liked by 187 people. The "Douyin Intangible Cultural Heritage Data Report" shows that as of June 10, 2021, the number of videos related to national intangible cultural heritage projects on the Douyin platform exceeded 140 million. Among the 1,557 national intangible cultural heritage projects, the Douyin coverage rate reached 97.94%. ; Endangered intangible cultural heritage related videos have been praised more than 100 million times on Douyin.
Intangible cultural heritage skills are precious historical wealth of mankind, with rich cultural connotations and historical memories.
The combination of intangible cultural heritage and short video has successfully entered the public's field of vision again, gained more exposure and attention, and provided favorable conditions for the intangible cultural heritage to "live" in the present and achieve rapid development.
On October 23, 2020, Douyin’s “Seeing Craft” program for craftsmen and craft merchants across the country was officially launched. This plan will play the role of live video and e-commerce through a number of measures such as traffic support, fee discounts, and official training. Help traditional handicrafts to be seen by more people.
In 2020, 85 craftsmen, including 10 non-genetic inheritors, will achieve annual income of over one million yuan through e-commerce.
The total transaction volume of non-genetic inheritors this year has increased by 15 times compared with last year. New media has opened up new sales channels for many time-honored brands.
Zhu Liqun, the non-genetic inheritor of Wu Luo's weaving skills, moved the loom to the Douyin platform, attracting nearly 100,000 young people to watch.
On a platform that young people like, Zhu Liqun became "Uncle Zhu", popularizing science clothing and promoting Luo weaving skills. In just six months, he attracted nearly 100,000 fans and received more than 1.3 million likes.
Among them, the most popular short video received 140,000 praises.
Netizens have been impressed by the superb traditional skills of "Uncle Zhu".
Through the promotion of e-commerce platforms, Zhu Liqun has created a place for craftsmen in places where young people gather.
"Exports accounted for 80% of silk fabric orders before 2015. Now this ratio has been reversed and mainly depends on the domestic market." Zhu Liqun said that in the past, individual customer orders, which were basically hopeless in the past, have gradually become an important part of factory sales. .
Sales are only one aspect, and more importantly, Zhu Liqun sees the "future" of traditional craftsmanship.
The flowers inside the wall are also fragrant. He hopes that through e-commerce, more people can see and buy good silk fabrics, so that more and more Chinese, especially young people, will like this traditional technique that has been passed down for thousands of years.
In the process of non-genetic inheritance, there are many such stories.
In order to learn the skills of Su embroidery, Yang Xue, the inheritor of Su embroidery and a girl born in the 90s, has traveled thousands of miles to take root in Suzhou's Zhenhu Lake.
After ten years of concentrated study, she became a leader among the young inheritors of Su embroidery.
From the land of Jingchu to the water village in the south of the Yangtze River, from the offline studio to the online platform, Yang Xue weaves the future of her and Su Embroidery.
In 2018, Yang Xue taught Su embroidery for free on Douyin for a whole year, setting a record of over 1 million likes and nearly 10 million people watching a class.
In order to prevent the color of the embroidery on the screen from being distorted, her instructional videos never show beauty, and the camera often takes close-ups of her hands. After a live broadcast, the audience can't even see her.
In her words, "Su Xiu is more important than my face".
Even if they don't show their faces, the participation of netizens is beyond Yang Xue's imagination.
She once hosted an 8-hour live broadcast with fans from beginning to end.
More people expressed their desire to buy her embroidery, urging her to put on new products.
Some netizens left a message saying: "Such craftsmen are worth spending money to protect!" She was pleasantly surprised by the fans' enthusiasm for Su Embroidery, saying that in the future, more creative products will be put on the merchandise window, so that more people will appreciate the charm of Su Embroidery.
3. Inheritance-Intangible cultural heritage needs more young people to "take over"
[Thinking] Many traditional craftsmanship of intangible cultural heritage have been separated from the lives of the people and become specialized skills. Some small and remote intangible cultural heritage are gradually forgotten by the public, and the splendid intangible cultural heritage and modern life are drifting away. The inheritance of intangible cultural heritage projects has become increasingly difficult. The age structure of employees is aging, and there are no successors. Intangible cultural heritage products are low in industrialization, high in price, and weak in competitiveness. Poor sales of intangible cultural heritage products have greatly affected the inheritance of intangible cultural heritage techniques. In the Internet tide, how to inherit and innovate intangible cultural heritage is not only a brand-new issue faced by non-genetic inheritors, but also a question of the times that urgently needs to be answered.
As the representative inheritor of the fourth batch of intangible heritage projects in Ji'an, Jiangxi, Xiao Chengyong, the inheritor of the craftsmanship of Ji'an wafer making, is full of worries about non-genetic inheritance.
The wafers are delicious, but there are few successors.
"The biggest problem in making wafers for so many years is that no one comes to learn, especially no young people are willing to learn." Xiao Chengyong said, making wafers all day long and "dealing with oil, noodles, etc.", and the working environment is not "decent". ".
With the advancement of the times, many hand-made links of traditional techniques have been replaced by machines, but what remains unchanged is Xiao Chengyong's sincere heart in inheriting this technique.
Xiao Chengyong started as an apprentice at the age of 17, and has been studying this skill for 26 years.
Now, he has built a wafer production workshop of more than 10,000 square meters in the Green Food Industrial Park of Ji'an Jizhou District, and a group of apprentices with him have basically been trained.
Xiao Chengyong hopes to do his best to polish up this food business card, so that the traditional skills will be passed on forever, and this beautiful "homesickness" will become more intense and lasting.
The new media technology and self-media communication methods have opened up the world for the old craftsmanship in the folk or remote villages. The legendary "handsmanship" actually exists in the world.
Craftsmen do not need to demonstrate through links, nor do they need the title of "inheritor". They live in front of the world and share their craftsmanship, wisdom and happiness, and at the same time allow fans and consumers to appreciate their craftsmanship. Groups can serve multiple purposes in one fell swoop.
Xiao Fang pointed out that Douyin and Kuaishou, as well-known self-media platforms, have intuitive and fast communication characteristics, and have special advantages in displaying and disseminating traditional craftsmanship.
It directly connects craftsmen, appreciators, and consumers through self-media, and directly promotes traditional craftsmanship to young people, and allows traditional craftsmanship to impress a batch of young people with its unique artistic charm.
The participation of these young people has turned the old tradition into a new fashion, and played an important role in promoting the return of intangible cultural heritage crafts to daily life.
"In a Chinese society with a long history, a large population, and diverse needs, we have no shortage of cultural appreciators, cultural consumers, and loyal cultural inheritors. What we lack is a bridge that connects them." Xiao Fang said, intangible cultural heritage communication and There is a close relationship between the two non-hereditary inheritance, especially today, it is particularly important to promote inheritance through communication.
For old craftsmanship, young people will only be interested and passionate about enjoying and passing on it after they understand and understand it.
Consumption and appreciation will contribute to a national trend in which tradition is the fashion.
Under the national tide, old craftsmanship also gains a living space, and also allows the inheritors to gain cultural self-confidence, thus bringing power and vitality to non-hereditary inheritance.
(Our reporter Dong Bei)