Students from the "Made in Gyeonggi·Intangible Cultural Heritage Workshop" are learning to make Dunhuang murals. Photo provided by interviewee
At 7 o'clock in the evening on weekdays, a shopping mall in Beijing's East Fourth Ring Road is bustling with people coming to dine and shop after get off work. However, a group of young people ran directly to a quiet corner on the underground floor to "work during the day and study at night."
They are heading to the "Intangible Cultural Heritage Night School".
In the "Made in Gyeonggi·Intangible Cultural Heritage Workshop" (hereinafter referred to as "Made in Gyeonggi"), a long table made up of several tables is the main position of this "Intangible Cultural Heritage Night School". The two teachers laid out the supplies the students needed, as well as everyone’s previous works. According to the schedule, this is their fourth course of learning Dunhuang murals.
Someone hurried in while biting bread: "Sorry for being late, I have to work overtime today." A girl came in dragging a large suitcase. She had just returned to Beijing from a business trip and hadn't had time to go home. There was also a boy who was a little anxious because he missed a class while traveling abroad, so he decided to catch up on his study progress today.
Zhang Nan, a teacher born in the 1990s, observed each student's painting in turn and quietly gave suggestions for modification. Students used paint brushes to lightly tap the various colors on the palette to depict the most beautiful Dunhuang murals in their minds. The atmosphere of ancient traditional culture permeates the entire space.
Create an interesting and meaningful intangible cultural heritage learning space
In the second half of 2023, there was a wave of "night school craze" on the Internet. Nowadays, if you search for the keyword "night school" on platforms such as Dianping, Xiaohongshu, and Meituan, you will see a variety of venues and course content.
In cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, there are both traditional night schools that provide public cultural services, and new night schools that focus on certain fields and are popular among young people.
New night schools focusing on traditional culture, or specialized "intangible cultural heritage night schools" are particularly eye-catching.
According to data disclosed to reporters by Zhou Xiaoqi, the person in charge of the Xiaohongshu Night School project, as of December 2023, more than 30,000 users on Xiaohongshu have posted "Night School Experience" notes, and more than 1.8 million people have participated in the discussion and expressed interest; 2023 Since October this year, searches for “night school” on Xiaohongshu have increased 163 times.
In the notes related to "night school" on the platform, the top 10 most mentioned course categories include guitar, dance, handicrafts, painting, piano, calligraphy, guzheng, etc.
While night schools are becoming increasingly popular, experience classes on intangible cultural heritage skills and traditional culture are also becoming popular in cities.
"Made in Gyeonggi Intangible Cultural Heritage Workshop" is one of the "new night schools" that focuses on experiencing and learning intangible cultural heritage skills. It has attracted many young people to participate precisely because of the sharing of netizens on social platforms. The night school has 10 classes per session and charges 500 yuan. There are study locations in Haidian District and Chaoyang District of Beijing. Course categories mainly include: woodcut seals, woodcut prints, ceiling paintings, filigree enamel, Dunhuang murals, intangible cultural heritage papermaking, etc.
After seeing the information about Dunhuang murals being made in Gyeonggi Province, Ruoshui (pseudonym), a company employee born in the 1990s, signed up without hesitation and brought a photo of the mural she wanted to complete the most.
Ruoshui said that this "intangible cultural heritage night school" is supported by a professional team of intangible cultural heritage inheritors, which attracts her very much.
Hu Chunxiao, the legal person of "Made in Gyeonggi·Intangible Cultural Heritage Workshop" told reporters that Made in Gyeonggi is backed by the Beijing Cultural Relics and Ancient Construction Engineering Company. The company's expert consultant team includes many inheritors of intangible cultural heritage skills, such as the construction of national-level official ancient buildings. Representative inheritors of skills, inheritors of oil painting for ancient buildings in Beijing, and experts who have participated in the restoration of cultural relics such as the Forbidden City, Old Summer Palace, and Summer Palace.
Senior intangible cultural inheritors and professional educators personally train young teachers made in Gyeonggi, imparting skills while sharing the stories behind them and the way of inheritance.
Hu Chunxiao introduced that the company has opened intangible cultural heritage experience courses very early. After they noticed the "night school craze" in the second half of 2023, they decided to open an "intangible cultural heritage night school". "It is convenient for students to enter this interesting and meaningful learning space after work or study."
"'Continuing the unique learning for the past saints' is the concept of Gyeonggi Made·Intangible Cultural Heritage Workshop. This concept has brought together many young people who are willing to contribute to traditional culture." Chen Yifan, the post-2000s manager of Gyeonggi Made, introduced .
Zhang Nan told reporters that here, teachers do not restrict everyone's performance during class. She first asked the students what they wanted to draw and what effect they wanted to present, and then helped everyone complete it together. Even if the students "regret" the original idea midway, the teacher will try his best to help make adjustments to ensure that everyone finally completes the work they want.
“Intangible Cultural Heritage Night School” attracts not only young people
"In the past two years, people have paid very high attention to traditional culture. It is visible to the naked eye that there are more words like New Chinese Style and Intangible Cultural Heritage on the platform. People will first understand the big field of intangible cultural heritage, and then understand what is in it. You can participate by yourself." Zhou Xiaoqi said.
The reporter saw at the scene that in the Dunhuang mural experience class, the teacher did not ask the students to copy the paintings on paper, but gave each person a special clay tablet to experience the painting of Dunhuang murals in a "highly restored" way. process.
Ruoshui told reporters that the first lesson she took here was "harmony with mud."
The mud used to make Dunhuang murals is used to pave the "ground", and the soil used to make the mud must be Dunhuang soil with a fine texture. Mixing mud, smearing mud, drawing line drawings, coloring... students experienced the process of painting Dunhuang murals in a "highly restored" way.
Chen Yifan said that the Dunhuang mural experience course was jointly developed by him and Zhang Nan. At that time, they specifically consulted some senior craftsmen and students from the mural painting department of the Central Academy of Fine Arts to seek course content and formats suitable for citizens' experience. "There are many types of murals. Like the ancient tomb murals, if you want to learn them, you have to build a wall, which is obviously not feasible. Some mural masters suggested to us that we start with small-sized paintings and combine them with gilding, etc. Intangible cultural heritage techniques.”
Zhang Nan mentioned that if you want to learn the ancient architectural bracket model that shows the traditional Chinese mortise and tenon technique, or the beautiful cloisonné enamel technique, it will be more difficult to experience it in practice.
Hu Chunxiao pointed out that although the "Intangible Cultural Heritage Night School" they opened was open to the public, they did not want to just provide a simple and entertaining experience course, but to create a learning experience that blended ancient and modern, allowing students to touch the core of traditional skills . Through evening classes, students will have the opportunity to personally experience the charm of traditional skills and gain an in-depth understanding of the cultural connotations behind them.
Zhou Xiaoqi believes that one of the reasons why new night schools are popular now is that many people hope to realize their childhood dreams and "retrain themselves" to learn a skill that they were interested in but had no chance to learn. "There is something similar to The psychological appeal of restarting life."
Li Ao (pseudonym), a 30-year-old young man, has become very interested in ancient murals since he traveled to Dunhuang during the May Day holiday last year. After returning to Beijing, he went to Fahai Temple and other places to appreciate the murals. He usually also likes to learn about some interesting cultural places in the city. Finally, he searched for "Made in Gyeonggi" on Xiaohongshu and found that his home was only a 10-minute walk away. Therefore, he decisively signed up and chose to study the Dunhuang mural course.
Recently, after missing a class due to traveling abroad, Leo struggled to catch up with other students. At 10 o'clock in the evening, it was already past the end of get out of class, and the lights of other stores in the mall had been turned off. He was still thinking about his mural work. He said that the next class was the "pay-up" part, and he decided to use his weekend time to "catch up" with it.
Hobby night classes are a place for young people to take the initiative to learn, and everyone shows absolute enthusiasm. Zhang Nan said that students often come to "tutoring" and "processing" the paintings.
Zhang Nan mentioned that this kind of "intangible cultural heritage night school" that combines traditional heritage and youthful vitality is not only attracting young people, but is also popular among middle-aged and elderly people. She mentioned that there are students who have reached retirement age in the cloisonné enamel class. The aunt said: "I don't want to go to a senior college. I want to study with young people. I will be happier."
Zhou Xiaoqi said that the platform had previously conducted a "night school live broadcast" and invited more than 30 folk artists to bring night school live broadcast courses for free.
In her view, in addition to offline venues, a new online space for "intangible cultural heritage night schools" can also be created. "Many people may not have reliable night school programs in their cities, but if this thing is moved online, the threshold for participation will be lowered a lot."
China Youth Daily·China Youth Daily reporter Shen Jiequn Source: China Youth Daily