Wang Ming: How does the intangible cultural heritage of mankind "tell" the mutual learning between Chinese and foreign civilizations?

Beijing, 4 April (ZXS) -- How does the intangible cultural heritage of mankind "tell" the mutual learning between Chinese and foreign civilizations?

Author: Wang Ming Executive Director of Beijing Cultural Heritage Research Center, Capital Normal University

Cultural heritage is the witness and narrator of mutual learning among civilizations. On 2022 November 11, "Traditional Chinese Tea-Making Techniques and Related Customs" (hereinafter referred to as "Chinese Tea") was inscribed on UNESCO's Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. So far, China has 29 items inscribed on the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity recognized by UNESCO, ranking first in the world.

These intangible cultural heritage of humanity (hereinafter referred to as "intangible cultural heritage of humanity") is a precious heritage left by ancestors, telling people the story of world civilization, especially "Chinese tea" is of unique significance to China and the world.

"Chinese tea": the testimony of mutual learning among civilizations behind the success of the application

Tea, coffee and cocoa are known as the world's three major beverages. "Tea is a drink, from the Shennong clan, smelled by Lu Zhougong", "tea saint" Lu Yu recorded in the "Tea Sutra". China is the hometown of tea and the birthplace of tea culture, with rich and diverse tea germplasm resources, rich and colorful production techniques, and profound historical accumulation and technical value. Relevant cultural customs reflect the unique role of Chinese tea culture in social life and are a unique witness of China's 5,000-year-old civilization.

Tea is the product of close interaction between Chinese and nature, and has a special relationship with heaven, earth and people from the beginning of the creation of words. The word "tea" is a meaning character in the formation of words, consisting of the grass head in the upper part, the trees in the lower part, and the people in the middle, that is, "people in the grass and trees", which not only depicts the picture of tea farmers picking tea with words, but also reflects the harmonious interaction between man and nature. This shows that tea culture is a benign interaction in the harmonious symbiosis of heaven, earth and man under the background of traditional Chinese farming civilization, reflecting the cosmology, nature and social view of Chinese, and has the Chinese genetic significance of mutual learning of ecological civilization.

In April 2023, tea farmers in Xinyang Xintiandi Cooperative in Henan Province are picking Xinyang Maojian tea. Photo by Xie Wanbai

On the list of globally important agricultural cultural heritage recognized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, China's ancient tea garden and tea culture system in Pu'er in Yunnan, jasmine and tea culture system in Fuzhou, and Tie Guanyin tea culture system in Anxi, Fujian are on the list, forming tea agricultural cultural systems with different characteristics in various regions of China.

After the successful nomination of "Chinese tea" as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity, the "Jingmai Mountain Ancient Tea Forest Cultural Landscape" located in Pu'er City, Yunnan Province will be reviewed at the 45th session of the World Heritage Committee this year. This is the first time in the world that an ancient tea mountain has been inscribed as a heritage site under the name of "tea", integrating the humanistic ecological landscape pattern of "mountains and forests, forest tea, and tea around villages". If successful, it will become the world's first tea-themed world cultural landscape heritage.

In May 2016, in Pu'er, Yunnan, local villagers picked tea in the ancient tea garden of Jingmai Mountain, where most of the tea trees are more than 5 years old. Photo by Liu Ranyang

Tea originated in China, and began to be introduced to Japan, Korea, South Asia, Southeast Asia and other regions during the Tang Dynasty, and spread to European countries, the American continent, the Middle East, Russia and other regions in the 17th century, and prevailed in the world. Chinese tea culture has spread overseas, combined with the national conditions and cultural genes of various countries to give birth to various tea cultures with the characteristics of Sino-foreign cultural exchanges and integration, such as Japanese tea ceremony, British afternoon tea, etc.

The successful application of "Chinese tea" has important international demonstration significance in the systematic protection of tea cultural heritage complex and organic. This new conservation method has contributed valuable ideas to the world for heritage protection, and the concept of sustainable development contained in it has distinct humanistic values and ecological wisdom, and has the unique significance of mutual learning among civilizations in the contemporary world.

The United Nations General Assembly designated May 5 as "International Tea Day", which provides a window for people to view the important role of tea in economy, trade, culture and society from an international perspective.

In April 2023, a tea garden in Dongshan Village, Moganshan Town, Deqing County, Huzhou City, Zhejiang Province, foreign students are learning about tea making. Photo by Wang Shucheng

Silk Road Intangible Cultural Heritage: A case of mutual learning among civilizations spread by the Belt and Road Initiative

The Silk Road Intangible Cultural Heritage has witnessed the foreign trade of commercial materials with Chinese characteristics. Along with "Chinese tea", the world is familiar with "Chinese porcelain" and "Chinese silk". Tea, porcelain and silk can be described as China's most popular "three pieces of Silk Road commerce" in the world, and have become synonymous with China in different historical periods.

Silk Road Intangible Cultural Heritage has witnessed the overseas derivation of Chinese characteristic product production techniques. Historically, China exported characteristic high-quality porcelain products to the world; With the monopoly of middlemen in Silk Road trade and the shortage of goods in ocean-going trade, Europe, Central Asia, South Asia, East Asia and other places gradually appeared some imitation or improvement to form their own style of porcelain, such as Japanese Imari porcelain, Turkish Iznik porcelain, etc., blowing a "Chinese style" for marketing the world.

In June 2022, Tibetan girls from Zhouqu County, Zhangye City, Gansu Province, Gansu Province, displayed provincial intangible cultural heritage brocades. Photo by Yan Jiao

The Silk Road Intangible Cultural Heritage has witnessed the world spread of China's key technological inventions. Among China's "four great inventions", Anhui Xuan paper-making technology, which is closely related to ancient papermaking, is a representative of "Chinese papermaking" and is closely related to human intangible cultural heritage items such as "Chinese calligraphy" and "Chinese seal carving". Chinese paper, Chinese characters and Chinese printing complement each other, and together form a beautiful artistic picture with a distinct Chinese image, which is appreciated by the world and widely learned; Representatives of "Chinese printing" such as woodblock printing technology and movable type printing technology spread to Central Asia, West Asia and Europe through the land and maritime Silk Roads, affecting the way and efficiency of knowledge dissemination in the world.

The intangible cultural heritage of the Silk Road bears witness to the exchange of customs and skills of maritime civilizations. Intangible cultural heritage items closely related to the trade of the Maritime Silk Road include Nanyin in Fujian and Mazu beliefs and customs, which were brought to Southeast Asia with overseas migrants and further spread to all parts of the world. The most typical is the Mazu beliefs and customs, as China's first human heritage of beliefs and customs, with more than 49 million believers in 3 countries and regions around the world, and its wide dissemination is closely related to the efforts of the Chinese to develop overseas and exchange customs; Based on the folk rituals created by Hokkien people, "Sending the King Ship – Rituals and Related Practices on the Sustainable Connection between Man and the Sea" has become a successful intangible cultural heritage project jointly applied by China and Malaysia, showing a cultural picture of mutual exchanges and harmonious coexistence between different civilizations.

In December 2020, the Zhongzhai She ethnic community in Xiamen City, Fujian Province held a traditional folk activity of "sending the king ship to do good deeds". Photo by Lv Ming

Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity: A platform for mutual learning among civilizations for world exchanges and symbiosis

Mutual learning among civilizations promotes the protection of intangible cultural heritage around the world. China acceded to the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2004, becoming one of the first countries in the world to accede to the Convention. In the past 20 years, China has played an important role in overseas exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations of intangible cultural heritage, and has provided the world with a unique way of understanding heritage.

From China's translation of the word "intangible cultural heritage" as "intangible cultural heritage", we can see China's understanding of the protection of the diversity of cultural expressions in the world: "intangible" embodies the craftsman spirit of "daily use is the way", "culture" embodies the people-to-people exchange of "living witness", and "heritage" embodies the contemporary mutual learning of "cultural background". Its level of protection is limited by the term "human", which emphasizes the central role of "people" in different countries, ethnic groups, communities and collectives around the world, and mutual learning among civilizations is based on the extensive exchanges between people in different regions of the earth to promote mutual appreciation, mutual learning and mutual trust.

In the process of mutual learning among civilizations, cultural heritage provides a more ceremonial testimony and narrative. Tangible cultural heritage allows people to see the field, physical objects and real scenes, while non-tangible cultural heritage allows people to see real people, physical objects, and facts, as well as the inheritors and oral transmission that run through them. These are the best materials for telling Chinese stories, with distinct natural advantages of being visible, accessible, palpable and perceptible.

In February 2023, the Chinese traditional festival Yen Night Festival, Taolinping Village, Xiaozuo Town, Jingxian County, Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province, Russian student Xiaoyan (second from right) experiences the intangible cultural heritage "Jingxian Lahua". Photo by Zhai Yujia

In historical tradition and modern life, cultural exchanges between China and other countries in the world have left many traces, which are witnesses of dialogue between China and the world, and the connotation of mutual learning between Chinese and foreign civilizations clearly points to the outstanding value and extraordinary significance of symbiosis, co-construction, co-construction, exchange, and integration.

Human intangible cultural heritage uses many practical cases to tell an important concept: traditional is also modern, and national is also global. China's intangible cultural heritage itself is an organic part of global cultural dissemination, which will surely better serve its own nation and the world.

Taste human intangible cultural heritage and tell Chinese stories; Promote cultural exchanges and promote mutual learning among civilizations. (End)

About the author:

Wang Ming is an associate professor at the School of History, Capital Normal University, the head of the cultural heritage major, the executive director of the Beijing Cultural Heritage Research Center, and the director of the Beijing History Research Association. Mainly engaged in the research of ancient Chinese ritual history, medieval tomb archaeology, Beijing's cultural heritage, especially the Grand Canal heritage, intangible cultural heritage and other fields. He has published more than 40 papers in newspapers and magazines such as "Research on Chinese History", "Archaeology", "Chinese History Series", presided over 2 projects of the National Social Science Foundation, 2 provincial and ministerial projects, and co-edited 6 departments.