In over 5,000 years of development, folk art has become a source of
other forms of Chinese culture. It is now facing a perfect
opportunity for further progress with the rapid social and economic
development. However, the diversification of cultural forms and
attack of foreign culture also bring unprecedented challenges to
Chinese folk art. Then, who will act as its protector?
Chinese folk art has many genres, including painting, calligraphy,
embroidery, carving and paper cutting. All of them reflect the
profundity of China's ancient civilization. Song Zhaolin, deputy
director of the China Folklore Association, pointed out that it is
hard to say how many kinds of folk arts exist in the country. On
the other hand, Song said, it is also hard to tell how many folk
arts have disappeared in the past millennia. The trend is
accelerating, he noted. Some folk arts came to an end naturally,
while others disappeared or faded into history because of lack of
protection funds or personnel. "Isn't it painful to lose so many
kinds of folk arts purely due to insufficient protection?" Song
inquired.
Amid economic globalization, cultural exchanges and integration are
also accelerating. More and more people have accepted the notion of
"no boundary for pop culture." As a result, when Korean and
Japanese culture causes a sensation among Chinese youths, few are
surprised. However, can Chinese folk art step onto the path of
globalization?
In
the long process of development, folk art has become an important
factor to carry forward history. For instance, the world's longest
epic King Gesar depicts the history of the Tibetan ethnic
group, while the Dongba characters record the history of Naxi
culture in Yunnan Province. In addition, the blue printed calico of
Nantong, Jiangsu Province and wax prints of Guizhou Province are
looked on as "living fossils" of China's printing and dyeing
techniques, which is of great value in studying China's ancient
science and technology, culture, folklore and history of fine
arts.
Li
Jinlu, professor of Tsinghua University and deputy director of
China Folk Arts Committee, said: "In appreciating culture, folk art
belongs to the whole nation, while the national art belongs to the
world. However, in culture protection, Chinese folk art must be
protected by China itself, for the creation and development of folk
art is based on the specialty and customs of the ethnic group to
whom it belongs.
Chinese folk art is drawing the attention of more and more
foreigners with its unique charm and miraculous technique. Fan
Xiaomei, a 25-year paper cutter who once performed her art for
former US President Bill Clinton, is often invited to give
performances and lectures to overseas audiences. She said: "I
always feel very proud when my works attract a lot of foreigners
and when my feet step onto foreign land. I think foreigners are
acclaiming Chinese culture while they applaud my paper-cutting
technique. Is there anyone who isn't proud of his homeland?"
Fan is worried about the protection and further development of
Chinese folk art. "The paper-cutting art of northern Shaanxi
Province is now in an awkward situation with no successors," she
said. Paper-cutting usually conveys people's happiness and wish for
a better life. It carries on the folk customs and history of a
local group. Some foreigners once asked her to transplant the art
into their hometown, but Fan refused.
Against the background of globalization, Professor Li Jinlu pointed
out, a culture without specialties will lead to a nation without
peculiarity. If a nation has no culture of its own, it will not
possess its due position in the world, thus impeding its further
development.
Then, who will be the guardian of Chinese folk arts? It has to be
the government, experts and scholars, folk handicraftsman, and even
the whole of society.
Government as a functional department should play its due role. A
Japanese businessman once told Professor Li that people have to go
to museums of Japan to study Chinese folk arts for they have
started collecting Chinese folk handicrafts on a large scale.
Though China has drawn up regulations to protect its cultural
relics, they don't include the protection of folk arts. Li suggests
that the government set up regulations in this regard to prevent
famous handicraftsmen from going to foreign countries.
Experts and scholars in field of folk arts play a special role in
hunting for, sorting out and analyzing folk arts. According to Zhao
Yaoxin, a researcher with the Yunnan People's Art Center, experts
and scholars should go out among the people and find top-notch
artistic works still unknown to the world. Also, publicity work
should be stressed to enhance the excellent folk arts.
Handicraftsmen are direct guardians of folk arts. Since folk art
works are always products of handicraftsmen's inspiration rather
than drive for markets, its development is hindered to some degree.
The handicraftsmen with unique skills are now considering how to
bring their works from workshop to the market. Folk artisan Shen
Sheguo from Dafeng, Jiangsu Province, is writing a book about his
20 years' experience of making straw pictures, so as to enable
others imitate and learn.
The protection of folk arts also requires support of the whole
society. Wang Zhong, editor-in-chief of the Arts magazine
sponsored by China Artists Association, thinks that many have been
westernized in the trend of globalization. In this process, people
are likely to lose particularities of their nation. Therefore, all
of society must strengthen their understanding of folk arts and
folk culture. Only in this way, can a nation be distinguished from
others.
Jin Zhaojun, a famous music critic, said, "By unearthing and
protecting and then carrying forward excellent folk arts, we can
let the world know more about the brilliant Chinese culture and let
Chinese culture go out into the world. In this way we can cultivate
people's love for the Chinese nation. It is also of great
significance to establish a well-off society and develop a
socialism culture with Chinese characteristics."
"Only when we gather forces from all sides, can we shoulder the
responsibility of revitalizing the Chinese nation," he added.
(china.org.cn edited and translated by Li Jinhui, January 20,
2003)