The Chinese public has backed a suggestion by a scholar to have
the Spring Festival listed as a world intangible
cultural heritage as part of efforts to prevent the festive
atmosphere from fizzling out.
Chen Jing, a folklore expert with Nanjing University in east
China's Jiangsu Province, has urged the government to
start the application as China increasingly exposes itself to
foreign cultures.
"By applying for the heritage, we can investigate, record and
publicize festival-related folk arts across the country," he
said.
Chen's suggestion was backed by thousands of netizens, who
agreed that the glamour of traditional festivals has been
undermined and needs reviving.
More than 70 percent of netizens think it necessary to apply for
a world cultural heritage listing, according to a survey recently
conducted by sina.com, one of the largest websites in China.
In research conducted this January, Chen interviewed via email
and telephone publicity and tourism officials in more than a dozen
provinces, receiving hundreds of reports on the current situation
of folk custom during the Spring Festival.
Chen's survey showed the glamour of the Lunar New Year in large
cities is fading and some young people are ignorant of new year
rituals and celebrations.
"Globalization and urbanization have been eating away at
traditional Chinese rituals and celebrations. The Chinese,
especially those in large cities, are discarding the cultural
meaning and spiritual values of the Spring Festival," he said.
"I am really worried that to many young people Spring Festival
is just for fun and no different from foreign holidays."
The Spring Festival, the first day of the Lunar New Year, is the
most important holiday in China. Traditionally, families stay
together making dumplings, setting off fireworks, pasting red
papers with auspicious words or patterns on walls, doors and
windows, giving gifts of money to children and visiting relatives
or friends.
But in some cites, fireworks have been replaced by electronic
ones due to safety and environmental concerns. Some people prefer
buying frozen dumplings instead of making them with their families
on New Year's Eve.
The festival, which has its origins in agricultural
civilization, has been widely accepted by the Chinese for thousands
of years.
"No matter how the Chinese spend the holiday, they still regard
it as the most important moment in the year. Besides, the festive
atmosphere is still very much alive in rural areas," said Song
Zhaolin, chief advisor of China Folklore Society.
Chen said that applying for a world cultural heritage listing is
not a goal in itself.
"The most important thing is to restore the public's pleasure in
spending the festival in traditional ways and thereby preserve
China's cultural identity," Chen said.
According to UNESCO, "intangible cultural heritage" refers to
practices, representations, expressions, knowledge and skills that
communities, groups and, in some cases, individuals recognize as
part of their cultural heritage.
The Chinese State Council published last year its first 528
items of state-level intangible heritages, including the Spring
Festival, Peking Opera, acupuncture, the Legend of Madame White
Snake and Shaolin Kungfu.
(Xinhua News Agency February 10, 2007)
