A highly accomplished Chinese writer, his novels have been translated into dozens of foreign languages, including English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Russian, Dutch and Spanish. More than 30 translated versions of his novels have been published outside China. While serving as executive chairman of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles, and chairman of the Tianjin Writers Association, he also dedicates much of his time and energy to the preservation of China's ethnic and folk culture. He is currently researching undocumented ethnic and folk cultural heritages throughout China, and determining which are most at risk. The project is proving to be an enormous undertaking, but he considers his mission to be nothing less than the restoration of a nation's cultural memories.
The green campus of Tianjin University is peaceful under the noonday sun. Feng Jicai's Academy of Literature and Art is located in a tall grayish building in a quiet part of the campus. After a knock at the unlocked door of the writer's third-floor office, Feng Jicai presents himself. He cuts an impressive figure, with a broad forehead, dense and dark eyebrows, large and bright eyes, his hair beginning to grey at the temples. When he speaks, the power of his intelligence is made clear.
The project to rescue folk culture legacies in China, advocated and launched by Feng Jicai in 2003, has once again brought the writer into the limelight. Application for the first batch of more than 1,000 intangible cultural heritages has been completed, but Feng, as the director of the panel committee of the National List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, remains concerned. To him, the speed of rescuing still lags far behind the pace at which these cultural legacies are vanishing. "If a culture disappears," Feng sighs, "Then the group that was party to that particular culture will lose an important part of its identity." Since commencing the project, Feng Jicai has visited 26 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities in China, guiding volunteers in field work and saving folk culture as he went. To him, folk culture is full of charm and inspiration, and the folk culture arts that have historical and cultural connotations are the real pearls of wisdom of China's forefathers.
Feng Jicai, Dean of the Academy of Feng Jicai Literature and Art, established on May 19, 2005.
Wuqiang in Hebei Province, Yangliuqing in Tianjin, and Zhuxian Town in Henan Province all produce traditional Chinese New Year's paintings. "A painting used to be sold at one, two or even three yuan, but some paintings produced now can be sold for as much as several hundred yuan," Feng says happily. "Museums have been built and serial books on the artworks have been published, too."
On the Ground
"Ancient villages are the nation's store of valuables, like those kept at the bottom of a family chest," Feng remarks. Among more than 2,800 counties, and hundreds of thousands of villages, Feng says that there are at least several thousand villages that maintain a distinct, rich and well-preserved folk culture and folk custom. Since a great number of young people have left to work in cities, many ancient villages are left deserted. What is worse is the improper development and exploitation of ancient towns and villages by some developers. This has caused the inner and profound historical and cultural deposits of the villages (to have) been emptied. To discover the conditions and status of these valuables, Feng has visited scores of villages in Shandong, Shanxi, Jiangxi, Anhui and three other provinces. He has negotiated with local magistrates at town and village levels, and spoken out his own views on ancient villages at a series of cultural forums and seminars. "I'm going to write an article on the conditions of the ancient villages and suggest ways to remedy problems," Feng says. "I will invite the heads of ancient villages throughout the country to a Nationwide Ancient Village Summit Forum that will be held in May, 2006, in Jiaxing, a city south of the Changjiang (Yangtze) River."
A Decision of the Heart
Formerly a writer and a painter, Feng began his mission to save folk culture legacies in the 1990s, when he was at the prime of his career. His work now mainly focuses on the recognition of the outstanding heirs of folk culture through investigations, the protection of ethnic culture, and the investigation and protection of ancient villages. He has already begun the compiling of books on China's New Year's woodprints, folk paper cuts, Thangka painting scrolls, records of Chinese folk customs, and complete Chinese folktales. "The way I transferred my work is very natural for me," he says without any hesitation.
On April 26, 2003, Feng Jicai visits Wangcheng Paper Cut Factory in Yu County, Hebei Province. That same day the efforts to save the paper cuttings were commenced.
Feng recalls 10 years ago when a foreign woman rented an apartment in Guiyang City and remained there for six years. She hired people to visit villages collecting old costumes and adornments, and packed and sent them home every now and then. "While others treat them as treasures and valuables," Feng criticizes, "We (Chinese) abandon them easily. This belittles our own culture." Feng holds a special sentiment for old cities. In 1994, as the city undertook extensive renovations, he rushed to Tianjin to completely document the old streets before they were gone. As a result of his efforts, Guyi Street in the old city was preserved. When the Tianjin General Chamber of Commerce was torn down, Feng was returning from a trip to France. Standing on the site, he cried over the loss of the "original monument to the historic May Fourth Movement (1919)."
"We are the responsible generation," Feng becomes excited as he speaks. "As we see there are inharmonious elements in our society and social culture, and much spiritual confusion, we will simultaneously turn to protect our own culture without any hesitation. Which task is urgent for me? To write essays? To write novels? To paint? Or rather go into the field, to the forefront of the folk culture? Doubtless, I will choose the latter." He raises his voice, adding, "The choice was made by following my heart's will, instead of deliberating over an intellectual decision."
A Culture to Hold
Feng sold his own paintings twice to raise funds for the foundation to support the investigation of fine arts folk legacies in Yunnan and Guizhou provinces. At the end of 2005, jointly with the Chinese Folk Literature and Art Association, the foundation set up a prize to reward those who greatly contribute to the preservation of cultural legacies. Winners of this prize will have the title "non-Governmental Guardian" bestowed upon them.
In recent years, with the increasing speed of city renovation, another batch of old buildings face removal. Feng Jicai went to Tianjin on an exploratory mission, and again found historical buildings worth preserving. He contacted related departments and conveyed to officials the cultural significance and importance in protecting the buildings. Through his effort, many historical buildings were not only saved, but also were repaired and again put to use.
"We have limited funds, and the investigation and salvage proves to be very hard work," Feng says. "So it requires a strong sense of dedication. Many cultural workers have worked silently without complaint at the frontline of the investigations. Some well-known senior experts have slept in ordinary inns, sometimes they even have to lodge in farmers' houses. There are many moving stories behind this work." Feng, who is over 60, sometimes feels tired. But once the phone rings and he hears that a nice block or village is about be removed, he heads to the scene. "It is a kind of sense of duty as well as love," Feng expresses. "I once said that anything involving folk culture, as if it were an emergency. To be frank, I am very pessimistic sometimes. Many old blocks were removed in the 1990s and in the times after. But you have to insist on carrying on, probably just to keep the spirit alive." He goes on affectionately by saying, "My wife also paints and engages in the arts. She understands and supports me. She knows that I am an idealist." Feng says, "It is everybody's business to pass down our culture. Only if everybody cares and treasures the fortunes our forefathers have left us, can the spirit, unique taste, and unique tradition of our nation pass on to following generations."
Feng is warmly welcomed by local people as he carries out field work in Miao villages in southeast Guizhou Province, 2004.
(China Pictorial April 20, 2006)
