Recently, the People’s Government of Guangdong Province announced the eighth batch of representative projects of provincial intangible cultural heritage. A total of 115 projects were announced this time. Among them, there are 43 items in the eighth batch of representative items of provincial intangible cultural heritage in Guangdong Province, and 72 items in the list of expanded items of representative items of provincial intangible cultural heritage in Guangdong Province. Hakka nursery rhymes, legends of Zhang Jiuling, techniques for making ceramic tiles and ridges of ancient buildings, and Guangfu tea-drinking customs are listed as a number of projects with distinctive regional characteristics, extensive mass participation and contemporary values.
The selection and evaluation of the eighth batch of provincial intangible cultural heritage representative projects started in early 2021. A total of 236 declared projects in the province were included in the review. The list is produced through procedures such as recommendation and declaration, material review, expert review, social publicity, and soliciting opinions. Up to now, there are 4 representative projects of human intangible cultural heritage in Guangdong Province, 165 national intangible cultural heritage projects and 816 provincial intangible cultural heritage projects.
"The eighth batch of representative projects of provincial intangible cultural heritage highlights the cultural characteristics of Lingnan. Actively serving the national strategy and implementing the decision-making arrangements of the provincial party committee and government, reflecting the combination of" complementing shortcomings "and" strong advantages ",will play a positive role in" double innovation "of Chinese excellent traditional culture and casting a solid sense of the Chinese nation community." Song Junhua, director of the China Intangible Cultural Heritage Research Center of Sun Yat-sen University, commented.
According to the relevant person in charge of the Guangdong Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, next, relevant departments will identify representative project protection units, and establish an evaluation mechanism for representative project protection units and representative inheritors, so as to effectively improve the level of intangible cultural heritage protection in Guangdong Province and make new contributions to striving to create a new situation of building a strong cultural province.
?The "New Members" of the Project Retain the Nostalgia Memory of Lingnan Culture
Guangdong has three major ethnic groups: Guangfu, Hakka and Chaoshan. Leizhou culture, overseas Chinese culture, Yi people culture and ethnic minority culture also constitute the diverse characteristics of Lingnan cultural ecology. Chaozhou jade carving, the legend of Pan Maoming, Hakka costume making skills, the legend of immigrants from Zhujixiang who settled in Liangxi … Many "new members" in the list of representative projects of provincial intangible cultural heritage all reflect the profound cultural imprint of Lingnan.
"Drink tea.YuehaiFailed to forget. " Speaking of the profound food culture in Lingnan area, the drinking tea custom in Guangfu can be described as one of the life customs with the highest participation and the most extensive influence. As early as the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China, drinking tea has become a well-known custom in Guangfu area. After hundreds of years of development and precipitation, Guangfu tea-drinking custom has formed many unique tea-drinking customs and rules. Cantonese dim sum, which blends Chinese and western styles, is an indispensable "pearl" of Guangfu tea drinking custom. Numerous modern cultural celebrities, such as Kang Youwei, Sun Yat-sen, Lu Xun and Guo Moruo, once drank tea in Guangzhou and fell for it, leaving a series of well-known humanistic stories.
Wandering in the fields of Zhaoqing, the rows of "wine halls" leave a rich landscape for the local people. Gaoyao wine hall has a long history, and the earliest existing wine hall was built in Ming Dynasty. According to incomplete statistics, there are at least 1900 existing wine halls in Gaoyao, which are distributed in more than 300 administrative villages in the whole region, which can be described as "there are wine halls in every village". In the eyes of local villagers, the wine hall is not only a place for their dinners and banquets, but also contains nostalgic memories of "rustic and honest". Weddings, funerals, birthdays, Spring Festival celebrations, and crowning in the village are all held in the wine hall. Over the centuries, a unique "wine hall regulation" has been formed, which encourages respecting the elderly and helping the poor by exempting management fees and other measures. Nowadays, these regulations have gradually become a popular custom in the village, which has condensed the cornerstone of the harmonious development of the local society.
Li Zhaoxu, a professor at the Martial Arts College of Guangzhou Institute of Physical Education, pointed out that the evaluation of the eighth batch of provincial intangible cultural heritage projects highlighted their "cultural attributes". The selection of "Taishan Nine Volleyball" reflects the profound connotation of overseas Chinese culture. Although volleyball is a modern Olympic event, it has always adhered to its own traditions and characteristics since it was introduced to Taishan at the beginning of last century. "The traditional’ nine-a-side volleyball’ has become a communication bridge and emotional bond for overseas Chinese to strengthen their cultural self-confidence and build the spirit of China."
The eighth batch of provincial-level non-legacy representative projects has also added new projects with unique ethnic customs, such as the oral literature she songs from the she nationality, the only ethnic minority in Chaozhou. Singing is an indispensable part of the life of She people. They preach from mouth to heart and speak with songs. She songs cover four types: historical legend songs, exhortation songs, love songs and miscellaneous songs, which also deeply affect the emergence and development of Chaozhou folk songs.
Knife and wood collide, ink and paper blend, and Xingning prints from the old revolutionary base areas are also engraved with deep red memories. This technique, which originated from traditional folk woodcut prints, has deep roots with the emerging printmaking movement in China in 1930s. A large number of Xingning printmakers such as Chen Tiegeng, Chen Zhuokun, Zhong Buqing and Luo Qingzhen had close contacts with Mr. Lu Xun. Under their influence and drive, Xingning gradually established its position as the "hometown of printmaking". The selection of this project will have important practical significance for promoting the economic and social development of the old Soviet area.
?The vitality of the project Cantonese cuisine "empowers" rural revitalization
"These provincial-level non-legacy representative projects have strong inheritance ability, strong innovation ability and strong communication ability." Mingjing Yang, former director of Guangdong Cultural Center, said. The categories of new projects also show obvious characteristics. In the first seven batches of provincial intangible cultural heritage representative projects, there are only 23 folk literature projects. In this review, eight items, such as the legend of Zhang Jiuling, the legend of Su Dongpo and Hakka nursery rhymes, were included in the list. "These projects all play an important role in promoting traditional culture and ideological and moral education." He added.
As a traditional dominant category in Guangdong Province, the project team of folk customs and traditional skills has also been further strengthened. The technique of making ceramic tile ridges of ancient buildings popular in Zhongshan area is one of them. The production technology of ceramic tile ridge is in the same strain as that of Shiwan ceramic sculpture. Pottery tile ridges put Lingnan flowers, animals and birds, and even the whole Cantonese opera on the roof, which became an epoch-making initiative in Lingnan architectural history. Now, in more than 20 restoration or imitation projects of Lingnan ancient buildings, such as Nanhai Temple in Guangzhou, Longmu Temple in Deqing Yuecheng, Foshan Ancestral Temple and Guangdong Cantonese Opera Art Museum, Xiaolan’s "Jucheng Pottery House" has been left behind.
Cantonese opera and puppet show from Dongguan, tea-picking show in peace county, Heyuan, and the declaration items of three folk arts and traditional dramas are all included in the list. Dongguan is known as the "hometown of Quyi", and Cantonese opera became popular in the late Ming Dynasty. With the establishment of professional organizations such as Dongguan Cantonese Opera Development Center and Dongguan Opera Association, Dongguan Cantonese Opera has also ushered in the "second spring". At present, there are more than 400 local registered Quyi clubs and private bureaus, with nearly 10,000 participants. The total number of "Hometown of Chinese Quyi" ranks second in the province.
It is worth mentioning that the lineup of traditional medicine categories has been significantly strengthened in the eighth batch of provincial-level intangible representative projects. In March this year, the General Office of the State Council issued the Notice on the Development Plan of Chinese Medicine in the 14th Five-Year Plan, and Guangdong took the lead in implementing the strategy of building a strong province of Chinese medicine in China, which also ushered in a new climax. Nine traditional medical items, such as musculoskeletal therapy, clearing the uterus and setting the bones in traditional Chinese medicine, and making techniques of Luofushan rheumatism plaster, are listed in the list.
In order to promote the construction of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, rural revitalization, and the construction and development of old Soviet areas, ethnic areas, remote areas, historical and cultural cities, and cultural and ecological protection areas, this review also adds consideration to serving the national strategy and implementing the decision-making arrangements of the provincial party committee and government. Hakka cooking skills, Chaozhou cooking skills, Cantonese preserved fruit making skills, and a number of non-legacy Cantonese dishes that serve the people’s livelihood and benefit the people have been on the list. A number of new provincial-level non-legacy projects, such as roasted meat production skills, Deqing penny powder production skills and Wenshuitang fishing festival, will also have a long-term positive impact on promoting rural revitalization.
Xinhui Gujing Roast Goose Making Skills and Qingyuan White-cut Chicken Cooking Skills are on the list. The "Gujing Roasted Goose", which takes Xinhui local high-quality black-maned goose as its ingredients, has formed a large industry scale. At present, the industry in Gujing Town has driven more than 800 employees, with an annual output value of about 100 million yuan. As a famous dish in southern Guangdong, the annual output of Qingyuan chickens has reached 50 million. Being selected into the list of provincial-level non-legacy representative projects will further promote the establishment of well-known brands of Qingyuan catering.
"These food and beverage projects are our’ intangible heritage around us’, and they also have strong vitality among young people. Their selection will further help the implementation of the’ Cantonese Cuisine Master’ project in Guangdong Province." Hu Zhuoyan, a professor at the Food College of South China Agricultural University, said. Li Bian Sheng, a professor at South China University of Technology and chairman of Guangdong Food Society, expects that the project protection unit can pay attention to the brand effect, let more citizens know about the inheritance and development of these intangible assets, and realize the "double harvest" of cultural inheritance and industrial development.
