Riding the wind of rebirth

"Actually, this is what I discovered during this inspection trip to the island country." Zhou Zhi said: "In the process of communicating with several senior collectors in the island country, I was very interested in their classification method of cultural heritage."

"It seems that when you were in high school, you did exegesis of the dialect of your hometown, and sorted out various traditions and folk culture, right?"

"Yes, I have been interested in these things since I was a child." Zhou Zhinan smiled and said, "So after I heard about such a law in the island country, I felt..."

"It feels like I have found a soulmate. What I want to do, I have someone do it in front of me, right?"

"Hehehe..." Zhou Zhi could only giggle.

In fact, he has been very sensitive in this aspect since he was a child. Under the influence of his godfather, he has almost developed a habit of collecting various local cultural heritage since childhood. It can be said that the cultural heritage of Jiachuan is basically organized by him and his godfather Wu Lingjun. from.

This was the case in both generations. When the country joined the Convention for the Protection of Intangible Cultural Heritage, the two of them communicated on the phone and celebrated each other even though they were in two places.

Zhou Zhi's influence was much greater in this life, but he changed from a supporter to a promoter, and started advocating for the relevant departments ten years in advance.

Of course, these things have nothing to do with Minister Liu. The opportunity to go to Japan and South Korea for an inspection just happened, so all the motivations can be attributed to what he saw and thought during this inspection.

South Korea also followed the example of the island country in establishing its own protection system in 1964. It also divided the cultural heritage that the country should protect into tangible and intangible.

"After seeing this law in the island country, I asked it to study it," Zhou Zhi said: "In general, it is good, but the natural heritage part actually includes scenic spots, protected areas, cities with tourism value, etc. "Etc., I think it's a bit nondescript to mix it with cultural heritage. In our country, that should be a matter for the tourism bureau."

"The remaining cultural heritage is, of course, the main building of our ministry. However, the classification definitions used by Japan and South Korea in terms of tangible and intangible are actually not accurate."

"After returning to China, I searched for information and found that UNESCO, as early as the 1970s, proposed that cultural heritage consists of tangible heritage and intangible heritage when formulating a heritage protection plan."

"This is a new term. In the French text of the United Nations, it is expressed as PATRIMOINE CULTUREL IMMATERIEL. The literal translation into Chinese is 'intangible cultural heritage'."

"INTANGIBLE CULTURAL HERITAGE in the English text, and the word INTANGIBLE in the dictionary means unable to be touched or not having physical presence. The meaning of the latter word is consistent with French, but in more contexts, it is indeed The upper level meaning - invisible, intangible meaning."

"So I think the French text is more accurate. According to the French meaning, it is more accurate to divide cultural heritage into tangible cultural heritage and intangible cultural heritage. It is also much better than directly using Japanese and Korean concepts."

"Material cultural heritage is cultural relics with historical, artistic and scientific value; intangible cultural heritage refers to various traditional cultures that exist in intangible forms, are closely related to the lives of the national people, and are passed down from generation to generation."

"In this way, the cultural heritage and folk heritage defined by the island country are combined. Cultural heritage is only divided into material and intangible heritage, unlike the island country which also divides the intangible heritage into culture and folk customs. The classification method like the island country is somewhat nondescript. Not saying it is not in line with our domestic tradition." Minister Liu nodded: "In fact, we have also been studying this issue in recent years."

“In November 1989, at the 11th General Conference of UNESCO, the Recommendations on the Protection of Traditional and Folk Culture were adopted. In this proposal, a precise definition of the concept of “traditional and folk culture” was formally put forward. It refers to a form of expression that comes from a certain cultural community, is based on tradition, is expressed by a certain group or some individuals, and is considered to be in line with the expectations of the traditional and folk cultural community, as an expression of its cultural and social characteristics;”

This sounds a bit brain-burning, but Minister Liu immediately gave a more straightforward definition: "In other words, it is an art form whose principles and values ​​are passed down orally through imitation or other means. Including but not Limited to language, literature, music, dance, games, mythology, etiquette, customs, handicrafts, architecture and other arts.”

This explanation is quite powerful, but Zhou Zhi immediately brought up two things that are unique to the Chinese nation: "Our nation also has two unique arts, calligraphy and traditional Chinese painting."

"Works of calligraphy and traditional Chinese painting, such as "Preface to the Orchid Pavilion Collection" and "Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains" should certainly be counted as material cultural relics; however, these two arts are highly structured arts with specific philosophical structures. Aesthetic structure, organizational structure, writing methods, etc., all belong to the category of intangible cultural heritage.”

These two points were something that even Minister Liu had never thought about, and he couldn't help but laugh: "You are really thoughtful, but what you said is indeed reasonable. For example, Qi Lao, according to the protection law of the island country, is given the title of 'National Treasure on Earth' , not too much at all.”

"That's what I want to express." Zhou Zhi nodded: "Cultural, historical, valuable, inherited, and heritage with an inherent cultural logic system are all the crystallization of human wisdom and should all belong to cultural heritage. ”

"The rest of the matter is still immaterial, so it doesn't matter."

"Then your scope is too broad." Minister Liu said with a smile: "If you think so, then Mr. Wang's teasing with crickets will also be included in the intangible cultural heritage?"

"Indeed!" Zhou Zhi said as a matter of course: "It's just that we also have to distinguish between calligraphy and painting techniques, Guqin fingering techniques, Kunqu opera singing techniques, etc."

After speaking, he smiled at Mr. Wang, who was standing beside him, and said, "We might as well move those things in the old man's "Heap of Brocade Ashes" back. It doesn't matter if we protect them later, huh?"

"Ha!" Mr. Wang couldn't help being happy: "I didn't expect those things to be taken seriously. I just thought it would be a pity to lose them without writing them down."

Minister Liu also smiled and said: "I am a young man after all. He has a really good appetite and is not picky about food!"

"Hey, Minister Liu, to elaborate, I think our major Chinese cuisines, especially the cooking methods of traditional dishes, can also be regarded as intangible cultural heritage." Zhou Zhi quickly added.

"Yes, according to your definition, China's five thousand years of civilization and intangible cultural heritage are really too many." Minister Liu smiled and said: "But let's bring the topic back first. "

"If you don't set rules, it's impossible to achieve success!" (End of this chapter)