A Study on the Inheritance and Protection Mechanism of Chinese Handicraft Intangible Cultural Heritage

Van Syaosi ORCID: 0009-0002-6652-5582 Teacher, Department of Russian, South China Business College of Guangdong University of Foreign Studies (China) 181 Liangtian Str., Guangzhou, China, 510545 202273@gwng.edu.cn

Since the end of the twentieth century, under the strong influence of economic globalization and modernization of public life, the rich and diverse intangible cultural heritage (ICH) created by various peoples of mankind throughout history has been experiencing an increasingly serious crisis, and the protection and salvation of this heritage is becoming one of the most important tasks facing Governments and peoples of the world today. That is why, on October 17, 2003, UNESCO launched the implementation of the "Convention on the Protection of the Intangible Cultural Heritage" (hereinafter – the "Convention on Protection").

Thirteen Chinese crafts are included in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Mankind, and four are on the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Protection, including Chinese shadows, traditional xuanzhi papermaking techniques (from pteroceltis bark, rice straw, bamboo for painting and calligraphy) and Chinese paper cut–out drawing. In addition, there are many competent embroiderers in China, whose ability to embroider in the past was embodied in traditional objects. These items gradually went out of fashion as people's living standards increased and their lifestyle changed ^{[8, p. 2]}. In this regard, the skill of folk embroidery is no longer appreciated and practiced as widely as in the past, and is gradually declining. A similar sad fate overtook many other valuable cultural heritage of folk crafts – window decoration made of paper clippings, New Year's pictures "Nianhua", wood carving, etc.

The Chinese nation has always had excellent traditions of preserving intangible cultural heritage: from the collection, comparison and transfer of the ancient "Shijing" (one of the oldest monuments of Chinese literature) before the collection and preservation of ethnic, folk and folklore cultures that arose at the beginning of the last century, and, in particular, achievements in the field of folklore studies. Since the formation of the new China, and especially since the new period of reform and openness, China has done a lot of work in the field of preserving intangible cultural heritage, conducted positive exploration and accumulated useful experience. Next, using specific examples, we will consider the intangible cultural heritage of crafts, analyze it from the point of view of building inheritance and protection mechanisms, and then draw some conclusions.

Formation of transmission and preservation mechanisms

The essence of protection is to maintain and strengthen the inner life of a cultural object, increase its ability to "sustainable development" ^{[5, p. 105]}, which is based on a correct understanding of the definition and characteristics of intangible cultural heritage and considers it as a living and active existence. The formation and implementation of the state cultural policy directly and directly affect the distribution and use of intangible cultural resources and directly determine the effectiveness of the preservation of cultural heritage ^{[14, p. 84]}. At the same time, the process of cultural protection should not turn into a process of cultural monopoly, and the protection of intangible cultural heritage within groups, regions and nationalities should become the common rights and obligations of all groups, regions and nationalities that jointly create and share this culture ^{[8, p. 34]}. Attention should be paid to the changing relationship between the living heritage of crafts and industrial preservation ^{[16, p. 195]}, while industrial preservation should keep up with the times and find such forms of scientific research and production that would correspond to the development of industrial structure, technology and design.

In November 2003, the Committee on Education, Culture and Health of the National People's Congress (NPC) developed a draft Law of the People's Republic of China (PRC) "On the Protection of Traditional Culture of Nationalities and Nationalities of the People's Republic of China"; in 2004, China joined the UN Convention on the Protection of Intangible Cultural Heritage, becoming one of the countries that ratified the accession to The Convention is at an early stage, and bringing the protection of China's intangible cultural heritage in line with international standards. In connection with these events, the Committee of the National People's Congress for UNESCO Affairs changed the name of the draft law of the People's Republic of China "On the Protection of Traditional Culture of Nationalities and Nationalities" to "On the protection of Intangible Cultural Heritage" and created a special group to coordinate actions with all parties in order to accelerate the adoption of this bill.

In 2005, the views of the Main Office of the State Council on strengthening the protection of China's intangible cultural heritage introduced the concept of "intangible cultural heritage" into the system of policy expression for the first time, which became a program provision that brought the expression of intangible cultural heritage in line with international standards and unified with domestic standards. In 2011, in connection with the adoption and enactment of the Law of the People's Republic of China "On Intangible Cultural Heritage", changes and improvements were made to existing norms and rules, as well as the legislative status of the protection of intangible cultural heritage was established. In 2017, at the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), the report on strengthening cultural awareness included "strengthening the protection and use of cultural relics, protection and inheritance of cultural heritage." The protection of intangible cultural heritage has become an important component of strengthening cultural awareness, as well as an important component of strengthening trust in culture. Based on the basic principle of "government leadership and public participation" in the protection of intangible cultural heritage in China, policies and regulations for the protection of intangible cultural heritage issued by the Government have become an important means and channel for managing the protection of intangible cultural heritage by the State. In order to build a strong socialist cultural power, a comprehensive, systematic and in-depth analysis of the features of the evolution of China's intangible cultural heritage protection policy and the internal logic of its development is of great practical importance, which will allow us to develop practical recommendations for the development of a policy for the protection of intangible cultural heritage and its implementation.

Based on the analysis of the methods of protection in the period from 2000 to 2021, the process of protecting China's intangible cultural heritage passed through three stages: the period of origin, characterized by study, borrowing and research, in which rescue protection prevailed; the period of growth and development, in which there is a relative balance of the three methods of protection in order to consolidate the results achieved; and the period of development and maturity, in which productive protection and continuous improvement of holistic protection prevail, taking into account the concept of "sustainable development". In the period of development and maturity, in which the concept of "sustainable development" is adhered to, productive protection dominates and holistic protection is constantly improved, the evolutionary characteristics of the "hierarchical development and continuous maturity" of methods of protecting China's intangible cultural heritage are formed and the transition from "basic protection" to "protection in the process of development" is embodied. This reflects the internal logic of the transition from "basic protection" to "protection in the process of development", and protection in the process of development is gradually becoming the focus of public policy ^{[13, p. 70]}.

In August 2022, the General Office of the CPC Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council of the People's Republic of China issued the "14th five-year Cultural Development Plan", which additionally proposes measures to "strengthen the protection and inheritance of intangible cultural heritage", namely: "Improve the system of studying and registering intangible cultural heritage, the system of representative projects, the system of identification and management of representative heirs. To improve the system of studying and accounting for intangible cultural heritage, the system of representative projects, the system of identifying and managing representative transmitters, to carry out dynamic management of representative projects of national intangible cultural heritage, to explore the possibilities of identifying representative groups of transmitters, to strengthen the training of transmitters of intangible cultural heritage, to improve the effectiveness of the practice of transmitting intangible cultural heritage. Strengthening of general systematic protection, creation of national cultural ecological reserves, villages, towns and microdistricts representing intangible cultural heritage. Strengthening integration into production and life, innovative activities for thematic dissemination, promotion of intangible cultural heritage in schools, communities and networks" ^[17]. On October 30, 2022, at the thirty-seventh meeting of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of the Thirteenth convocation, the "Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of the Yellow River" was adopted, which pays special attention to strengthening the intangible cultural heritage in the Yellow River Basin ^[2]. Thus, it can be stated that China contributes to the improvement of the intangible cultural heritage protection system on an ongoing basis.

A specific example

Considering the tourist opportunities of Dali and Lijiang in Yunnan Province, as well as the spiritual needs of modern wealthy citizens in preserving the value, added value and original embodiment of precious metals such as gold, silver and precious stones, great efforts have been made in Xinhua Village of Heqing County, Yunnan Province to develop silver craft in the context of tourism development, which has brought good economic benefits. Traditional crafts, as an important area of intangible cultural heritage contributing to rural regeneration and poverty reduction, have long been widely discussed. In addition to the discussion on inheritance, innovation and the mechanism of production of traditional crafts, Gao Li et al. It is claimed that the anti-poverty workshop has formed a special combined mode of production due to social integration and cascading effects ^{[3, p. 57]}. Ma Zhiyao and Wang Leiying propose an ecosystem–based practical way to combat poverty, based on the protection and inheritance of intangible cultural heritage, promoting multilateral cooperation and synergetic development, in which heirs are the main figure, and products of intangible cultural heritage are the basis ^{[10, p. 160]}. Wang Xueli and Peng Huaixue also considered the mechanisms of using intangible cultural heritage in the fight against poverty ^{[15, pp. 71-72]}.

As part of the intangible cultural heritage training program conducted by one of the Chinese universities, advanced practitioners were invited to conduct practical classes with the heirs, who clearly showed how to create a brand, how to organize live broadcasts and other necessary skills, and the assessment was positive. One of the heirs, who shows an increased interest in the market, but hardly keeps up with the times, took such modern courses to make up for the shortcomings in his knowledge, after training, he used the acquired competencies for active network communication, demonstrating the skill of pumpkin carving, pumpkin works for sale, attracting a lot of attention the number of fans and extracting economic benefits. In the protection of intangible culture, inheritance is the core, and the protection of heirs is one of the aspects of the inheritance mechanism ^{[11, p. 122]}. The training of the heirs' abilities and the education of innovative consciousness cannot be separated from systematic learning and the exchange of experience. The training program for groups of heirs of China's intangible cultural heritage is an important initiative put forward in the "Outline of the Cultural Development and Reform Plan for the thirteenth five–year period", which is designed to help heirs of intangible cultural heritage improve their cultural and artistic skills and improve the quality of their work. The program is aimed at helping people who have inherited intangible cultural heritage to improve their cultural and artistic literacy, aesthetic abilities and creative potential.

Jiaojiang district of Taizhou City has a rich intangible cultural heritage of crafts, including Taizhou embroidery, Taizhou glass carving technique, Zhanan paper carving, glass carving, brush making technique, etc. In 2004, Taizhou City began to protect the intangible cultural heritage: fully giving preference to centuries-old streets and ancient buildings; relying on them, The city conducts activities to promote the culture of the NCH and the inheritance of the skills of the NCH; the integration of the culture of the NCH into school education has improved the understanding of the culture of the NCH among youth groups and achieved good results in the field of cultural inheritance ^{[1, p. 165]}. For example, in the Jiaojiang district of Taizhou City, the Taizhou Embroidery Art Museum was established, which became a good platform for inheriting folk art and created a favorable atmosphere for its protection. An exhibition on a literary theme in 2022, showcasing the art of tea drinking, embroidery and flower arranging, attracts a large number of tourists and turns into a popular attraction. With the continuous development of the Internet, new media has brought convenience and speed of exchange to people's lives. With advantages such as fast distribution speed, wide reach and high interactivity, new media have had a great impact on traditional crafts, as well as brought new opportunities and new ideas due to proximity to students, integration of modern elements and living inheritance ^{[7, p. 105]}. On new media platforms, Taizhou embroidery makes full use of social platforms such as TikTok, Xiaohongshu and Bilibili to conduct an advertising campaign; TikTok videos, Xiaohongshu diaries and a series of promotional videos on Bilibili on the theme "Mountains and Seas for you" show the perfect combination of traditional embroidery and modern aesthetics. In addition, educational videos on the TikTok platform on Zhang'an paper clippings, as well as on making paper lanterns, attracted widespread attention and allowed more people to understand the features and uniqueness of Zhang'an clippings.

In the future, when protecting and transferring intangible cultural heritage, it is important to continue to improve the development of appropriate protective laws and regulations; improve the protection mechanism with the participation of the government, the market and society; cultivate and train talents in the field of traditional crafts; raise public awareness of developments in this field and the importance of intangible cultural heritage of crafts.

In addition, short videos with such communicative characteristics as high transmission speed and high interactivity, as well as the ability to create and distribute in real time, are becoming an important means of distributing and popularizing intangible cultural heritage. According to the statistical analysis of the TikTok data report for 2021, the level of coverage of national ICH projects on TikTok is 99.42%, and the number of relevant videos increased by 149% over the same period compared to the same period ^{[6, p. 68]}.

TikTok and Kwai, as super popular video platforms, in an effort to increase the attractiveness of content about intangible cultural heritage, have initiated programs such as "Partners of Intangible Cultural Heritage", "Journey on the Internet of Intangible Cultural Heritage", "Leaders of Intangible Cultural Heritage", etc. in order to find heirs of intangible cultural heritage and encourage distributors, to provide comprehensive assistance in the protection and development of the ICH from two points of view – cultural heritage and dissemination of content. NCH videos can also be combined with multiple social media, and content can be created twice according to different platforms like TikTok, Kwai, Weibo, etc. to expand the influence of NCH brands using a multiplatform matrix. In the context of new media, the development of online video broadcasting has increased the three-dimensional dissemination of information, and live video broadcasting has led to an expansion of the range of branded NCH videos, strengthening the relationship between the subject of distribution and users, and the formation of closer and stronger user relationships for branded NCH videos on various media platforms.

Conclusions

In general, China has made significant progress in the preservation, transfer and development of intangible cultural heritage based on handicraft work. The efforts of the Chinese Government and all sectors of society to preserve ICH are commendable, not only in terms of improving laws and regulations and strengthening political support, but also in terms of significantly raising awareness of public participation and effectively creating a variety of protection mechanisms. We are confident that in the future, China's valuable cultural heritage will be better preserved and developed, and the Chinese experience in this area will serve as an experience for other countries for managerial borrowing.