China's Art Keepers

History

The concept of the Chinese Guardians is rooted in a long tradition of craftsmanship. As early as the Zhou Rites - Kaogong Ji, there is a record of the “Hundred Workers” system, where the governmental artisan system provided various kinds of handicrafts for the society. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, private workshops passed on their skills through a strict master-apprentice system, such as the Jingdezhen “billet housemen” and the Suzhou “embroidery shop”, forming crafts schools with regional characteristics.

During the industrialization process in the 20th century, traditional handicrafts faced an existential crisis, and after China's accession to the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2004, the concept of “artisan” gradually took shape. Unlike “craftsmen” who emphasize technology, “artisans” emphasize the mission of cultural inheritance. For example, Yin Liping, a Chengdu lacquer artist, believes that lacquer practitioners should not only continue to improve their professionalism, but also pay attention to the impact of the changing times on traditional crafts, so that they can “make changes at any time” on the one hand, and preserve the core skills of Chengdu lacquer art on the other. On the one hand, we should “make changes whenever they occur”, and on the other hand, we should preserve the core skills of Chengdu lacquer art. Only in this way can the skills be preserved and the legacy be passed on (Zhou Yiqiao and Du Jie, 2022,(07):137-140).

Contemporary Transformation

The current group of art keepers shows polarization. On the one hand, the inheritors are aging seriously, the average age of national-level non-genetic inheritors reaches 63 years old, and there are only three inheritors over 80 years old left in Yunnan Dai slow-wheel pottery making. On the other hand, young power is being injected, 32% of Jingdezhen “Jing wrokers” are after 95, and the number of UP masters after 00 on the traditional craft channel of B station has increased by 240% annually.

The use and realization of the digital path is based on the Internet-type modern technology means and new media applications. The new media era is the era of mass participation, which provides infinite possibilities for the exploration of intangible cultural heritage protection mode (Fan Xiaoqing, 2016,43(04):166-171). Statistics show that as of May this year, there were an average of 19,000 live broadcasts of NCH on Shake Voice every day, with an average of 13 NCH content starts every minute. And in the past year, 274 million users watched video content of traditional culture on Beili Beili (B Station), with a total broadcast volume of 12 billion; more than 440,000 B Station UP masters created Chinese-style videos of music, dance, Chinese costumes, traditional crafts, and other kinds of videos. These traditional culture stalwarts and purveyors active on the Internet have drawn in sweet, fresh, living water, washing away the sands of the years and allowing the fertile spiritual wealth of our ancestors to return to the public with a livelier look (Xuanjing and Sun Yanyan, 2023-09-21(005)).

Future Development

Ten ministries and commissions, including the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, have issued the Circular on Promoting the High-Quality Inheritance and Development of Traditional Crafts, which “encourages general colleges and universities and vocational colleges (including technical colleges and universities) with the necessary conditions to offer majors and courses related to traditional crafts and to cultivate professional and technical talents and technological skills who have the skills, know how to design, and understand theories.” Art keepers need to find a balance between tradition and modernity. Based on the development needs of today's cultural creativity and arts and crafts industry, relying on the rich local handicrafts and non-heritage projects, and making non-heritage used and loved by modern people, as more and more craftsmen trained in vocational education go into the society, it is believed that the non-heritage will fly into the homes of ordinary people in a more youthful and fashionable way (Song Xiqun and Wang Bingya, 2022-08-11(008)).

Art keepers are transforming themselves from inheritors of skills to “cultural programmers”, preserving traditional genes and writing modern application codes. For example, the creation of the digital platform of intangible cultural heritage of “Art Keeper” has added to the protection of intangible cultural heritage in China. The main functional modules of the platform include four aspects: database design, non-heritage culture portal, non-heritage product trade platform and back-end affairs management. The platform can play a better role in the inheritance and development of non-heritage culture, and at the same time, it has a relatively obvious role in improving the income and social status of non-heritage people (Li Xiaolong, Yang Junjie, 2022,34(07):174-176+). 200).

Terms and expressions

1.手艺人 Artisan

2.守艺人 Cultural Guardian

3.数字化路径的运用和实现 Application and Implementation of Digital Pathways

4.非物质文化遗产 Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH)

Questions

1. How do contemporary cultural guardians pass on traditional culture?

2. What is the difference between a cultural guardian and a craftsman?

Reference

[1]

[1]周怡乔,杜洁.成都漆艺的发展演变、传承和保护——基于成都漆艺“守艺人”个案展开的讨论[J].四川戏剧,2022,(07):137-140.

[2]范小青.让“大教堂”携手“大集市”——论非物质文化遗产传承与保护的众包模式[J].中央民族大学学报(哲学社会科学版),2016,43(04):166-171.

[3]宣晶,孙彦扬.非遗“守艺人”靠什么赢得关注[N].文汇报,2023-09-21(005).

[4]宋喜群,王冰雅,封尘,等.培养手艺人何愁“守艺人”[N].光明日报,2022-08-11(008).

[5]李小龙,阳君杰,马雪晴.“守艺人”非物质文化遗产数字化平台建设[J].信息与电脑(理论版),2022,34(07):174-176+200.

中国守艺人

历史溯源

中国守艺人的概念根植于悠久的工匠传统。早在《周礼·考工记》中就有"百工"制度的记载，官府工匠体系为社会提供各类手工艺品。明清时期，民间作坊通过严格的师徒制传承技艺，如景德镇的"坯房佬"、苏州的"绣庄"等，形成了具有地域特色的工艺流派。

20世纪工业化进程中，传统手工艺一度面临生存危机。2004年中国加入《保护非物质文化遗产公约》后，"守艺人"概念逐渐形成。与"手艺人"强调技术不同，"守艺人"更突出文化传承的使命。例如，成都漆艺“守艺人”尹利萍，她认为漆艺从业者除了要持续精进自身的专业素养外，更应该关注时代变迁对传统工艺的影响，一方面要“制随时变”，一方面又要保留成都漆艺的核心技艺不丢失。由此，才能守成技艺，并开启传承（周怡乔、杜洁，2022,(07):137-140）。

当代转型

当前守艺人群体呈现两极分化态势。一方面，传承人老龄化严重，国家级非遗传承人平均年龄达63岁，云南傣族慢轮制陶仅存3位80岁以上传承人。另一方面，年轻力量正在注入，景德镇"景漂"中32%为95后，B站传统工艺频道的00后UP主数量年增长240%。

数字化路径的运用和实现是建立在互联网类现代科技手段和新媒体应用的基础之上的。新媒体时代是大众参与的时代，它为非物质文化遗产保护模式的探索提供了无限可能（范小青，2016,43(04):166-171）。统计数据显示，截至今年5月，抖音平均每天有1.9万场非遗直播，平均每分钟就有13场非遗内容开播。而过去一年，有2.74亿用户在哔哩哔哩（B站）观看传统文化的视频内容，总播放量达到120亿；创作中国风的音乐、舞蹈、汉服、传统手艺等种类视频的B站UP主超过44万人。这些活跃在网络上的传统文化坚守者、传播者引来了清甜的活水，冲刷掉岁月的沙尘，让祖先丰沃的精神财富以更活泼的面貌重回大众视野（宣晶、孙彦扬，2023-09-21(005)）。

未来发展

文化和旅游部等十部委印发《关于推动传统工艺高质量传承发展的通知》，“鼓励具备条件的普通高等学校、职业院校（含技工院校）开设传统工艺相关专业和课程，培养有技能、会设计、懂理论的专业技术人才和技术技能人才。”守艺人需要在传统与现代间寻找平衡点。立足当今文化创意和工艺美术业的发展需求，依托本地丰富的手工技艺非遗项目，让非遗为现代人所用所爱，随着越来越多受过职业教育训练的手艺人走入社会，相信非遗会以更加青春、时尚的方式飞入寻常百姓家（宋喜群、王冰雅，2022-08-11(008)）。

守艺人正从技艺传承者转变为"文化程序员"，既要保存传统基因，又要编写现代应用代码。比如“守艺人”非物质文化遗产数字化平台的创立，为我国非物质文化遗产的保护工作添砖加瓦。平台的主要功能模块包括了数据库设计、非遗文化门户网站、非遗产品贸易平台和后端事务管理4个方面的内容，该平台能够较好的起到传承和发展非遗文化的作用，同时对提高非遗传人的收入和社会地位有比较明显的促进作用（李小龙、阳君杰，2022,34(07):174-176+200）。

术语与表达