On Thursday, June 10th, 2021, the State Council Press Office held a routine briefing on the State Council policy, and invited Wang Xiaofeng, member of the Party Group of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, and Wang Chenyang, Director of the Department of Intangible Cultural Heritage, to introduce the fifth batch of national intangible cultural heritage representative projects and answer questions from reporters.
[Reporter of China County Economic News]
As just mentioned, 103 projects in poverty-stricken counties in the Central Plains and a number of intangible projects that serve people’s livelihood and benefit the people are included in the list. Could you tell me more about this? Thank you.
[Wang Chenyang, Director of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Department of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism]
Thank you. Seeking happiness for the people is the initial mission of our party. Intangible heritage comes from the production and life of the people, who are the holders, inheritors and beneficiaries of intangible heritage. The work of intangible cultural heritage protection must adhere to the work orientation of taking the people as the center and protecting the achievements to benefit the people.
In recent years, many non-legacy projects have been continuously integrated into modern life through creative transformation and innovative development, and have made positive contributions to promoting economic and social development and meeting the growing needs of the people for a better life. Shaxian snack and Liuzhou snail powder production skills are such typical projects.
Shaxian snack is economical, convenient and fast, which is a model of combining northern food production skills with southern food culture. There are 110 snack varieties preserved today. Shaxian snack has more than 88,000 stores nationwide, which has driven hundreds of thousands of people to find jobs. Liuzhou snail powder is a characteristic business card of Liuzhou, which is a collective memory of local people and has important cultural significance. Nowadays, Liuzhou snail powder has developed into a characteristic industry facing the whole country, which has promoted the integrated development of aquaculture, planting, processing and service industries, and played an important role in solving employment, getting rid of poverty and promoting local economic development.
In the past, due to the underdeveloped economy and inconvenient transportation in poverty-stricken areas, the society paid little attention to the non-legacy projects in poverty-stricken areas, and the local people did not know enough about the value and significance of their own non-legacy projects and did not protect them enough. In fact, there are many non-legacy projects with local characteristics, well-preserved forms and great value in poor areas. Through the protection and inheritance, these intangible heritages, which are bred at the grassroots level and rooted in the masses, will drive the poor people to increase their income and become rich, which will play a very positive role in promoting economic and social development in poverty-stricken areas and enhancing people’s cultural self-confidence.
For example, Tushiyetu embroidery is a kind of Mongolian embroidery with distinctive features, delicacy and simplicity. With the support of the government, Tushiyetu embroidery has been effectively protected and developed. More than 100 embroidery training courses have been held in the local area, training more than 10,000 embroiderers, driving 26,000 women in Keyouzhongqi to engage in Tushiyetu embroidery industry, benefiting more than 2,800 poor households who set up files and set up cards, with an annual per capita income of more than 2,000 yuan. Bai Jingying, head of the special promotion group of Mongolian embroidery industry in Keyouzhongqi, Xing ‘an League, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, and president of Mongolian embroidery association, won the honorary title of "National Model for Poverty Alleviation".
A similar example, there is Miao Xiu Songtao. The project has been better inherited and developed in tackling poverty. The "fingertip strength" of Songtao Miao Xiu has been continuously transformed into "poverty alleviation strength", and the provincial representative inheritor of the project, Shi Liping, has also won the title of "National Advanced Individual for Combating Poverty".
There are many such projects, such as Miao Xiu in western Hunan, Helen paper-cutting, Fengjie wood carving, dam paint making skills, Wa brocade, Hanzhong rattan weaving skills, Uygur bronze making skills and so on. We believe that after being listed in the list of national intangible cultural heritage projects, the visibility of these intangible cultural heritage projects will be further enhanced, and they will play a greater role in consolidating and expanding the achievements of poverty alleviation, promoting rural revitalization and meeting the people’s growing needs for a better life. Thank you.
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