The charm of contemporary intangible cultural heritage from the perspective of media

Today, when the confidence of the Chinese nation is unprecedentedly high, the attention to intangible cultural heritage is increasing day by day. What kind of new narrative of traditional culture do contemporary Chinese young people want to see?

From traditional skills to traditional etiquette and festivals, China's intangible cultural heritage resources are very rich. At present, there are a total of 1,154 world heritage sites, distributed in 167 countries and regions in the world. As of the end of 2023, China has 43 intangible cultural heritage projects listed in the Representative List and Register of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity of UNESCO, ranking first in the world

In the past, people's impression of intangible cultural heritage as untouchable, mysterious and distant is dissipating. Today's intangible cultural heritage has unveiled its mysterious veil and gradually entered all aspects of public life. Whether it is "China in Intangible Cultural Heritage", "Art View of My "Heritage"" or "Intangible Cultural Heritage Open Class" and "Amazing Intangible Cultural Heritage", various variety shows, TV series and documentaries with intangible cultural heritage as the theme are emerging in an endless stream, leading the Chinese people to appreciate the charm of Chinese traditional culture.

From @李子柒 to @九月 to @南翔不爱吃, the continuous emergence of short video intangible cultural heritage creators has enabled people at home and abroad to contact and understand Chinese traditional culture in a concrete form. Recently, with the rise of short dramas, a series of intangible cultural heritage short dramas such as "Escape from the British Museum" and "My Homeward Journey Has Wind" have also attracted a large number of young people to pay attention to intangible cultural heritage.

Intangible cultural heritage is an important part of the excellent traditional culture of the Chinese nation. As a media, we have the responsibility to pay attention to and spread intangible cultural heritage, and seek ways to present intangible cultural heritage under contemporary narratives.

Leveraging the “Celebrity Effect”

Last year, the Chinese media "Shangchengshi" invited the famous actress Zhao Liying to Quanzhou, Fujian to experience the local customs and shoot the cover of the January issue. The film focuses on presenting local intangible cultural heritage such as puppet shows, hairpins, lanterns, and family banquets. Zhao Liying's style in a red dress and a bright hairpin also went viral, causing many people to rush to check in.

In April this year, a blogger pointed out that "CCTV variety show "Kaimen Daji" showed Zhao Liying's hairpin photos", and then the official blog of Quanzhou Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Film and Tourism of Fujian Province reposted this group of photos and responded: "Thanks to "Shangchengshi" and Teacher Zhao Liying for bringing Quanzhou Xiapu hairpins to the limelight, and also brought Quanzhou, a world heritage city, to the limelight."

In previous reports, Jing Daily pointed out that compared with other markets, the "celebrity effect" in the Chinese mainland market is extremely prominent and particularly important. Chinese celebrities have a strong fan base, and the appeal and purchasing power they generate are also quite impressive. This is why major international brands have chosen the spokesperson strategy when they enter the Chinese market. "The Upper City Scholar" is also well aware of the influence of celebrities, so it chooses to use the power of celebrities to drive the public's attention to different regions and lifestyles, and presents local customs through contemporary narratives and shooting techniques, conveying the heritage and charm of local traditional culture.

It is worth noting that "The Upper City Scholar" does not only borrow the "celebrity effect" on the surface. It will combine the personal temperament, experience and other information of celebrities with the shooting location to find or create a connection between the two parties. Have an in-depth experience of the Nanjing Baiju, which you have never known before, as well as the intangible cultural heritage treasures of your hometown such as Qinhuai Lanterns and Nanjing Paper Cutting. In the opening issue of 2024, a giant dragon parades and fireworks bloom. Liu Shishi, who grew up in Beijing, feels the "New Year" in her "foreign hometown" Yangshuo, Guilin, and this evokes her childhood memories of the New Year.

"Upper City Scholars" is a more experiential and in-depth shooting method that can help the photographer create beautiful memories of the present and potential unfinished business, thereby allowing the photographer and the audience watching the work to deeply perceive the uniqueness of traditional culture and intangible cultural heritage cities.

In-depth and continuous media presentation

In 2023, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of China issued the "Notice on Promoting the In-depth Integration and Development of Intangible Cultural Heritage and Tourism", proposing that "the organic integration of intangible cultural heritage can further enrich the cultural connotation of tourist spaces such as tourist attractions, resorts, leisure blocks, key rural tourism villages and towns, and red tourism classic scenic spots, and enhance the cultural heritage", which has greatly promoted the development of intangible cultural heritage tourism. From Harbin, which attracts visitors from all over the world with its intangible cultural heritage project ice sculpture skills, to Dali, which proposes "Follow the intangible cultural heritage to visit Dali", to the Three Gorges, which has built Bawangzhai into a revitalized intangible cultural heritage museum, we can see how much contemporary young people love intangible cultural heritage and intangible cultural heritage tourism.

Unlike the "rushing around" we have seen in the past, "Shangchengshi" presents traditional culture and intangible cultural heritage cities in a profound and continuous way. In January this year, "Shangchengshi" returned to Quanzhou, which it first visited in early 2023, and held the "Shangcheng Family Banquet" in the Qingpu Wulin Traditional Village with a history of more than 600 years, leading guests to experience a series of intangible cultural heritage and skills such as hairpins, fire tripods, Liuhequan, Yongchun lacquer baskets, bead embroidery, Quanzhou Nanyin, brick carving, and string puppets.

Not long after, in April, "Shangchengshi" and Valentino returned to Quanzhou again on the day of the Spring Equinox to hold the "Shangcheng Family Banquet", decorating the Wulin Traditional Village with the latter's iconic "Valentino red". The guests tried cultural experience projects such as hairpins, Jincang embroidery, and water beasts, watched the performances of Nanyin, Gaojia Opera, Huoding Gongpo, Wuzuquan, etc. performed on the Wulin Ancient Theater, tasted the local delicacies in the watertight compartment Fuzhou boats, Yongchun lacquer baskets and Anxi bamboo weaving, and finally conveyed expectations and hopes through "burning towers".

Such intensive and high exposure is bound to bring tourism heat to Quanzhou, Fujian, a city of intangible cultural heritage. According to the Quanzhou Evening News, during the May Day holiday this year, Quanzhou received a total of 5.5821 million tourists, an increase of 82.51% year-on-year; the total tourist expenditure of tourists was 5.06 billion yuan, an increase of 146.83% year-on-year, and tourists from outside the province accounted for 64.26%. The total number of tourists received, the growth rate, and the growth rate of tourists' travel expenditure ranked first in the province.

Focusing on the inheritors of intangible cultural heritage

"For the innovation and cross-border of modern string puppetry, the new generation of inheritors should stand up and do such things." String puppet artist Huang Jiangyi said in the family dinner video. When experiencing Nanjing paper-cutting, Ni Ni also expressed her hope to give more shots to intangible cultural heritage inheritors.

Through the media identity, "Shangchengshi" gives a new generation of intangible cultural heritage inheritors like Huang Jiangyi a window, focusing the lens on intangible cultural heritage and its inheritors, allowing them to directly show the historical heritage and infinite charm of intangible cultural heritage to the audience.

In addition to launching the "Scenery on the Way" program, which uses the celebrity effect to attract the public to intangible cultural heritage and intangible cultural heritage cities, a special project "Hello, Art Keeper" was also launched.

This project focuses on intangible cultural heritage projects, following the representative inheritors of these intangible cultural heritage to understand their stories with intangible cultural heritage, aiming to continuously integrate intangible cultural heritage into contemporary life and make it shine.

The inheritance of intangible cultural heritage has never relied on the power of one party alone. In the past, we have seen the policy guidance and support of China, the strong protection and promotion of the local cultural and tourism bureau, and the public's pursuit of culture, especially traditional culture. Now that the new media era has arrived, the media can promote local culture in a more diverse and colorful way. This is the mission and interest of the media. Intangible cultural heritage deserves attention, and the inheritors behind the intangible cultural heritage are even more worthy of record.