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Intangible culture key to modern identity
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IN a recent article published in Wenhui Daily, writer Feng Jicai sang the praises of Banpu Village, a particularly well-preserved village in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province.
Feng observed that traces and relics of the past are crucial to our collective memory.
“There are rarely written documents about Chinese villages. When locals cease to gossip about things a century old, a state of amnesia sets in, and custom falls into disuse — but should they be all abandoned?”
The preservation of Banpu Village is nothing short of heroic in an era when so many old things have to justify their continued existence.
In Feng’s view, relics in that village testify to the identity and origins of the villagers.
Deprived of these mementos, villagers might suffer from amnesia.
Amnesia can lead to a condition where the celebration of present grandeur is no longer balanced against past circumstances, nor future consequences.
Our local administrators have good reasons to be concerned about vanishing local habits and culture.
In an article deploring the inability of many local youngsters to speak authentic Shanghainese (“Dialect signified city’s accommodating spirit,” December 28, Shanghai Daily), the author mentioned a personal anecdote where her attempt to speak in dialect to her granny was met with a blank stare. She had to switch to Mandarin to be understood.
For kids my son’s age, standard Chinese is the new normal. For them, use of dialect is only attempted on special occasions to dramatize how efficient protection of indigenous culture is.
Similar preservation attempts can also be seen in some successful real estate project which try to present a “slice of life” of older Shanghai. In such projects one can find an exterior evocative of local flavor, and an interior housing Western amenities. But elsewhere it is well-nigh impossible to stay the advance of roaring bulldozers.
When I strolled through suburban Shanghai a decade ago, I could still espy traditional southern-style homes, with their ornately crafted painted pillars and beams. In wave after wave of subsequent “development” though, many of these homes were reduced to heaps of rubble. Then high-rises sprang up.
Xinmin Evening News reported last June of a man, Wang Yan’gen, who managed to salvage a large number of beautifully wrought furniture, beams, and pillars from old residences in Gaoqiao, Gaohang, and Chuansha, which are all localities in Pudong New Area with strong local flavor.
Over the course of 14 years, Wang used these salvaged materials to recreate a 204-room traditional residential complex.
Disappearing home
With small boats, green tiles, geese, covered passage and farming tools, Wang attempted to conjure up an idyllic rustic scene. No doubt there are still many elderly people in China who will find this scene familiar. For children though, this project may be little more than an unfamiliar curiosity from the past.
Well-off Chinese are travelling far and wide these days to “see the world,” but how many of them have heard of this project aimed at affording us a glimpse into what local life was like not so long ago? According to statistics, between 2000 and 2010, every day an average of 200 villages disappeared across the country.
China’s ancient residences were conceived and executed according to principals that are now widely forgotten. In the past, for instance, buildings were scrupulously judged on their harmonious relationship with the surrounding, natural environment.
By contrast, modern buildings are conceived in disdain for such considerations. Indeed, our modern urban buildings are celebrations of individualism, where comforts reign supreme.
We are no longer distracted by things that are not “useful.”
The enveloping smog might draw complaints for a few days, but it can hardly cloud the official euphoria surrounding the latest car sales figures.
It is no longer fashionable to subscribe to a higher morality against the overriding mandate for economic growth.
Deprived of our historical consciousness and concerns about future stewardship, we emphasize the maximization of material enjoyment over the pursuit of what’s good.
According to a post making the rounds on WeChat over the weekend, Beijing is in danger of losing its local character as native residents are pushed out of downtown areas. The breakfast snack stalls, the old people playing chess or chatting in hutongs — these hallmarks of Beijing culture are all being replaced by office workers rushing to and from office buildings.
“For outsiders working here, they can still ease their homesickness by heading home by train or plane,” the post reads. “But where is home for old Beijingers?”
A sad question indeed.
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