The Functions of Public Art in Patriotic Education

胥璟+李奔鳴

Abstract：Education in patriotism， the key of ideological and political education， and the primacy of thematic education at this stage， has played an important role in nurturing the national spirit featuring vitality and connotation of the time. As the cultural carrier of ideological and political education， public art helps to arouse emotions inside the people involved， so that they will gradually form deep affection for his motherland， with national pride and self-confidence.

Key word： Patriotic education； Public art

中圖分類號：J617.6 文獻標識碼：A 文章編號：1005-5312（2017）24-0222-01

一、In Retrospect and Looking Forward

It is monument that quite fits for recalling the past while looking into the future. Facing it， “the citizens will not merely commemorate ancestors of their own， but also the past generations， as well as legal elites who formulated and passed the laws， and heroes fighting for laws and sacrifice themselves， to whom they attribute all their belongings.” ①Thats conducive for the Communist Party of China to consolidating the existing mental outlook.②

The Monument to the Peoples Heroes is the most representative public art in China， and the typical art form commemorating heroes and setting us role models. It consists of three parts： the main part， stylobate and two-layer Sumeru. The small upper-layer sumeru is engraved eight garlands around， respectively with the elements of peony， lotus， hanging curtain and other Chinese traditional decorative elements， indicating character of moral integrity， and national spirit of bravery， and also bearing good wishes of the Chinese people pursuing prosperity， richness， mightiness， peace and good luck. The lower-layer sumeru is inlaid with eight pieces of white marble relief， respectively with the themes of big events in the modern and contemporary history before the founding of New China in 1949， re-appearing the Chinese nations unyielding fight for future in direct， concise， vivid visual forms. As the spiritual symbol for the public to mourn martyrs， it is quite suitable for patriotic education. On the positive side， there are eight gilding characters inscribed by Chairman Mao， meaning “to the immortal peoples heroes”， while on the back is memorial inscription drafted by Chairman Mao and written by Zhou Enlai. Visitors standing in front of the monument will feel the peerless demeanor of national heroes， and national pride arises spontaneously. Design on the top of the monument is worth mentioning. By modelling the three most popular designs in the proportion of 1：5 and erecting them in Tiananmen Square to extensively solicit the opinion nationwide， the Lu roof in traditional architecture of Han nationality was adopted， which is the manifestation of the peoples democracy. The Monument to the Peoples Heroes is the monument of the Chinese nation， a record of its honor， and the crystalization of national spirit.endprint

二、Touch the soul for self-reflection

Making statue for a memorable hero or great man is a public art more traditional and common for setting good examples. The statues with the images worth commemorating are usually placed in crowded public places， for the public to pay respects， with the aim of continuing and deepening social classes recall of history and the great spirits， so as to develop it into a collective memory.

Manneken Pis， a famous statue located in the fountain in the downtown pedestrian zone of Brussels， Belgium， is the landmark building with nearly four hundred years of history. In the modelling of a five-year-old boy， it has a touching legend： when the Spain invaders attacking Brussels were forced to evacuate by the local peoples heroic counter-fight， they intended to explode the city. Thanks to the little boy who urinated at night to douse the fuse， the whole city was saved. In memory of the little hero， the locals carved the statue， and granted him the title of “First Citizen of Brussels”. The touching patriotic story of the naughty cute image makes people stop here and contemplate， that even a child is so brave enough to fight for his country and people， regardless of his own safety， how the adult citizens， the backbone of the nation， should realize their own value and significance. The public art in honor of heroes is not only to remember them， but also to encourage the living to regard them as examples， and inherit their tradition of excellence. This is the direct way of education to “l(fā)ove the motherland and the people”， and effective method of improving peoples ideological understanding and self-control.

三、Arouse the collective memory to strike a chord

Deng Xiaoping proposed to “recall sufferings in the old society and contrast them with the happiness in the new”. The meaning of recalling suffering is not limited to contrasting the hard-won happy life with memories of old pain， but to reflect on the present and the future through analyzing the suffering. Reminiscing about the past， especially about the collective memory of the people living in the specific years， is often by the way of reappearing the then scenes through large-scale public art sculptures （group）， as the grand scale and the sense of reality are more likely to attract the visitors， to strike a chord and shock the mind.

The modern large-scale clay sculpture “Courtyard for Collecting Rent” in Liu Wencai Manor of Dayi County， Sichuan Province， is the public art created in 1965 to meet the requirements of class struggle in the New China， by re-appearing the scenes of landlord collecting rent. Works consists of figure images with different identity， age and character， vividly and lifelike in facial expression and posture， with profound connotation. All of them fully reflect the turbulent inner feelings of the characters， with different effect and significance in different historical periods： in the Cultural Revolution period with particular political background， the group of classical works expressing class exploitation and oppression made people feel strong emotions of “class hatred” and the resentment caused by social status differences. As the reflection of the historical concept to win over political advantage， the works， with strong sense of ideology and politics， had contributed much to the social education movement in China； 30 years later， contemporary artist Cai Guoqiang was invited to recreate the “Courtyard for Collecting Rent” with behaviorism and won a prize in the 48th Venice Biennal. It was quite popular worldwide as one of the politics-themed classics in the 20th Century by the western art circles. Nowadays， most of the visitors， without suffering the misery， tend to show sympathy to the victims and hatred to the perpetrators， further exploration of historical change， objective thinking of class struggle， and reflections on the meaning of the works endowed by age. Although such art expressions as generalization， exaggeration and addition allowed to be used for art creation may result in misunderstanding of history， the educational significance of such a large-scale history-based public art to the society and humankind shall not be neglected.

As President Xi Jinping said， “Future is no way to be created without history in mind”， the importance of historical education in ideological and political education is beyond all dispute. As the carrier of the ideological and political education， public art is capable of expressing collective grief and stimulating the will to rejuvenate the nation， which is indispensable to the patriotic education for the public.

注釋：

①（US） Karsten Harris，translated by Shen Jia，Chen Zhaohui.Ethic Function of Architectures [M].Beijing：Huaxia Publishing House，2001（04）：289.

②（US） Karsten Harris，translated by Shen Jia，Chen Zhaohui.Ethic Function of Architectures [M].Beijing：Huaxia Publishing House，2001（04）：306.endprint