Let intangible cultural heritage walk into the daily life

By Zhang Zhenxiao

On the night of Cultural and Natural Heritage Day on June 9th, the 6-day 2018 “Splendid China” - China Intangible Cultural Heritage Fashion Show was closed successfully in Beijing Prince Gong’s Mansion.

Sun Ruizhe, President of China National Textile and Apparel Council(CNTAC), Chen Dapeng, Yang Zhaohua, and Sun Huaibin, Vice Presidents of the CNTAC, Yang Jun, Peng Yanli, and Li Jincai, Deputy Secretary Generals of CNTAC, and leaders of related organizations of China National Textile and Apparel Council attended the closing show, and Xiang Zhaolun, Party Member and Vice Minister of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism specially attended it.

Ramie, the legendary China Grass, achieves the dream at Prince Gong’s Mansion

As the final closing work of 2018 “Splendid China” - China Intangible Cultural Heritage Fashion Show, “Ramie Achieves the Dream in the Orient - Intangible Cultural Heritage Fashion Show” was solemnly held on the very night in Yin’andian, Prince Gong’s Mansion, Beijing. The Chinese famous fashion designer Zhang Yichao carried 58 sets of creative works of Rongchang grass cloth “whose root is shaped by culture, whose soul is endowed by intangible cultural heritage, whose face is grass cloth, whose lining is made of Antao ceramics, whose eyes are interspersed with malus spectabilis and that is polished with Sichuan opera”, presenting the contemporary fashion designers’activated inheritance results of intangible cultural heritage that organically combine tradition and fashion.

“Carry forward the cultural spirit full of eternal charm and contemporary value that transcends time and space and goes beyond the country, and spread out the achievements of contemporary China’s cultural innovation that inherits the traditional excellent cul-

2018 “Splendid China” has come to a successful conclusion ture and carries forward the spirit of the times, bases on the our country’s national conditions and faces the world.” Zhang Yichao forms ties with Rongchang grass cloth, and proceeding from the material source, he carries out fundamental exploration of China’s clothing ecosystem, seeks to combine tradition with fashion so that the inheritance of civilization can be innovated and reborn in the vast expanse of time, opening a colorful chapter for the traditional Chinese culture.

“Ramie Achieves the Dream in the Orient - Intangible Cultural Heritage Fashion Show” opened with the wonderful and moving Sichuan opera, “Water Sleeves”. With the creation basis of Rongchang grass cloth,a intangible cultural heritage made of ramie textile known as “China Grass”, Zhang Yichao fully combines the same original ecological factors as malus spectabilis, ascending kilns, Antao ceramics and folding fans in Chongqing’s Rongchang District, and makes integrated innovation with fashion and artistic creation techniques.

Rongchang grass cloth, which has a relatively hard texture, has realized style design with a strong architectural sense., endowed the original ramie grass cloth with a new fashion appearance by combining exquisite laces, silk fabrics and jacquard brocades, and regained the mutual supplement of two materials in “the Rites of Zhou”; it refers to the famous bicolor twisted clay composite effect, multi-color and color blocks of the intangible cultural heritage Rongchang Antao ceramics to form visual impact; purely manual paintings, embroidery, pasting embroidery, folding paper and other design techniques show rich and colorful natural flavor of plant flowers, mottled kiln changes, mixed-color pottery clay and the like based on the traditional Rongchang grass cloth; natural and graceful elements of traditional Chinese drama, rich and flexible natural patterns such as flowers, birds and dogs and designers’ paintings are complemented by popular fashion factors such as narrow goods and watermark, integrating leisure and aesthetic luxury styles as a whole. Free and uninhibited creative techniques describe the core creative ideas of“ecological, natural, environmental” so that the profound cultural deposit of civilization can be carried forward in the futuristic style.

As a famous Chinese fashion designer who has been engaged in the fashion circle for more than 20 years, the “walking flower” Zhang Yichao has always been dedicated to promoting the activated inheritance of Chinese traditional culture, including intangible cultural heritage, in the information age with the “spirit of craftsmanship”. She actively explores the fusion of human hands and all things of nature; tries to rediscover the sustenance of Chinese culture, humanity and nature, make intangible cultural heritage fashionable and innovative after tracing to the source of intangible cultural heritage to inherit the essence of it, and make it adapt to the needs of modern life by innovating traditional culture. The rainbow-coloured and feathered costumes presented that are based on Chinese traditional culture, bear civilization genes and integrate the contemporary creative thinking are precisely the condensation of fashion practitioners' originality towards cultural heritage.

Rongchang grass cloth, which has lasted for more than a thousand years, has particularly favourable advantages such as the deposit of China’s intangible cultural heritage and geographical trademarks, Hakka cultural foundation of living protection and inheritance and Chongqing’s powerful fashion industry support to actively build a “fashion capital”, The life vitality and artistic innovation displayed by it through creative people represented by Zhang Yichao are precisely the fruitful achievements of “boosting creative transformation and innovative development of excellent traditional Chinese culture”.

On the afternoon of the 9th, as the closing forum for 2018 Splendid China series of activities, the academic forum on heritage protection and development to revitalize the traditional craft - Rongchang grass cloth was held in Prince Gong’s Mansion as well. Industry experts, university professors, local representatives and inheritors of intangible cultural heritage all gathered together to speak freely about the development of Rongchang grass cloth, and truly “l(fā)ight up” inheritance with the concept of “reflecting people, things and life” from various fields and different angles.

Splendid China allows intangible cultural heritage to come into daily life once again

The site of the closing show “Ramie Achieves the Dream in the Orient” was crowded with people. From the elderly over sixty years to childish kids in early childhood, in an intangible cultural heritage fashion show participated by all people, there were exclamations from time to time with the appearance of each set of clothing ..

Over 6 days, a total of 11 costume shows featuring China’s intangible cultural heritage, including YI ZHEN YI XIU, BAI LU WEI SHUANG, BAI SHE JING BIAN, BU YI JING LUN, YUN XIANG YI SHANG, MU ZHEN XIANG YUN, MIAO JIN QIAN XUN, TIAO XIU ZHI YUN, CAI LAN ZHI YI, LIU GUANG YI CAI, Ramie Achieves the Dream in the Orient, selected the application examples of intangible cultural heritage in modem dress, and displayed the grand occasion of revitalizing traditional Chinese technology and intangible cultural heritage entering a good life.

On the occasion of China’s “Cultural and Natural Heritage Day” in 2018, in order to further implement the spirit of “‘Plan for Revitalizing Traditional Technology’ Issued by the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the Ministry of Finance”forwarded by the General Office of the State Council and let intangible cultural heritage walk into modern life better, with the support of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Department of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Prince Gong’s Mansion Museum of the Ministry of Culture took the lead and united China National Textile And Apparel Council, Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology, and National Costume Institute of Minzu University of China and other units to launch 2018 “Splendid China” -China Intangible Cultural Heritage Fashion Show from June 4th to June 9th at Prince Gong’s Mansion.

Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology, Donghua University, Wuhan Textile University, Shanghai University and other colleges and universities, famous domestic designers Zhao Huizhou, Zhang Yichao, Guo Ruiping, Yang Jie, Cheng Hao, etc. joined hands with EACHWAY, MOZEN,DUXI, XIXIU, DRita and many other clothing design brand teams to jointly protect Chinese traditional handicraft with the power of design.Twenty-four solar terms, miao embroidery, wax printing, bright cloth,cross-stitch works, hand-pushed embroidery, celadon wares, Beijing embroidery, Rongchang grass cloth and a multiple of other national intangible cultural heritage representative projects integrate with modern fashion design, presenting “inheritance on fingertips and China in needlework” for the audience.

Besides professional designers’ Intangible Cultural Heritage Fashion Show in the evening, and “Intangible Cultural Heritage Enters Scenic Spots” and the mass experience-oriented fashion shows “Productive Aging - The Elderly’s Cheongsam Show Experience, Intangible Cultural Heritage Fashion Show” and “Happy Childhood - Children’s Paper Art Experience, Intangible Cultural Heritage Fashion Show” during the day exhibit the grand situation of inheritance and promotion of intangible cultural heritage from all walks of life.

On June 5th, 7th and 9th, this series of events also included three seminars focusing on the topic of revitalizing traditional technology.Prince Gong’s Mansion Museum also formally established the Collaborative Innovation Center for China Traditional Craft Revitalization Plan respectively with China National Textile and Apparel Council and Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology.