Have you seen these unique techniques before?
Recently, the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism has completed the evaluation and naming work of “Hometown of Zhejiang Provincial Folk Culture and Art” in 2021 and its review work.
Four towns (streets) in Hangzhou have been made “Hometown of Zhejiang Provincial Folk Culture and Art”. Let’s see the details.
Lishangren Lantern
Lishang Town of Chun’an County
Lishangren Lantern (里商仁灯), a provincial intangible cultural heritage, has a history of over 500 years.
Every year during the Lantern Festival, every household makes flower lanterns and row lanterns, and makes zodiac animals-shaped Miguo (simplified Chinese: 米稞; literal meaning: rice pastry). Miguo will be offered to ancestors, and row lanterns are lit, which is viewed as a gesture to invite ancestors to come and enjoy the lantern show.
In recent years, Lishang Town (里商镇) has adequately focused on developing intangible cultural heritage items and formulated the development and conservation plan of Lishangren Lantern, a provincial intangible cultural heritage. Relying on Daqian Ancient Street (大千古街), it has built the intangible cultural heritage industry park, adopted the operation mode of stores in the front and workshop in the back, and turned the production and performance of Lishangren Lantern and other traditional technique items with relatively high interactive features into experience tourism projects.
Folk Dance
Yuqian Town of Lin’an District
Yuqian Town (於潜镇)’s intangible cultural heritage items like She Minority (畲族) Culture, Qianhong Peach Blossom Paper (千洪桃花纸), Nanshan Mountain Red Hair Lion (南山红毛狮子), Shaolu Pastry Charcoal Grill Technique (绍鲁糕饼碳烤技) and Yusu Planting and Processing technique (於术栽植炮制技艺) are of strong local features; artistic works produced based on them have successively won prizes in the national and provincial competitions.
In order to advance the development of folk culture and art, Yuqian Town provides funds every year for the adjustment of team members and the choreography of performances, and hires experts and instructors to provide professional guidance.
Chongxian Flower Basket
Chongxian Street of Lin’an District
“Chongxian Flower Basket (崇贤花篮)” used to be “Shiqian Flower Basket (石前花篮)”, which prospered in the early 20th century and late 19th century. The original performance form involves singing and dancing. It was passed down along with Xiao Diao (ditty) and was once on the verge of being lost.
In 2012, Chongxian Street Culture and Sports Service Center, besides organizing villages and communities to participate in dance competitions, invited experts to re-choreograph and provide guidance for folk dance flower basket performance, and Chongxian Flower Basket performance team is able to re-appear in people’s sight in a brand-new look.
Jingshan Tea Culture
Jingshan Town of Yuhang District
Jingshan Town of Yuhang District (余杭径山) is the place where the sage of tea, Lu Yu (陆羽) wrote “the Classic of Tea”, and is believed to be the source of the Japanese tea ceremony. Jingshan Tea, one of the ten famous teas in Zhejiang Province also grows here.
“Jingshan Tea Banquet”, a famous national-level intangible culture heritage, is a unique tea drinking ritual where Jingshan Ancient Temple used tea instead of wine to entertain guests.
Since 2001, to commemorate Lu Yu, the Sage of Tea, and to celebrate the harvest of tea farmers, the local government has held a “Tea Sage Festival” every April in Jingshan Mountain where Lu Yu wrote “the Classic of Tea”. To date, the festival has been held for consecutive 20 years.
In addition, 143 items including “Yuhang Rolling Lantern (余杭滚灯)” have passed the review of “Zhejiang Provincial Folk Culture and Art Towns/Villages”.