The Gangneung Dragon Boat Festival declared by South Korea was officially designated by UNESCO as a "Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity" on the 24th, Paris time. However, experts say this is not a bad thing. "South Korea's successful application for World Heritage will not have any impact on our Dragon Boat Festival culture. Intangible cultural heritage is the wealth shared by all mankind. Our cultural traditions are recognized by other countries. I personally think it is not a bad thing." This is China Liu Kuili, chairman of the Folklore Society and researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said this in an interview with reporters on the morning of the 25th.
The dispute between China and South Korea over the application of the Dragon Boat Festival as a UNESCO World Heritage has been going on since last year and has received widespread attention. Of course, what people are looking forward to is that China's Dragon Boat Festival has been approved by UNESCO as a "human legend and intangible heritage work", with the purpose of increasing the protection of my country's traditional culture. Now that South Korea has won, there is a feeling of disappointment. Both countries hope that they can win. From the perspective of the origin of the Dragon Boat Festival, our country's Dragon Boat Festival should be approved. Because the Dragon Boat Festival originated in China.
The Dragon Boat Festival is commonly known as Duanyang Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, and Tianzhong Festival. In addition to the Han people in my country, there are also about 28 ethnic minorities including Manchu, Mongolian, Tibetan, Miao, Yi, She, Xibo, and Korean. this holiday. Our country's Dragon Boat Festival has long been introduced to Japan, South Korea, North Korea, Vietnam and other countries, and these countries are still celebrating the Dragon Boat Festival. In fact, the Gangneung Dragon Boat Festival won by South Korea originally originated from my country's ancient Dragon Sacrifice Day. Its ancient cultural connotation is to use the deterrent power of the dragon to drive away all disasters and evil spirits. From the seasonal point of view, "Dragon Boat Festival" is the "yang pole day", so "Fengtu Ji" says: "Duan means the beginning and the right. Noon on the fifth day is the Tianzhong Festival, so all kinds of things are made to ward off evil."
It is an indisputable fact that the Dragon Boat Festival originated in my country. It should be said that it was generally believed that it was absolutely impossible for Asian countries to successfully apply (of course, this is a story later). Because representative works of human oral heritage and intangible heritage need to have the three characteristics of uniqueness, integrity and authenticity. The Dragon Boat Festival in other countries does not meet the first two conditions. Nowadays, it is somewhat unexpected that South Korea’s Gangneung Dragon Boat Festival has been approved as a “Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity”. However, South Korea's successful application relies on its own protection and attention. From this point of view, we cannot compare.
It’s not a bad thing that South Korea’s application was successful. The reason is as experts said: “The Gangneung Dragon Boat Festival is actually not the same thing as our Dragon Boat Festival.” South Korea’s Dragon Boat Festival is composed of dance, shaman sacrifices, folk The composition of art exhibitions and other content is completely different from the Chinese eating rice dumplings, rowing dragon boats, and commemorating Qu Yuan. “The only similarity is the time frame, both are held during the Chinese Dragon Boat Festival.” This is not necessarily the case, according to the Folklore Department of Fudan University Academic researcher Associate Professor Hu Zhixiang has a different view: "There is no essential difference between 'Dragon Boat Festival' and 'Dragon Boat Festival'. Culture includes the core part and the influential part, and there will always be certain changes in the process of dissemination. During this period, it is often The core part has been preserved. The Dragon Boat Festival was originally a sacrificial activity in China, and the core part of the Gangneung Dragon Boat Festival in South Korea was passed down from China. Although the meanings of 'sacrifice' and 'festival' are different in Korean, When applying for World Heritage status, both the Dragon Boat Festival and the Dragon Boat Festival should be expressed in English as FESTIVAL. ”
No matter what the theory is, it is an indisputable fact that the Dragon Boat Festival originated in our country! The legacy left by our ancestors has failed. How can we laugh and say "this is not a bad thing"? It really makes me feel guilty when I say it. Last year, South Korea began to apply for the Gangneung Dragon Boat Festival to be a World Heritage. Not long ago, when a Korean company registered the Chinese domain name "Dragon Boat Festival.cn" first, we all felt that it was "not a taste." Now South Korea has applied for the World Heritage. Success, perhaps for most people too - "is not a taste". If we say the good thing is that it has brought us great enlightenment, it has injected modern elements into traditional cultural activities and gained international recognition, which has reference significance for the protection of Chinese cultural heritage. So, there is still a long and arduous road ahead for our Dragon Boat Festival (rather than a certain country’s Dragon Boat Festival) to reach international recognition.
We can't help but think that our defeat is actually "unreasonable and expected." When we reflect on our country's situation, we will find that the cultural characteristics of our country's festival system are insufficient. The invasion of foreign festivals is serious, and people mostly pursue foreign festival culture. But there is a lack of understanding of their own nation, let alone love and protection. This time, South Korea's successful application for World Heritage was slapped right in our face, just like Korean movies and TV dramas selling our patents to China - it was a good slap, but it was also a bad slap.
The author feels that the Dragon Boat Festival will not be ignored because of foreign festival culture, nor will it be ignored because of the depth of emotions, nor will the national character of culture be ignored because of the excuse of cultural openness, regardless of feelings about the Dragon Boat Festival Deep or shallow, no matter whether the intangible cultural heritage in globalization is the wealth shared by all mankind, we must resolutely defend our traditional festivals! Before applying, we don’t need to be “filled with indignation” over South Korea’s application, because the results have not yet come out, and there is still hope, and because South Korea’s experience of protecting the Gangneung Dragon Boat Festival tells us how valuable a country’s change in attitude towards local culture is. Therefore, South Korea's application is also an incentive, motivating people to protect the "heritage" of their ancestors and realize their preciousness. And what happens after the Korean application is successful? All we can say is that South Korea's success is still an inspiration. We can only place our hopes on other traditional cultures and on the actual care and protection of various traditional cultures, including the Dragon Boat Festival. If South Korea's successful application as a World Heritage Site can cause the relevant departments to reflect and enhance Chinese people's awareness of the protection of traditional culture, then it will have positive significance.
(Author: China Jixiang 0)
Reference: CCTV International (November 29, 2005 15:53)