Chinese folk artist Tai Liping is the last in his town to practise the 500-year-old art of Fengxiang nianhua (new year woodblock prints), the livelihood of his family for generations.
Two art pieces of traditional Fengxiang Nianhua (new year woodblock prints). (Xi'an Evening News)
Dating back to 1507, Fengxiang nianhua has been a pillar industry in Fengxiang County, northwest China's Shaanxi Province. Between 1978 and 1988, hundreds of families made and sold their own woodblock prints -- until manufactured offset prints beat them out of the market in the 1990s.
"We couldn't compete with the industrial producers. Their machines could print many more copies at lower cost. Handmade prints were much more elaborate, but customers didn't care -- as long as they got festive paintings on their walls," says Tai, 47.
The art pieces of traditional Fengxiang Nianhua by Tai Liping's workshop.
From formidable "door-guarding gods" to lively new-born babies, the prints cover a wide range of ancient Chinese legends in bold designs and bright colors. People usually post them on the wall or front doors.
In 1996, Tai Liping was awarded the title of "Master of Folk Arts" from UNESCO and the Chinese Folk Literature and Art Association for his achievement in making Fengxiang nianhua.
Having won acclaim for shows and lectures in Melbourne, Paris and mainland art colleges, Fengxiang nianhua is stuck in an awkward position where outside fame fails to inspire local enthusiasm.
Tai has ten apprentices, but they come only at weekends.
"Most local young people are no longer interested in learning traditional nianhua art and making it their career. My apprentices have their own work or study and don't make a living through it."
But nianhua lovers come from Hubei, Sichuan and other parts of the country in the hope of mastering the craft.
"Some of them seem really passionate. But I have no extra money to support their long stay here as the business does not profit well. We can't even afford their accommodation in the first place," he says. "If the market were good or the government could provide funding, we could build a school and support apprentices.
"I've been making changes to the style and selling them mainly as souvenirs for tourists, but I don't know how far I can go," Taisays. "I'm at my wit's end."
Fengxiang nianhua is one of many endangered traditional Chinese arts and crafts at the center of a debate over how to commercialize and survive.
Abdurazak, 61, from northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region made Uygur musical instruments in the capital, Urumqi.
"My son and I sell our handmade instruments on the street. Every month, we only earn some 2,000 yuan, which the whole family depends on," he says.
An Uygur man plays a traditional musical instrument of Uygur ethnic group at his workshop in Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang Region. (Sohu.com)
Urumqi is the only large market in the region and some craftsmen even came to the city from Kashi, 1,500 km away.
"Instead of selling on the street, we hope the government could help us set up a store to make the business larger," he says. "If we had more money, we could even set up a training center to pass on the instrument making skills to more people."
Abdurazak is pinning his hopes on an opportunity to share his craft with more people across the country.
An Uygur man sells Rewapus at a park in Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang Region. (Tianshan)
The Ministry of Culture, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Beijing municipal government and 14 other organizations are jointly hosting the largest ever exhibition of intangible cultural heritage items in Beijing from Feb. 9 to 23.
Tai and Abdurazak were given places in the main hall of the National Agriculture Exhibition Center to showcase their art. Every day, they answer questions and explain their crafts to hundreds of people.
"The exhibition will showcase the varied and profound traditional Chinese culture and raise awareness of cultural heritage protection," said Vice Minister of Culture Zhou Heping.
The government was considering new ways to protect intangible cultural heritage while realizing their market potential, he said.
The exhibition features a two-day forum on "productive protection" to discuss appropriate modes of commercialization.
"Traditional arts and crafts should not be preserved for the sake of preservation. Handicrafts should be incorporated into the economic system. They can develop side by side with industrial production," says Lu Pintian, a researcher from the National Academy of Arts.
Lu says productive protection is an effective way to strengthen protection of intangible cultural heritage and benefit local economies.
"Craftsmen use local resources to make handicrafts and hire local residents, which is eco-friendly and conducive to creating jobs," he says.
However, he admits the country had yet to achieve a balance between profit and protection.
Among many endangered intangible cultural heritage items, experts agree that the Tibetan thangka scroll painting is a positive example.
Craftsman Nyangbon, 39, earns more than 200,000 yuan (29,400 U.S. dollars) a year painting and selling thangkas in Tongren County, Huangnan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in western Qinghai Province.
"It usually takes one and a half years to make a large thangka piece, but once it's done, it can be sold for up to 350,000 yuan," he says.
Nyangbon and three other thangka masters spent about four million yuan setting up a thangka painting center last year to pass on the craft.
More than 80 apprentices from around the country are studying there.
"I spent about 120,000 yuan myself supporting their study. They don't have to pay at all," Nyangbon says.
The local government is promoting the artworks, raising awareness of the value of thangka and encouraging collectors, he says.
Wang Huaping, deputy head of Huangnan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, says the government's efforts and the rich cultural meanings embodied in the thangka arts are the two main reasons for its popularity.
The government has set up a training center from which about 1,000 thangka painters could graduate in 2010, bringing the total number of painters to more than 3,000.
"Thangka has a bright future. Our artists becoming rich, but, most importantly, the skills of Thangka painting are protected," says Wang. "Thangka's example might indicate a way out for other intangible cultural heritage items."
However, Professor Qi Qingfu, at the Central University of Nationalities, fears some local officials and merchants might exploit the intangible cultural heritage for commercial profits.
He cites the example of the "sama festival" of the Dong nationality, in south China's Guizhou Province, which should only be held in the first or second month of the lunar year to worship the goddess grandmother of the Dong. However, it is now repeated through the summer for tourists.
"It is no less than a profanity to force a religious ritual to be held on ordinary days for commercial purposes," he says.
Professor Wu Bing'an, of Liaoning University and deputy director of a state-level expert commission of intangible cultural heritage protection, agrees. "To adopt a productive protection policy, we should be very careful about what can be commercialized and what can't."
Unlike paintings or crafts, some intangible cultural heritage items, like traditional customs and religious rituals, are not suitable for productive protection, he says. "This cultural heritage cannot be practiced or duplicated casually for commercial use."
In addition, the government should carefully supervise every aspect of productive protection to prevent abuse or damage to the heritage, he says.
"The government should issue a regulation to clearly define productive protection and how to implement it."
(By Xinhua writers Zuo Yuanfeng, Fu Shuangqi and Bai Ying)
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