In September this year, The Power of Inheritance, a program sponsored by the Department of Physical, Health and Arts Education, the Ministry of Education, was broadcast on CCTV. As a representative of inheriting characteristic skills and promoting traditional culture, Yang Bo, a teacher from the Institute of Traditional Crafts of Chengdu University, and his students appeared on the show, telling the story of their inheritance of Chengdu lacquer art, and showing the achievements of Chengdu's protection of excellent traditional culture.
With the strength of the whole university, Chengdu University established the Institute of Traditional Crafts in 2020 by integrating the faculties of teaching units from the School of Fine Arts and Design of College of Chinese & ASEAN Arts, Sichuan Animation Research Center, and other teaching units and scientific research institutions, as well as traditional craftsmen, forming a "dream team" for research and teaching in the field of traditional crafts; It invited art masters who have conducted extensive academic research on traditional crafts to create an academic committee, chaired by Professor Jia Leilei, Vice President of the Chinese National Academy of Arts, Director of the Cultural Development Strategy Research Center, and Doctoral Supervisor. Additionally, industry leaders are encouraged to join an advisory committee to efficiently promote and popularize traditional Sichuan crafts.
In the past year, the Institute of Traditional Crafts of Chengdu University has delved deep into traditional crafts, inherited regional crafts, and innovated multiple crafts, which has promoted the revitalization of traditional crafts in Sichuan and academic exchanges. Currently, with the overall relocation of the College of Chinese & ASEAN Arts to the new campus, the development of the Institute of Traditional Crafts has started to take form, resulting in the creation of ten workshops and traditional craft theories, namely, Chengdu Lacquer Art, Shu State's Brocade and Embroidery, Sichuan Bamboo Weaving, Sichuan ikat dyeing, Sichuan Ceramic, Sichuan Shadow Puppet, and Sichuan New Year Painting, Cultural Creativity Based on Ancient Shu State's Bronze, Traditional Papermaking, and Tibetan, Qiang, Yi Traditional Crafts. Moreover, it has established three research institutes, including Traditional Crafts of the Ten ASEAN Countries, Traditional Crafts of the Ten ASEAN Countries, and Cultural Creativity of the Ten ASEAN Countries. The institute, incorporating research and analysis, education inheritance, publicity and popularization, social services, innovation and development, dissemination and communication, is becoming the province's first-class teaching and research platform for traditional crafts.
Create "Persona" for Traditional Craftsmanship
Professor Ma Liwa is the Director of the Product Design Department of the School of Fine Arts and Design of the College of Chinese & ASEAN Arts, Chengdu University, and the head of the New School of Shu State's Ceramic Art Workshop. She designed many cultural and creative products during her career, including the 31st Universiade medal ribbon. When establishing the Sichuan Ceramic Craft Workshop, Professor Ma found that the systematic research on ceramic craftsmanship with Sichuan regional characteristics was almost non-existent. There are few articles about ceramic art on the Internet, and many of them are about industrial ceramics or ceramic tiles. The reason behind this is that ceramic artists are often uninterested in or inadequate at theoretical expression. People who engage in academic study, on the other hand, are more likely to place a higher premium on cultural relics and archaeology. She and her colleagues decided first to review the history of Sichuan ceramics and provide theoretical support for the inheritance and innovation of ceramics in the Sichuan region.
Sichuan ceramics enjoy a long history and strong local characteristics. Du Fu was smitten with the Dayi porcelain bowl. As he once wrote, "The Dayi County porcelain bowl is both light and sturdy. When struck, it emits the sound of a Jade Qing, resonating across the city." How many ancient ceramic kiln sites like the one made Dayi White Porcelain are there? What is their status quo? No one has systematically reviewed and studied the ancient kiln sites in Sichuan before. The Ceramic Craft Workshop members conducted extensive literature research, meticulous examination and emendation, and on-site interviews in order to compile a book titled Sichuan Ceramics, which identified 22 ancient ceramic kiln sites in Sichuan and clarified the locations of ancient ceramic sites in Sichuan, laying a solid foundation for the study of Sichuan ceramics system. At present, the Ceramic Craft Workshop has assembled representative inheritors of Sichuan's typical ceramics as practical instructors, including Qiong kiln, Yingjing Sandware, Osmanthus Earth Kiln, Huili Green Pottery, and New School of Sichuan Ceramics masters. Based on the history of Sichuan ceramics development, the Workshop has inherited and innovated the tradition and formed the "New School of Shu State" ceramic pattern.
The Ceramic Craft Workshop cooperates with Chengdu local ceramic companies to develop a series of exquisite ceramic paintings. Ceramic art will eventually integrate elements of health and wellness culture to create unique Sichuan ceramic cultural and creative products. Simultaneously, encouraging the introduction of ceramic art to campuses and communities is conducive to youngsters and the elderly appreciating its beauty and developing an excellent aesthetic for ceramic art. Professor Ma Liwa, the person in charge of the Ceramic Craft Workshop, said, “We will make traditional crafts life-oriented and marketable, and slowly the ceramic industry will boom.”
Primarily developed in the south of the Yangtze River and Sichuan, Chinese bamboo weaving is an ancient skill with more than 150 weaving techniques. The Bamboo Weaving Workshop systematically sorted out research traditional craft and created "persona" for it like the Ceramic Craft Workshop. According to Associate Professor Dong Hong, the person in charge of the Bamboo Weaving Workshop, the workshop team investigated deep into the most representative bamboo weaving crafts and folk art birthplaces in Sichuan, such as porcelain-based bamboo weaving, bamboo weaving calligraphy and painting, bamboo curtain making craftsmanship, bamboo birdcage making craftsmanship, etc. The team systematically gathered and studied literatures on the bamboo craft through historical documents reviews, field investigations, visits and exchanges, and craft practices. Finally, the book Sichuan Bamboo Weaving was finished, which records and discusses the origin, development, inheritance, and historical aspects of Sichuan bamboo weaving folk skills.
Based on the research and inheritance of traditional bamboo weaving craftsmanship, the teachers and students of the Bamboo Weaving Workshop have developed a series of fashionable and charming bamboo weaving products, such as porcelain-based bamboo weaving wireless earphone protective covers, hair accessories, and brooches. The craft workshop also brought together "localized" craft resources such as Daoming bamboo art, Liu's bamboo weaving, and birdcages in the ancient city of Pixian. Besides, it invited national-level industry art masters and intangible cultural heritage inheritors to serve as off-campus tutors to teach famous skills via the construction of teaching practice bases, in-school workshops, and other forms, thereby building platforms conducive to exchanging and learning bamboo weaving crafts.
Most people may have heard of batik and resist dyeing, but they don’t necessarily know ikat dyeing. Traditional ikat dyeing is a customary and unique hand-dyeing process of Chinese folk, including four major techniques: batik, resist dyeing, blue woodblock blue dyeing, and blue printed cloth. Ikat dyeing has a history of about 2,000 years in Sichuan. The Shu State's ikat dyeing tradition dates all the way back to the Qin and Han eras. It was pretty popular in the Northern and Southern dynasties. It matured during the Tang Dynasty and became one of the Sichuan tributes provided to the court at that period. The ikat dyeing Workshop investigated and studied local craftsmanships such as Zigong resist-dyeing, Xuyong resist-dyeing, Gongxian Miao batik, and Emei resist-dyeing in Sichuan Province. It also explored the cultural elements and technological concepts of traditional ikat dyeing and promoted the creative transformation and innovative development of ikat dyeing.
This summer, Professor Li Xingli from the ikat dyeing workshop took students to Zigong to interview the master of resist-dyeing Zhang Xiaoping to learn about the development history and status quo of resist-dyeing in Zigong. The workshop also integrated traditional craftsmanship into design teaching by inviting ikat dyeing masters or intangible cultural heritage inheritors to teach or jointly develop products. A large dyeing vat is placed in the workshop to facilitate students to develop ikat dyeing works, such as coasters, handbags, lotus sachets, tea set storage bags, and other ikat dyeing works.
The Institute of Traditional Crafts of Chengdu University has inherent advantages in academic research. Chengdu Lacquer Art, Shu State's Brocade and Embroidery, and Sichuan Shadow Puppet Workshop have all successfully applied for the National Art Fund Project. Institute of Sanxingdui Culture has been focusing on studying ancient Shu State's culture. The Institute of Traditional Crafts has also compiled two collections of essays, published several articles in influential journals, and is planning a traditional crafts summit forum.
Qiu Guo, Party Branch Secretary of the School of Fine Arts and Design, College of Chinese & ASEAN Arts, Chengdu University, said, “I hope to clarify the knowledge and context surrounding traditional crafts via academic studies, ascertain the cultural genes that underpin them, and adequately prepare for communicating the Chinese culture inherent in traditional crafts. Then, in a straightforward and understandable manner, convey the findings to a broader audience. I think this is a critical task for the Institute of Traditional Crafts. "
Rejuvenate Traditional Crafts
How to make more people like traditional crafts? The Institute of Traditional Crafts of Chengdu University has carried out useful explorations. Each workshop was put on its mettle to integrate traditional crafts into teaching, enable the design to empower traditional crafts, and develop a series of juvenile and fashionable cultural and creative products, allowing people to fully experience the beauty of design and innovation of traditional craftsmanship through everyday use.
A dazzling array of lamps, cheongsams, necklaces, high heels, beautiful paintings, fisherman caps, and other cultural and creative items is displayed in the Shu State's Brocade and Embroidery Workshop. Shu State's brocade and embroidery's design, texture, and sheen add an aesthetic and artistic feel to these everyday necessities. A series of display racks divides the workspace in half. One half of the space is dedicated to Shu State's embroidered pieces, embroidery equipment, and brocade materials, while the other half is fitted with computers and design workstations. It embodies the workshop's defining characteristic, i.e., integrating the traditional patterns, textures, and workmanship of Shu State's brocade and embroidery with modern technology and design and then applying unique artistic expressions to everyday life.
The trainees can experience the traditional crafts and culture of Shu State's brocade and embroidery here. They can also learn contemporary artistic manifestations, with which they can create works that young people love. Associate Professor Wan Guo, the head of the Shu State's Brocade and Embroidery Workshop, stated, "We are experimenting with diverse traditional craftsmanships, even absorbing the best from across China, and incorporating them into our Shu State's brocade and embroidery to see if we can create more changes and innovations with unique visual effects."
When you walk into the Lacquer Art Workshop, what you see first would be the lacquer art craft wall covered by hundreds of craftsmanship templates. Students will intuitively comprehend various lacquer art crafts, mix traditional lacquer art techniques with present-day thinking, produce items using modern aesthetics and methodologies, and achieve combined innovation in craftsmanship. According to Associate Professor Yang Bo, the person in charge of the Chengdu Lacquer Art Workshop, students are focusing on making lacquer paintings. Certain students are capable of creating lacquerware. They have currently created bookmarks, bracelets, coasters, tea sets, and other lacquer works of art. A prototype of the lacquered engine cover of the Audi A6 is also displayed in the workshop, customizable for car users. Chengdu University started lacquer art teaching in 1998. It is one of Sichuan's earliest higher education institutions to offer lacquer art courses. It has a relatively strong creation level of lacquer art with strong teacher team-building capabilities and rich teaching achievements.
The Sanxingdui Cultural Research Office is based on the study of ancient Shu State's culture and cooperated with Sanxingdui Museum, Jinsha Site Museum, and Sichuan Museum to introduce the treasures of Sichuan Museum in the form of general talks in audio format and developed Q version dolls out of the Sanxingdui bronze standing figure. Additionally, they created many cultural and creative products, including jewellery racks inspired by the bronze sacred tree, blind boxes with the theme of Sanxingdui, and handbags that featured bronze statue masks, Shu State's brocade, and bamboo art elements. This handbag was selected as a national gift for the International Horticultural Exhibition 2019, Beijing, China, where it was presented to the wife of the Secretary-General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
Associate Professor Zhang Yingying, head of the Sanxingdui Cultural Research Office, said, “We wish to expand our fashion and innovation efforts. Mechanical reproductions of cultural relics in museums are lifeless. How can cultural artifacts be brought to life? We began with the well-known Sanxingdui and blended design and art to represent current expressions of traditional culture and to raise society's awareness of ancient Shu State's culture. "The workshop played its leading role in R&D and design, creating abstract manifestations and simplifications of ancient Shu State's cultural relics, endowing them with fashionable and practical functions, and enabling the cultural relics to be more widely distributed among young people.
The Shadow Puppet Workshop also pays attention to disseminating traditional craftsmanships among young people, combining Sichuan shadow puppets and Sichuan opera and then spreading them in an animation form that young people love. There is a complete set of tools and consoles for making shadow puppets in the Shadow Puppet Workshop. Students can inherit the entire production process of Sichuan shadow puppetry, from drawing, peeling, coloring to assembling. After assembling the shadow puppets, they can also perform with them on the adjacent special stage.
"Our students can perform several Sichuan opera plays. However, the main purpose is not to let them perform, but to transform, to combine shadow puppets and Sichuan opera, and spread them through new media." said Professor Zhong Yuanbo, the director of the Shadow Puppet Workshop. He majored in animation, so he chose the form of animation to spread shadow puppets and traditional operas. Professor Zhong has produced several traditional opera animations in recent years, such as the Sichuan opera Autumn River and the stop-motion animation Eighteen See-offs. The shadow puppet workshop cooperated with Tencent to produce an animated series of shadow puppets promoting Chinese herbal medicine.
At present, some of the cultural and creative products developed by the Institute of Traditional Crafts of Chengdu University can be purchased at the officially licensed merchandise retail stores and online stores of the Chengdu Universiade. Next year, Universiade Village will set up a cultural and creative merchandise store to showcase cultural and creative products developed in various workshops of the Institute of Traditional Crafts workshops. It presents an excellent opportunity for lovers of traditional crafts to get close to and purchase traditional crafts and cultural and creative products.
Since its inception, the Institute of Traditional Crafts of Chengdu University has made outstanding achievements in space creation, academic research, talent training, and brand building. Wang Xiaojun, Vice President of Chengdu University, Executive Dean of the College of Chinese & ASEAN Arts, and Executive Deputy Dean of the Institute of Traditional Crafts, believes that the most important thing is to train students so that they can have theoretical research capabilities and master research methods, allowing them to pass on craftsmanships from generation to another. "The educational function is the specialty of our institute, which is unrivaled by other institutes. The School of Fine Arts and Design has 1,700 students, of which nearly 200 are graduate students and dozens of international students. Students of this size are a precious resource. When students can inherit traditional crafts, traditional crafts will have more robust applicability. "
