NJCIT holds a special lecture on Revel in Beautiful Season of Jinling City–Overview of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Nanjing at the Sunflower Lecture Boya Forum

At 14:00 on April 23, a special lecture on Revel in Beautiful Season of Jinling City — Overview of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Nanjing of Sunflower Lecture Boya Forum was held in the lecture hall of the Administrative Building in Nanjing Vocational College of Information Technology (NJCIT). Speakers of this lecture were Xia Wenbiao, deputy director and research fellow of Nanjing Public Cultural Center, and Xue Youxin, representative inheritor of Qixia Dragon Dance, the intangible cultural heritage of Jiangsu Province. They jointly showed our students and teachers the charm of Nanjing's intangible cultural heritage. This lecture was also a special study at the Qixia Dragon Dance Intangible Cultural Heritage Inheritance Studio of the Labor Skills Studio of the school. It was attended by Shen Yang, associate professor of Nanjing Normal University, Wang Jibin, secretary of the school's CCYL Committee, and more than 300 teachers and students of our school.

The speaker, Xia Wenbiao, is the Deputy Secretary-General of the Nanjing Folk Literature and Art Association, Director of the Nanjing Folk Music Professional Committee, Director of Nanjing Ethnic Folk Culture Heritage Protection Center, Reviewer of national, provincial and municipal art funds, Deputy Director and Research Fellow of the Public Cultural Center. The speaker, Xue Youxin, is a representative inheritor of Qixia Dragon Dance, intangible cultural heritage of Jiangsu Province.

Intangible cultural heritage refers to various traditional cultural expressions that have been handed down from generation to generation by people of all ethnic groups who regarded them as components of their cultural heritage. Objects and places related to traditional cultural expressions can also be viewed as intangible cultural heritage. In the lecture, Mr. Xia introduced the intangible cultural heritage projects above the municipal level in Nanjing from the land affection, cultural roots, orderly inheritance and home protection. He showed the audience Nanjing's intangible cultural heritage culture such as the Nanjing cloud brocade, Jinling Buddhist Scripture Printing, Nanjing-style paper cutting, Nanjing qin school and Nanjing traditional music and folklore. At the end, Mr. Xia hoped that we can observe people and things in our life and inherit the skills and spirits of intangible cultural heritage and wished that we can enjoy the beauty of art from eye to heart for the growth of wisdom and intelligence. With the title Qixia Dragon Dance–Inheriting the Spirit of Dragon, Xue Youxin helped the students to know more about the inheritors of intangible cultural heritage and the stories behind them. He built a communication platform for the students and the atmosphere was warm. While appreciating the beauty of Qixia Dragon Dance, audiences also gained a lot about its inheritance.

At the end of the lecture, all the students and teachers expressed their gratitude and respect to Mr. Xia Wenbiao and Mr. Xue Youxin with warm applause. This lecture met the cultural needs of the students, expanded the influence of traditional culture, and made more excellent Chinese traditional culture benefit the campus. It is hoped that this lecture can drive the students to get closer to Nanjing's traditional culture and let more people understand and protect the intangible cultural heritage. We are hoping that every youth will strive to become the protector and inheritor of intangible culture. We should contribute our part to preserving the traditional culture of Nanjing and carrying forward the traditional culture of the Chinese nation.

Photo by Zhu Mengjie, Li Fukang and Zhu Kai Text by Yan Wenyue