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Time waits for no man in heritage preservation work
By Lu Feiran |
September 29, 2012, Saturday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
PRESERVING cultural heritage is a race against time for 63-year-old Minhang native Zhang Naiqing. And time can be a cruel taskmaster.
The former director of the Minhang District Library has spent more than 30 years trying to save pieces of the past for future generations to know and appreciate.
"It was around 1986 when the country government began requiring local governments to collect information on the local accent," recalled Zhang. "I was working for a library at that time and was assigned to collect Shanghai dialect idioms."
The project lasted for almost two years. Hundreds of people, including Zhang himself, went out to collect idioms from residents, especially seniors. Their efforts resulted in thick piles of linguistic information. And then, a new door opened for Zhang.
"I had always heard that there was a book entitled 'Hu Yan' ('Shanghai Idioms') that was edited in the late Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), but I hadn't been able to find it anywhere," said Zhang. "Not long after we finished collecting the idioms, I happened across the book accidentally."
The contents of the thin, timeworn edition, written by a town director named Hu Zude, astonished Zhang. They were almost identical with the work of the new project.
"I realized that it was my mission to find the works of ancestors who had done so much to try to preserve culture," he said. "And also to carry on their work."
From then on, Zhang started to collect and collate information on the Shanghai dialect and on the by-gone culture of Minhang. His library access helped.
"I read as many books in the library as I could find, and I searched for other books the library didn't have," he said. "Some of the material was very precious, such as a book recording the curriculum and faculty name list of a middle school in the 1930s."
Zhang keeps toiling away at his mission in life. In the past several years, he has visited nearly every village and town in Minhang, interviewing people who have preserved something of the past in their modern lives. He has recorded their words and taken videos of them singing songs, playing musical instruments, doing paper-cuts and performing lion dances.
"I always go as deep as possible, trying to uncover all aspects of heritage," said Zhang. "It takes a lot of energy, but it's absolutely worthwhile."
Zhang's illustrated book on Minhang's cultural heritage was published in 2009, covering about 100 customs and arts that he personally researched.
For Zhang, it's a race against time to capture things before they die out. He recalled visiting a man named Zhang Xueyu several years ago - a man who performed in xuan juan, a ballad and story-telling folk art that was popular in the area where Pujiang Town stands today. The performances use local dialect to tell Buddhist stories.
Race against time
Zhang Xueyu, born in 1932, was in hospital when Zhang went to interview him. And before Zhang finished his illustrated book, the old man had passed away.
"Xuan juan needs three people to perform it, so it's very hard to find a substitute now," said Zhang. "And this is just one case. Many other folk customs are facing the same destiny."
Zhang said he may not be able to prevent the disappearance of old culture, but he is determined to record it for posterity.
"Some culture just doesn't fit in with modern life," he said. "Some old beliefs now look superstitious and unscientific, and thus they are washed away by time. But they are still worth recording. I want people to know that such things once existed and influenced our social development."
Tapping his two-decades of database, Zhang recently wrote a second book, entitled "Memories of Old Minhang." It was written as a tribute to the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the Minhang District.
"I have always loved writing," said Zhang. "Now there are only four things in my life: sleeping, eating, collecting cultural information and writing."
Zhang said he doesn't follow a normal lifestyle of sleeping at night and working by day. "When I feel tired, I just sleep, and if I wake up two hours later, I go back to work," he said.
He said he would like to enlist more young people in the campaign for cultural heritage preservation.
"Some colleges have set up major in cultural heritage, which is a very good start," said Zhang. "But it will be some time before these young people start to make a difference, and I fear by then it may be too late. Time waits for no man."
The former director of the Minhang District Library has spent more than 30 years trying to save pieces of the past for future generations to know and appreciate.
"It was around 1986 when the country government began requiring local governments to collect information on the local accent," recalled Zhang. "I was working for a library at that time and was assigned to collect Shanghai dialect idioms."
The project lasted for almost two years. Hundreds of people, including Zhang himself, went out to collect idioms from residents, especially seniors. Their efforts resulted in thick piles of linguistic information. And then, a new door opened for Zhang.
"I had always heard that there was a book entitled 'Hu Yan' ('Shanghai Idioms') that was edited in the late Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), but I hadn't been able to find it anywhere," said Zhang. "Not long after we finished collecting the idioms, I happened across the book accidentally."
The contents of the thin, timeworn edition, written by a town director named Hu Zude, astonished Zhang. They were almost identical with the work of the new project.
"I realized that it was my mission to find the works of ancestors who had done so much to try to preserve culture," he said. "And also to carry on their work."
From then on, Zhang started to collect and collate information on the Shanghai dialect and on the by-gone culture of Minhang. His library access helped.
"I read as many books in the library as I could find, and I searched for other books the library didn't have," he said. "Some of the material was very precious, such as a book recording the curriculum and faculty name list of a middle school in the 1930s."
Zhang keeps toiling away at his mission in life. In the past several years, he has visited nearly every village and town in Minhang, interviewing people who have preserved something of the past in their modern lives. He has recorded their words and taken videos of them singing songs, playing musical instruments, doing paper-cuts and performing lion dances.
"I always go as deep as possible, trying to uncover all aspects of heritage," said Zhang. "It takes a lot of energy, but it's absolutely worthwhile."
Zhang's illustrated book on Minhang's cultural heritage was published in 2009, covering about 100 customs and arts that he personally researched.
For Zhang, it's a race against time to capture things before they die out. He recalled visiting a man named Zhang Xueyu several years ago - a man who performed in xuan juan, a ballad and story-telling folk art that was popular in the area where Pujiang Town stands today. The performances use local dialect to tell Buddhist stories.
Race against time
Zhang Xueyu, born in 1932, was in hospital when Zhang went to interview him. And before Zhang finished his illustrated book, the old man had passed away.
"Xuan juan needs three people to perform it, so it's very hard to find a substitute now," said Zhang. "And this is just one case. Many other folk customs are facing the same destiny."
Zhang said he may not be able to prevent the disappearance of old culture, but he is determined to record it for posterity.
"Some culture just doesn't fit in with modern life," he said. "Some old beliefs now look superstitious and unscientific, and thus they are washed away by time. But they are still worth recording. I want people to know that such things once existed and influenced our social development."
Tapping his two-decades of database, Zhang recently wrote a second book, entitled "Memories of Old Minhang." It was written as a tribute to the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the Minhang District.
"I have always loved writing," said Zhang. "Now there are only four things in my life: sleeping, eating, collecting cultural information and writing."
Zhang said he doesn't follow a normal lifestyle of sleeping at night and working by day. "When I feel tired, I just sleep, and if I wake up two hours later, I go back to work," he said.
He said he would like to enlist more young people in the campaign for cultural heritage preservation.
"Some colleges have set up major in cultural heritage, which is a very good start," said Zhang. "But it will be some time before these young people start to make a difference, and I fear by then it may be too late. Time waits for no man."
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