Geography of Beijing · Folk Art

Author: Beijing News Agency
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-11-01
Features: This city presents such a moving scroll to you, the warmth of a thousand years of history can still be felt, and the material remnants remain as useful as ever, though they have gathered some dust—just brush it off, and it’s no hindrance. What a grand book this is! In my more than ten years of exploration, I have only grasped a glimpse of it, yet every step has clearly opened my soul, and my heart began to sing, immersed in the long river of history. Wang Jun/Author of City Chronicle, Scholar of Beijing History In our dreams, Beijing is both a character in this book and its reader, appraiser, and collector—most importantly, it is the great and mysterious author.
Lü Yue/Executive Editor of Beijing Geography Series, Beijing News Agency In the flow of time, Beijing News Agency is fortunate to be a representative of advanced culture. On one side, it is a news flag bearer that upholds responsibility with boundless sentiment; on the other, it is a knowledgeable hero who analyzes culture with elegance, enduring and guiding the times; and on the other, it is a cultural pioneer that preserves history and dwells poetically.
Beijing News Agency Series, a collection of humanistic essence from Beijing News Agency. Cultivating the present, harvesting the future.
Folk art is an important part of a city’s traditional culture. Beijing culture is not limited to the culture of the royal and aristocratic class. Enamelware, Beijing embroidery, carved lacquer, handmade carpets, kites, tiancai dolls, and nianhua bowls embody the traditional craftsmanship of folk wisdom, enriching the humanistic connotation of Beijing culture. Some of these exquisite treasures were born out of the needs of the imperial court and aristocracy, with noble origins; others have a down-to-earth character, entertaining the masses. Today, as folk art is declining, the word "masterpiece" in folk art takes on a new meaning: struggling to survive, lacking successors. Journalists delve into folk workshops, seeking out the soul figures and key successors of various masterpieces, and examine the fate of traditional craftsmanship in the age of mechanical reproduction.