Young people face each other alone, young and promising. Lang Jiazi Yu: Inheriting Culture | Era | Lang Jiazi

From 1 to 2 June, General Secretary Xi Jinping went to the National Edition Hall of China and the Chinese Academy of History to inspect and investigate, attended a forum on cultural inheritance and development, and delivered an important speech. He issued an inspiring call: "to strengthen cultural self-confidence, shoulder the mission, and strive for something, make joint efforts to create a new culture that belongs to our time, and build the modern civilization of the Chinese nation." On better shouldering the new cultural mission, the General Secretary summed up a series of new ideas, new viewpoints and new conclusions put forward in the cultural construction since the 18th CPC National Congress-- emphasizing the promotion of the creative transformation and innovative development of excellent Chinese traditional culture. let Chinese culture show permanent charm and elegant demeanour of the times.

The proposition of showcasing the permanent charm and contemporary charm of Chinese culture was answered by Lang Jiazi Yuyong, the third generation inheritor of the national intangible cultural heritage "Mianren Lang" in Beijing, born after 1995. He has been influenced by his family since childhood, combining traditional skills with the style of the times, and creating new ways of playing for "old crafts". During the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games, he created champion figures and mascots with dough figurines, and also showed the production of "Bing Dwen Dwen" dough figurines for foreign heads of state, which was greatly appreciated.

In fact, "Mianren Lang" was created by Lang Shao'an, the grandfather of Lang Jiaziyu. In Lang Shao'an's hands, the dough sculpture has transformed from a plaything on the streets and alleys to an art piece that has entered the elegant hall, and has also been brought to a handicraft exhibition in London. Since my grandfather's generation, the three characters "Mianren Lang" have been associated with the glory of our family. Father and aunt are both skilled at kneading dough, and have been influenced by their families. Lang Jiaziyu has developed a strong interest in kneading dough since childhood.

According to Lang Jiaziyu's recollection, since the age of three, he often watched his father use the small dough in his hand to create various forms of life. At the age of five, he officially began learning dough sculpture from his father, "My master is my father, and 95% of my dough making skills come from him." As a child, Lang Jiaziyu would poke his head and carefully watch his father carefully pick out the armor leaves on the armor with tweezers. Then, he and his father held their breath and widened his eyes, watching the gold foil stick to the randomly arranged armor. As the work is completed, two people, one big and one small, will unconsciously take a long breath of relief.

"I feel like my dad 'tricked me' back then, but when I think about it, it's also your wish."

When Lang Jiaziyu is watching his father's work, his father intentionally delays the production time. Sometimes when his father is tired but sees him still focused on studying, he will keep working on it. When it comes to this special emotion of being both a master and a disciple, as well as a father and son, the most frequently spoken word by Lang Jiaziyu is "gratitude.".

"There is a piece of work where I kneaded a dough figurine before gripping it again. It may seem like 'nonsense' in the eyes of others, but when I explained my point of view to my dad, he was quite supportive of me. He never forced me to study, nor did he give me any hard guidelines, and even advised me to go out and play more. In terms of creativity, it can be said to be 'very laissez faire'," said Lang Jiaziyu.

As she grew older, Lang Jiaziyu had already begun to enjoy frequent battles with her father. After watching a movie, I came back and thought Sun Wukong was quite cool, so I created an image of a great sage. My dad thought I did a good job, and he also tried to make one, which was more theatrical. I did it just like in the movie, so the contrast was quite strong. The same theme, but the father and son presented completely different styles.

In terms of skills, I may never surpass my grandfather and father. Because in this era, I cannot achieve the focus of the older generation. In Lang Jiaziyu's eyes, the state of my father's generation making dough sculptures is so pure and awe inspiring.

Lang Jiaziyu said, "Starting from my grandfather, to my father, and then to me, all the works created essentially have a certain function of recording the times." Many scenes of life no longer exist, but traditional noodle making techniques vividly preserve these historical imprints.

"Mianren Lang" has been passed down to the generation of Lang Jiaziyu, and Mianren has become a carrier for him to understand today's society and think about current issues. Lang Jiaziyu said, "There are three key words that I will continue to choose as my career: 'I like it', 'I am good at it', and finally, this is a 'meaningful and challenging' career."

As a inheritor of the intangible cultural heritage of the post-95s generation, Lang Jiaziyu grasps the pulse of the times on the basis of inheriting traditional aesthetics, and is committed to expanding the influence of intangible cultural heritage skills through various new forms of communication. "Before producing content, I need to ask myself what attracted me to work on this project and present it to everyone. Truly good content can move people, just like noodle works and video works.".

Now, "new themes and old techniques" and "old themes and new methods" have become his two major weapons for injecting vitality into dough sculpture art. He not only created "Fire God Zhu Rong" based on the characters in "The Classic of Mountains and Seas", but also created "Avengers" based on Marvel heroes, as well as realistic works reflecting modern people's inability to extricate themselves from mobile phones. When many people defined these emerging facial figures as "innovation," Lang Jiaziyu felt that "this is not enough.".

Lang Jiaziyu hopes to attract more young people to pay attention to intangible cultural heritage, the art of dough sculpture, and gradually understand the deep artistic expression and profound traditional culture of artists. In the position of inheritor of "Mianren Lang", what he wants to do is not only to depict and reproduce the portraits of this era, but also to help young people understand the cultural context. He wants to be not only a "geographical Chinese", but also a "cultural Chinese".

"The dough sculpture technique is so niche, will there be a feeling of sitting on the bench in the early stages of learning?" "What is it like to treat hobbies as a lifelong pursuit?" "What are the tricks to break through traditional culture?"... During the research, when faced with questions from classmates from the School of Journalism and Communication at the University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Lang Jiaziyu smiled and said to young friends, "Persisting in your ideals, even if it's a cold stool, you need to have enough patience to warm it up. One day, your ideals and process will repay you." "

Director in Chief: Gao Mu, Sun Jiankai, Wang Qiangqiang, Mou Haokun

Interview: Mou Haokun, Cui Xiaofan, Constructive News Workshop at the School of Journalism and Communication, University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences

Editing: Wang Qiangqiang

Organizational structure of the "Youthful" series of micro videos

Guidance unit: Network Communication Bureau of the Central Cyberspace Administration

Production unit: China Youth Network

Supported by: China Internet Development Foundation