Among various activities to celebrate China's second Cultural
Heritage Day on June 9, 26 rarely seen traditional Chinese operas
will be staged in Beijing. These operas can be seen as the
representative of a fading cultural legacy.
China had 368 forms of traditional local operas, according to
surveys conducted during the 1950s. Fifty years later, there were
267, a survey in 2005 by China Art Institute found. Among those
left, more than 60 did not have audio or visual documents.
"We've made investigations on more than 200 local drama troupes
across the country, 80 percent of which exist in name only," Liu
Wenfeng, an official with China Art Institute, said.
He also tried to give explanations to the condition. Traditional
operas, in his understanding, are somehow in conflict with the
economic development. The dramas came into being during the age of
agriculture, and usually in undeveloped areas. With
industrialisation and urbanization being the themes of today, the
traditional art is losing its market, audiences, and even
apprentices.
Liu argues local governments should come to the rescue by
creating policies for the inheritance of the cultural legacy.
Traditional operas should also be included within the basic
education system, to give them larger audiences.
"Traditional dramas may no longer be part of the mainstream
arts," Liu said. "But they can be kept alive as long as Chinese
culture has a place in the world."
He noted in many parts of the country, such as the southeast
coastal areas, local dramas are still popular.
Beside exhibitions and shows of traditional operas, this year's
Cultural Heritage Day will see rewards going to those contributed
to the preservation of local dramas, as well as the announcement of
the first batch of national cultural protection areas.
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(CRI.cn June 9, 2007)