From January 26 (Minor New Year) to February 15 (the Lantern Festival), the Changsha Library will launch 12 festive cultural activities, providing spiritual and cultural food for local residents during the Spring Festival.
Under the theme “A New Year Starting with Books and Hunan Culture”, these activities provide citizens with immersive experiences of folk customs and performances, offer a book fair and games such as lantern riddles. Citizens can learn about intangible cultural heritage techniques, including woodblock printing, paper cutting, dough figurines, and Nüshu (women’s writing) making; they will also have opportunities to taste 12 dishes of traditional food.
In addition, the activities also bring the classics back to life. A Dream Back to the Grand View Garden, adapted from the Red Chamber, is an immersive performance combining the plots with interactive activities like Bianyasui (stringing Chinese copper coins on the red threads), pitch-pot (throwing sticks from a set distance into a large, sometimes ornate, canister), recitation, Q&A, etc.
Helen Forster Snow Photo Exhibition Tour (Changsha) is the highlight of the 12 activities. Helen Foster Snow (1907–1997) was an American journalist who reported from China in the 1930s under the name Nym Wales. Having Lived in China for 10 years, she was a witness and participant in the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression. The 120 photos captured the real life in China, which are of significant historical value.
Wang Ziyang, a librarian of the Changsha Library, remarked: “This year, collaborating with over 100 libraries across the city, we have held 12 on-site cultural activities, as well as online reading activities during the Spring Festival”.
In 2022, by combining local literature and intangible cultural heritage skills, Changsha Library will hold more exhibitions and performances to inherit the local culture and popularize folk culture.
Translated by 莫雨婷