Xianfu Du – Reviving the Stories of Ziyang’s Ancient Towns
I was born in Ziyang, Szechwan, southwestern China. I explore local heritage, conduct research into tales about famous historic figures and write about them. I wrote three biographical novels about famous Ziyang scholars who lived approximately 2000 years ago. I also initiated the project “Revisiting Ancient Towns in Ziyang” where volunteers (many of whom are local writers and photographers) visited a dozen old towns in Ziyang and documented the towns’ cultural heritage dating from Han Dynasty (200 to 50 BC) to Tang Dynasty (around 700 AD). This project gained public attention and later attracted financial support from the local government.
More about what I do and why
I served in the military for 12 years and then worked as a police officer for over 20 years. However, since childhood my true passion has been for literature and art.While other kids enjoyed having fun climbing a tree or swimming in the pond, I loved to spend a whole day reading ancient Chinese novels at my uncle’s home. In the 1990s, after I left the army and went back to Ziyang, I began my journey of writing on Ziyang’s local heritage. At that time, a variety of foreign literature, from the Soviet Union and elsewhere, began to be widely introduced in China, and through reading, I realized that literature had this character of being “the more local, the more global”. Thus, I decided to base my work on local culture, to be specific, Ziyang’s culture.
What I’ve learned
People no longer pay much attention to cultural heritage, especially intangible cultural heritage, because our way of living is changing. TV and movies replace traditional operas, quick and instant food threatens the authority of complex ancient recipes, pop music is preferred to local “outdated” songs. Rather than digging out and preserve the traditions by documenting them, it is more important to find ways to revive the ancient cultures by promoting appreciation of cultural heritage through creative ways, such as utilizing social media and infusion with modern pop culture.
How I work
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