Suzhou in spring, warm breeze brushing my face. In the Taohuawu Art Museum, 100 scenes of life in the Paper Cuttings "Daily Paper Record" were quietly spread out. The Thangka "Sakyamuni Buddha and the Eighteen Arhat" blossomed on the bodhi leaves for thousands of years, and the Xiuyu carving "Aquatic World" transformed hard jade into a light and flexible jellyfish... At the award ceremony of the 17th China Folk Art Mountain Flower Award held by the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles and other organizations, 20 outstanding folk art works stood out from all over the country and won this national award. The 17th China Folk Literature and Art Mountain Flower Award Ceremony was recently held in Suzhou, Jiangsu. As the highest honor in the field of Chinese folk literature and art, the Shanhua Award has been committed to promoting the creative transformation and innovative development of folk literature and art since its establishment in 1999. This year's award-winning works cover four sub categories: academic works, arts and crafts, literary works, and performance works, presenting the latest achievements in Chinese folk literature and art in the past two years. Through these award-winning works and the voices of the winners, we can see the inheritance of folk art in contemporary times, and also reflect on a deeper proposition: how can folk art walk the path of upholding tradition and innovation in the new era? Rooted down: Where is the source of folk literature and art? In the Liaohe Plain, there is a farmer storyteller named Tan Zhenshan who can tell over a thousand stories. It was Professor Jiang Fan of Liaoning University's more than 20 years of perseverance that brought these stories from the countryside to the academic palace. In 1987, during a "Story Arena Competition", Tan Zhenshan's simple storytelling style left a deep impression on Jiang Fan. She described the encounter as' the one who bought gold met the one who sold gold '. Afterwards, she traveled back and forth between urban and rural areas countless times, sometimes staying in the homes of elderly people for interviews, and sometimes inviting them to stay in her own home as guests. In the end, the three volume "Complete Collection of Tan Zhenshan Stories" with over 1.9 million words was published. Experts claimed that it "salvaged over a thousand stories from the depths of the countryside, establishing cultural connections between the past, present, and future", and ultimately won the Shanhua Award of this year. The picture shows the exhibition of works by the winners of the "Blooming Flowers Competition" Mountain Flower Award. The same steadfastness also occurred deep in the Taihang Mountains, as captured by Xinhua News Agency reporter Yu Junjie. Professor Wei Caicai from Shanxi University has been visiting nearly 70 storytellers for over ten years since 2012. His research originated from the archives in the exhibition room of the Lingchuan Blind Quyi Team: performance sheets, diaries, appeal letters, and handwritten drum scripts... "Those dusty pages are not only the archives of local Quyi, but also the lively and vivid life records of blind artists." Wei Caicai followed the Quyi Team to the countryside and participated in various activities such as the Taihang Book Fair. Often in the quiet of the night, we still chat and record stories in the homes of storytellers. Many old artists wander their lives, their eyes blind and their hearts bright. When they talk about the hardships of learning and the loneliness of inheritance, they often burst into tears. "His" Research on the Life History and Social Interaction of Storytellers in Taihang Mountains "focuses on" people "and" life "," showing academic tension and humanistic care ". From the long-term love watching in the countryside to the deep dialogue between the study and the fields... These award-winning works confirm a simple truth: the source of folk literature and art is always deep in the soil and in the lives of the people. Upward growth: How can traditional skills achieve breakthroughs in the era? Entering the exhibition hall of award-winning works, a set of jade carvings of "Aquatic World" is particularly eye-catching. The author, Tang Shuai, was once a chef. "There is no way to go in vain. Chefs also pay attention to knife technique, color, and proportion, and I used what I learned as a chef in jade carvings." From the lines of Wu Daozi in the Tang Dynasty, "Wu Daidang is in the wind", to the vivid artistic conception of flying in Dunhuang, he was deeply inspired: "Using the hardest stone, through the portrayal of lines, to make it flexible, is the essence of oriental aesthetics." On the other side of the exhibition hall, a straw painting, "The Painting of Tile Sparrows perching on the branches" came into view - several golden tile sparrows stopped on the branches, and their fine feathers were clearly visible. The creation of this work is inspired by the delicate brushwork and ethereal artistic conception of Song Dynasty flower and bird paintings, rooted in the author Huang Yanyong's deep integration of traditional calligraphy and folk crafts. In creating this work, he insisted on only selecting the top and most glossy first section of the straw, stating that 'each straw must be carefully screened to ensure uniform quality and natural color'. After more than forty processes and taking six months, it was finally completed. Liu Guanyu, the author of Paper Cuttings "Daily Paper Story", turned everyday life into Paper Cuttings language. His family has never had a family photo, so he used Paper Cuttings "Family Photo" to make his family "reunited" on paper; After his mother died, he "talked" with her with Paper Cuttings "Going to the Grave". He firmly believes that folk art is not in the temple, but in the human world, as the saying goes, 'Flowers have no straight branches, and hinges have no fixed method.'. The picture shows the bone wood inlaid luggage series (a set of 9 pieces) that won the 17th China Folk Literature and Art Mountain Flower Award. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Yu Junjie. In addition, the bone wood inlaid luggage series integrates traditional craftsmanship into modern life, and the pearl embroidery hanging screen "Canyon Lights" uses abstract techniques to reproduce the grandeur of nature... These works all seek a balance between "upholding integrity" and "innovation". Inheritance is the true foundation of skills, and innovation is the vitality of the era's context. ”The statement that the winner is more talented expresses the consensus of contemporary folk artists. Going Far: How can academic research illuminate the path of inheritance? If folk art works are blooming flowers, then academic research is the soil that nourishes the flowers. Professor Yue Yongyi of Renmin University of China's "The End: Folklore Studies in Sociology (1926-1950)" focuses on the exploration of folklore studies at Yanjing University in the 20th century and innovatively proposes the proposition of "Folklore Studies in Sociology". To complete this work, Yue Yongyi spent 10 years and read over 100 million words of literature. Like conducting field research, reading, integrating, and writing literature is confusing and arduous. At the beginning, there was no clear framework, it was just crossing the river by feeling the stones. Mountains and rivers were heavy, and sadness was the norm. ”Yue Yongyi claimed to be concerned with the "accounts and research of folk culture by a group of unknown scholars who have been obscured in the dust of history for many years". In the end, he sorted through a vast amount of literature and revealed the interdisciplinary nature inherent in folklore studies. Professor Zhang Beibei of Soochow University's "Research on Ancient Mazu Statues and Image Art under Folk Beliefs and Customs" is based on the perspective of folk belief and customs culture, sorting out and exploring the development and evolution of Mazu's image, restoring the appearance and appearance of Mazu in different historical stages, and providing a basis for the construction of Mazu's artistic prototype symbols through mutual verification of field investigations and literature research. These academic works include in-depth exploration of historical documents, systematic sorting of field materials, and a re examination of disciplinary traditions. They jointly demonstrate a truth: the value of academic research lies in bringing back the dusty and obscured cultural memories, and illuminating the path of inheritance with the sparks of folk literature and art. The award-winning works of this year's Shanhua Award have shown us a colorful scene of Chinese folk literature and art. The strokes of this scene are "upholding righteousness" and "innovation" - folk artists not only respect tradition and inherit skills, but also have the courage to break through and respond to the times, allowing ancient art forms to radiate new vitality in the contemporary context. This precisely confirms the essence of folk art: it is not a static "heritage" in museums, but a living expression rooted in life. Its most touching power comes from its simple expression and the widespread participation of the people. The significance of the Mountain Flower Award lies in allowing these cultural creations from the folk to be seen, cherished, and passed down, making "mountain flowers" more vibrant in the fertile soil of the times. (New Society)