beijing cultural guardian | lv xin: let old folk objects "speak"
2024-09-10
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lü xin, head of the exhibition and display department and collection research department of the beijing folk museum. photo by pu feng, a reporter from the beijing news
beijing cultural guardian lü xin,head of the exhibition and display department and collection research department of the beijing folk museum. for more than 20 years, he has led his team to rescue and protect a series of time-honored cultural relics such as "tong ren tang", "he nian tang" and "liu bi ju", and rescued more than 600 sets of traditional commercial utensils. he has planned more than 100 large-scale folk exhibitions and published more than 10 books. in addition, he has planned, organized and implemented the "belt and road" large-scale cultural relics exchange exhibition for 7 consecutive years. he has been commended at the city and district levels many times. he won the "capital labor medal" in 2017 and the "beijing's most beautiful cultural relics guardian" in 2023.
more than 20 years ago, lv xin was in his early 30s. at that time, he had just finished more than a decade of military career and transferred to the beijing folk museum. around 2000, as a cultural relic collector in the museum, lv xin often formed a small team with two other colleagues to "treasure hunt" in major second-hand goods and antique markets in beijing. they inquired about things and pondered over them. some old objects that seemed insignificant to others were finally collected by them. after research and registration, they became cultural relics in the museum.
"taobao" requires some luck, and buyers also believe in chance encounters. lv xin found that some ornaments and utensils were popular and sold quickly, while some folk utensils were lying in a corner of the stall and followed the owner for many years. most owners know very little about these old objects in front of them. in addition to the evidence of historical records, some old beijingers provided some ideas to the cultural relics collection team based on their experience, telling them who used this tool in the past and what it was used for.
old objects are becoming increasingly scarce, and the memories and folk customs attached to the utensils are gradually disappearing. "these collections that were picked up by chance are collected in the museum for research and exhibition, which has become an important means of preserving and inheriting folk culture." lu xin said that the number of folk cultural relics in the beijing folk museum has reached more than 8,500 sets. the old objects that "saved their lives" have both historical and interesting value. especially those old objects full of traditional commercial folk customs of old beijing, whether it is the plaque of wang mazi, the pulse pillow of heniantang, or the medicine jar of tongrentang or the "sounding instruments" of peddlers in various industries, they are lively just by looking at them.
lv xin believes that these old objects can continue to show themselves to the audience calmly and continue to attract the audience's curious eyes, which is the inheritance and continuation of folk customs, and it is to let them "speak". the era of these old objects has long gone, but the people's livelihood and the rise and fall of various industries in them are still reflected in the fleeting glimpses. in the exhibition hall, there seems to be shouting, not only things have changed.
the 360 lines of work in dongyue temple
the beijing folk customs museum is the only state-run folk custom museum in beijing. its main site is located in the beijing dongyue temple, a national key cultural relic protection site, at no. 141 chaoyangmenwai street, chaoyang district, beijing. it is easy to find lü xin in this courtyard.
he likes to wear all black and a hat, has a strong artistic temperament, and is extremely modest and polite. but when it comes to folk culture and museum collections, he will be very talkative, and the "treasure hunting" stories from more than 20 years ago will slowly "flow" out, making people listen attentively.
his passion for folk culture research stems from his childhood living environment. lv xin's hometown is funan county, fuyang city, anhui province, the hometown of lu meng, a famous general of the eastern wu during the three kingdoms period. he lives in caoji town, funan county. when he was in elementary school, he had to pass through the town's market to go to school from home. there are more than 30 workshops in the market, and shoemakers, blacksmiths, carpenters, and bamboo craftsmen each shout and make a living with their skills. "i often watch people in the workshops fluffing cotton. after watching for a long time, i know how to fluff it. and i know very well how to carry the hammer and the hammer as the blacksmiths say."
under the influence of what he saw and heard, these urban customs were engraved in his mind. later, when he joined the army, lv xin mainly engaged in cultural propaganda work. with the accumulation of his youth, he also had a good foundation in calligraphy and painting. after demobilization, he also went to the elite classes of beijing academy of painting and china national academy of painting for training. in his opinion, these life and learning experiences have played a positive role in saving and protecting folk culture.
lü xin won the title of "guardian of beijing's most beautiful cultural relics" in 2023. photo by pu feng, a reporter from the beijing news
in fact, the combination of the folk customs museum and dongyue temple is a perfect match. dongyue temple has always been an important place for the social life of beijing people. since the ming and qing dynasties, the kitchen god, lu ban, the cang shen, the medicine king, the horse king... guilds of various industries in and outside the capital have worshipped their ancestors and guardian gods here. at most, there were 3,000 statues of gods. it can be said that the history of beijing dongyue temple is a living history of folk customs and folk business.
today, lv xin knows every ancient building and stone tablet in the temple by heart, and has been promoting the protection and restoration projects of dongyue temple for many years. at the same time, he led his colleagues to complete the classification of folk cultural relics in the beijing folk museum. currently, these folk exhibitions in the museum are basically completed by lv xin.
previously, the folk museum publicly collected many types of cultural relics, including account books, plaques, packaging, and advertisements of time-honored brands; historical materials and photos of commercial folk customs; physical utensils and "music instruments" for hawking in 360 trades, such as "bangzi" (selling oil), handbells (repairing fans), peddler's drum (silk thread), "tongdian" (fortune telling), "huantou" (hairdressing), and "yunluo" (daily groceries); industry regulations and documents, sacrificial utensils; and business-related documents, currency, and weights and measures.
chu cong from the exhibition and display department of the beijing folk museum said that teacher lu taught them step by step, telling them how to write an outline, how to design an exhibition line, as well as the artistic aesthetic orientation of cultural relics display, the writing of exhibition titles and the tricks of exhibition explanation. although lu xin is the head of the museum's exhibition and display department and collection research department, his colleagues in the department like to call him "teacher lu".
recovering the plaque of beijing's time-honored brand
many years ago, lv xin saw a signboard of "wang mazi knife and scissors shop" in beijing mingzhong temple antique market. the plaque was 2 meters long, with the word "kyoto" engraved on the lower left corner of the plaque, and the color of the words on the signboard was cinnabar red. the owner placed the whole plaque in a corner of the stall, and the passing customers would occasionally glance at it. lv xin seemed more excited than the other two members of the team. after looking at it for a long time, he wanted to collect it and put it in the museum. however, the owner offered a price of more than 10,000 yuan, and the collection fund at that time was only 10,000 yuan.
the founder of wang mazi scissors shop was from shanxi, with the surname wang. he was called wang mazi because of the pockmarks on his face. in the early qing dynasty, he came to beijing and set up a shop selling flints, scissors and other daily necessities at caishikou outside xuanwu gate. at first, he did not produce scissors, but purchased them from the public. because he strictly controlled the quality of the goods he purchased, he won the trust of customers. most of the guests from all over the capital came to buy from him. from then on, the name "wang mazi scissors" spread.
according to research, wang mazi's descendants officially hung up the signboard of "third generation wang mazi" in 1816 and began to set up their own furnace to process and produce scissors. "wang mazi" scissors eventually became a famous brand in beijing.
"the interim regulations for museum collection of cultural relics at that time were: if the planned collection of cultural relics exceeded 10,000 yuan, it had to be reported to the museum and experts had to be consulted. when i went through all the procedures and went to the antique market to find the plaque, the owner had already sold it." when he asked, he was told that it was sold to tianjin, and lv xin was extremely anxious. after returning, he reported to the museum again. he explained that as a representative of the commercial folklore of old beijing, the plaque of "wang mazi knife and scissors shop" was of great significance, and it was particularly rare for the beijing folklore museum to be able to collect it.
with the approval of the museum, the team decided to retrieve it. however, after further contact, they found that the plaque had been resold from tianjin to shandong. lu xin found the owner, said a lot of good things, and entrusted him to help retrieve it. finally, they transported the plaque back to beijing from the buyer in jinan.
the "wang mazi scissors plaque" (upper right) in the warehouse is 2 meters long and engraved with the word "kyoto". photo by beijing news reporter pu feng
according to lv xin, only by putting it in the museum for research and exhibition can more people see and understand it. in fact, in addition to the "wang mazi knife and scissors shop", there are many different beijing time-honored brands in the storeroom of the beijing folk museum, including a "quanjude" plaque. "quanjude" is a famous roast duck restaurant in beijing. it not only has a long history and is the largest in scale, but also has the most famous reputation.
this "quanjude" plaque in the beijing folk customs museum was bought by lv xin from the gaobeidian antique market. he went there three times and the price tripled before he bought it back. after the plaque was exhibited, it attracted much attention. the old store "quanjude" sent someone to verify and check. they looked at the golden nanmu, pondered the familiar font and signature, and after some deliberation, they came to the same conclusion: "this plaque is real! and it was lost from an old brand in jinan, shandong." lv xin said that according to research, "quanjude" does have a branch in jinan, shandong.
a wooden "he nian tang ji" pulse pillow collected by the beijing folk museum. photo by pu feng, a reporter from the beijing news
using folk relics to tell the story of culture
this year is the year of the dragon, and the dragon image is a cultural representation of chinese civilization. at the beginning of the year, the "chinese dragon image - dragon zodiac artifacts exhibition in the beijing folk museum" was officially unveiled. nearly 40 sets of dragon zodiac-themed artifacts from different eras, different textures, and different shapes appeared in the dongyue palace exhibition hall on the west road of the beijing folk museum, attracting attention.
the exhibition is still open to the public. walking into the exhibition hall, you will see a phoenix crown with a "囍" character on the top. although it is a phoenix crown, you can see many dragons on it if you look closely. lu xin told reporters that this "yi pin madam double happiness jade phoenix crown" is made with jade inlay, inlay and filigree as the main techniques. along the edge of the crown are the words "sun and moon" and "yi pin madam". the main decoration of the phoenix crown is three dragons, with a dragon holding a pearl in its mouth on the top and two dragons playing with the pearl below.
the current exhibition of dragon-themed cultural relics is showing the "double happiness jade phoenix crown for lady yipin". photo by pu feng, a reporter from the beijing news
this phoenix crown is a gilded silverware from the qing dynasty. if you look closely, you can see seven phoenixes on the bottom edge of the crown, holding bats and copper coins in their mouths. in addition, the tassels with auspicious cloud patterns are each made of three strings of pearls and gemstones. the shape is exquisite and festive, and it also means "happiness is in sight."
in the exhibition hall of the back building of the museum, the theme exhibition of the 24 solar terms is also eye-catching. the 24 solar terms are listed in the representative list of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity and are a unique time and space knowledge system of the chinese people. in the exhibition hall, the 24 solar terms correspond to different cultural relics, interpreting the wisdom of chinese civilization through the form of "objects".
a round lacquer box with a black background and a pattern of beating the spring ox from the qing dynasty is placed in a display cabinet with the theme of the beginning of spring. "whipping the spring ox" is a ritual of the ancients during the busy spring ploughing, which is intended to wake up the idle oxen in winter to prepare for spring ploughing. it is said that the lacquer box embodies the working people's emphasis on farming and reading to pass on their family traditions and their expectations for a good harvest in the farming society.
in the display cabinet with the theme of the summer solstice, you can see the incense purses with bogu patterns. he jiale from the exhibition and display department of the museum explained that the summer solstice is very close to the dragon boat festival, and the weather is relatively hot, which is when the "five poisons" such as snakes and scorpions are active. people usually sew sachets, put mosquito repellent herbs in them, and carry them with them to achieve the effect of repelling mosquitoes and insects.
visitors watch the "elegant and elegant utensils - lacquer box collection exhibition" in the west courtyard exhibition hall of dongyue temple. photo by pu feng, a reporter from the beijing news
using cultural relics to tell the story of traditional culture is not limited to the zodiac and solar terms. since 2016, lv xin has planned and launched more than 100 traditional folk culture theme exhibitions, including "taoist culture exhibition", "collection of plaques and cultural relics exhibition", "folk new year painting exhibition", "folk costume exhibition", "traditional chinese medicine industry instruments and cultural relics exhibition", which have had a far-reaching impact.
in particular, the cultural relics on display represent the "old beijing traditional commercial folk customs exhibition". they not only retain the commercial style of the ancient capital beijing, but also integrate the commercial connotations of various regions and ethnic groups across the country, and form beijing's unique commercial characteristics. in lv xin's view, through different exhibitions of these old objects, letting them "speak", the excellent traditional folk culture can be better passed on.
not only himself, lu xin said, how to explore the cultural connotation of old beijing's commerce and inherit the excellent business culture tradition has now become an important research topic for a group of young cultural guardians such as he jiale and chu cong.
beijing news reporter zhang jianlin
editor: fan yijing proofreader: liu jun
