Culture fuels rural vitalization
Rural cultural performers in the paddy fields in the scenic area of Yueliangqiao Village, Tianmushan Town, Lin’an District, Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province, Oct. 31, 2020
Culture plays an important role in rural vitalization, according to participants at the 6th Urban Cultural Development Forum on June 6.
The forum, themed “Culture and Rural Vitalization,” was organized by Beijing Normal University (BNU).
BNU Vice President Zhou Zuoyu said that as China eradicated absolute poverty, the Party and the state have formulated a series of rural vitalization policies, highlighting the importance and urgency of rural vitalization.
The implementation of the rural vitalization strategy needs to not only meet rural people’s material needs, but also their spiritual needs, so that people’s lives can truly be cultivated. Developing rural culture is important to implementation of the rural vitalization strategy.
Chen Cungen, former deputy secretary of the State Organs Work Committee of the CPC, suggested actively developing rural cultural resources.
“We must carefully protect, scientifically develop, and promote fine rural traditional culture, and we also need to vigorously inherit the humanistic spirit contained in rural culture,” Chen said.
Chen Hong, secretary of the Party Committee at Hunan Agricultural University, said that for agricultural communities to play their role in cultural heritage, we must focus on the study of agricultural history, and draw wisdom and strength from China’s agricultural civilization which has lasted for thousands of years.
Culture infiltrates all aspects of rural vitalization, said Zhu Qizhen, a professor at China Agricultural University. We should not only recognize the importance of culture in terms of beliefs and values, but also implement it in all aspects of rural vitalization.
Zou Guangwen, a professor from the School of Marxism at Tsinghua University, said that rural vitalization must connect to cultural heritage, and modern civilization concepts and advanced lifestyles are requirements for rural vitalization in the future.
Rural vitalization requires not only the “hard power” of economic development, but also the “soft power” of culture.
To construct an aesthetic cultural system of soft power involving rural vitalization, we must take aesthetics as a medium to connect urban and rural areas, create a rural aesthetic economic model, and form a unique and exemplary path for rural development, said Wang Xin, a professor from the School of Journalism and Communication at Liaoning University.
Liu Yuedi, a research fellow from the Institute of Philosophy at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that the construction of small towns in China must meet aesthetic standards.
Research on rural vitalization should closely integrate big data technology. Zhang Zhi, a research fellow at Shandong University’s Quality of Life and Public Policy Research Center, noted that with the advent of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, big data technology will bring opportunities for rural development.
Edited by JIANG HONG
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