According to me, Chongqing has a folk place named Ciqikou. The government invested a huge of money on it, but it still didn’t well develop and is still in a natural condition. The main income is from Maoxuewang (the local meal) and melon seeds. The principal said this was the choice of marketing, the government has no any way.
It is to say the government doesn’t know how to make the traditional architectures and folk custom into local economic benefits. In Ciqikou, you can’t find a cafe. The price of a cup of green tea is $0.1. Comparing with Jinli of Chengdou and Sikumen of Shanghai, the price is far from theirs.
So there appear some questions, what is originality industry, which need to be understood by the society and the government. What effect does the government can make? The government should consider more except just a industry office. If the government doesn’t understand the definition of originality industry, it couldn’t be developed just setting up some offices and leader group.
Originality industry is a new economic wealth focused on individual’ innovation and making it become true by collocating social resources effectively. Absolutely, originality is not other thing but the innovation that is ignored by Chinese society.
So if the originality need to develop not only rely on the outstanding achievement of government but also be not replaced by any bureaucracy standard minds. We need to do is to respect and protect original person, to attract person with ability, to incubate person with ability, to cultivate person with ability by reforming education, to contain them by opening mind. So originality can work out.
A principal of Chonqqing arts and crafts said, Chongqing doesn’t lack masters of Arts and crafts, but many folk arts and crafts are in a low benefit and inability to continue developing, the key is lacking effective market leading and invert system, lacking practical market policy. Even some key industries have no way to solve the transformation form excellent arts and crafts to industrialized market. In this condition, some traditional arts and crafts are facing the danger of dieing out.
Chongqing has directly under the jurisdiction of government for ten years. Only Tanmujian got development. In fact, there are still some other products, such as, paper fan an pottery arts of Rongchan, Dazushike (World immateriality cultural patrimony) and the unique three gorges tour.
I saw many tourists like those handicraft products very much in some small town of Europe and Korea, and many people travel the world every year to bring back a lot of products. China, such a big country, has several decades people hardly has some special souvenirs and original city-gifts. Guangzhou has a Wu sheep; Xi’an has military forces tomb figures and Ma ta fei yan. China is still in a low situation that we just rely on heritages of our ancestors left behind. Beijing becomes better except Tian’an men. We can see some new thing like the door of yard in Beijing’s bystreet. A company of city- souvenir was set up in Shanghai. The company put the old and new Shanghai stories together; the products are diaphanous, having an international and fashion quality, while other cities need to improve in these aspects.
Richard Florida point out in the Growing up Original class, America is coming into a new age, the whole world will in the “original society”. He thinks American society can’t be treated in traditional industrialized view. “Original class” is becoming the leading actor. While other aspects are divided into labor class and service class. In this trendy, the new development of China will put cultural original into first place.
A friend of mine works on collecting the contemporary art in China. He built a small industry chain from meal to art. Like he said, he used his own power and market to success not relied on the government. He bought a land as contemporary art gallery in Suzhou until now. then coming a group of officials to help ,but he didn’t request any. It became the model place. He thinks such thing like this is really ridiculous. He spent four months to travel the world every year to pursue afflatus. He said China doesn’t have such a atmosphere for him to produce afflatus. He told me even in Copenhagen, the local people can say the name of the designer of the utensil and coffee cup. So we can see originality and design is full of western countries, while every person begins to consume originally except dairy consumptions. To Chinese of 21st century, people’s recognize of originality is just some fashion and band. Much more are following the materials. And many national-class technical masters and artists are still stay at home till one day they are disinterred by officials and are invited to take part in a meeting and then come back waiting for death. This feeling is very real and lifelike. Guodegang said, today you are very popular is duo to yourself not the government. His friends and his hard experience was can’t be experienced by those officials.
As a new economic style based on individual talent and imaginative, originality industry needs a process of realization. And it also needs the government to create an environment to benefit their growing. If we just rely on government, it may lead originality hasn’t its own life-force. At the same time it will bring some informal socialism industries, and more perhaps it will make originality industry die in the officials’ limitation. The government thinks much of originality industry was a good thing, but there have many disadvantages like bad communications and disagreement concepts. Based on these different, the government and original persons should square their own positions. While the government needs to create a relaxed and delightful city environment, provide a stage and life and career space for originality industry, build a good human environment which people could recognize originality and respect original person. So everyone is free and live in peace with each other. If the whole country is in such a new situation, the originality industry can develop.
Open Comment
Open is to inspire the creative potential of ChinaOpen Nation is a special magazine. The first I saw it, I like its name. The open we think is more meaningful than the common open. And has international sense and global view. Like today’ Beijing, it has become a world capital because the 2008 Olympics. Bird's nest, National Opera Theater, SOHO, and more high originality industries are changing this city and its people.
In 2006, the workers of cultural originality had reached 960 thousand. If we add those who didn’t be accounted and free professional people, the number would double. This trendy just like the convergent place of Songzhuan’ artists live in, was centralized with the development of time. From quantitative change to qualitative change, it had made a cultural original Beijing. Cultural originality is changing the definition of Beijinig.
Is there originality in Beijing or not? This was talked about by people several years ago. The magnanimous of Beijing in several years ago couldn’t compare with Guangdong and Shanghai. Even CCTV was frightened by Hunan TV. Where is Beijing’ originality? How Beijing can have their own originality? We have to thank 2008 Olympics, which is an opportunity for Beijing to develop originality industry. Many people can remember, about one year ago, the drumbeating has red-color; it lackslifelikeness, visualization and attraction. And it even had a lot of critics thought the propaganda was terrible. So originality represents and also becomes a standard of checking Beijing government. Originality has become a pressure of the government. With the constructed of Bird's nest, a new huge originality has appeared and are changing the conception of government, from ignoring it to longing for it.
Today’s Beijing has been full of originality. Today’s 2008 Olympic is running to originality. Originality has rose up in Beijing and turned on a new leaf. We have to say the complexion is for “open”. If it doesn’t have open just have originality, the originality is just an official stylebook. And even a new close and conservative form. So only open can bring real originality and its flourishing. In the facing of originality, Beijing and China in 2008 is worth of being expected.
Originality must have dared
Seeing the magazine of open Nation, I thought about a word “dare”. This is like many people judge of Hunanese, which is summed up to be one word “dare”. This word has an unusual meaning to this originality age.
Why we mention the word dare，when talking about originality? There are two reasons: one is “inaugurate” the mean is do it firstly in Cihai; so if we want to have originality we need to have the idea of challenging kinds of conservative experience. Before doing it the idea should be prepared and then originality could be developed. Two is “to be the first”, why we say that? According to the first one, though originality should never appear of before, so it must be done firstly. It also explodes many traditional habits. If we don’t have this spirits, I’m afraid we can’t do it even can’t benefit from it.
