Traditional art, modern incentives

Ancient culture is being used to strengthen contemporary identity and promote growth, Zhao Ruixue reports in Jining, Shandong province.

Shandong province, where the Yellow River flows into the Bohai Sea, is exploring innovative ways to inherit time-honored cultural handicrafts, passed down through generations, and utilize ancient techniques to enrich people's cultural lives — not to mention their pockets.

At Nishan town in Shandong's Jining city, the birthplace of Confucius, more than 600 fine handicrafts were on show at an exhibition held during the 2022 China International Confucius Cultural Festival and the eighth Nishan Forum on World Civilizations at the end of September. The events celebrated the country's craftsmanship traditions through collaborations between traditional and modern designers and artists.

With mortise and tenon, Hao Liyan from Tengzhou, a county-level city of Shandong, built several works on site, ranging from animals to architecture.