Rural revitalization cannot be separated from the guidance of culture. Cultural revitalization is the meaning of rural revitalization.

Recently, leaders from cultural departments of Weifang, Zibo, Jining and Zaozhuang touched on these points as they discussed how to vitalize rural culture construction.

Sun Lijun, director of the Weifang municipal bureau of culture, radio, television and publication

In recent years, Weifang has carried out targeted protection of many intangible cultural heritages (ICH) by saving historical material, establishing archives and training inheritors.

At the same time, Weifang attached importance to the productive protection of ICHs, helping local people better integrate modern life through ICH modern transformations.

In future cultural work, local governments will continue to promote quality resources to be distributed at the community level and help ICH inheritors to set up brand consciousness and enhance inheritance skills in order to foster the role of culture in rural revitalization.

Intangible cultural heritage inheritors of Weifang promote cultural legacies at a local school. [Photo/Cultural Shandong] 

College students learn about Weifang intangible cultural heritages at a folk culture festival. [Photo/Cultural Shandong]

Zhou Maosong, director of the Zibo municipal bureau of culture, radio, television and publication

The Zibo cultural department will carry out the strategy of rural cultural revitalization and improve the efficiency of public cultural service.

We will push forward the cultural construction of poverty removal and relocation in the Yellow River beach area and continue to support construction of cultural institutes and facilities at the community level.

We will explore the characteristics of rural culture, pushing ahead with demonstration areas for cultural inheritance and innovation.

We will strengthen the protection of traditional villages, carry out a citywide industrial heritage survey and promote the construction of a leisure town, a Cuju (ancient Chinese football) town and pottery making town.

Local residents learn calligraphy at a cultural institute in Zibo, Shandong province. [Photo/Cultural Shandong]

Zhang Tao, director of the Jining municipal bureau of culture, radio, television and publication

To push forward rural revitalization we must pay attention to the four roles of culture in the following ways.

First, we should speed up the construction of rural (community) Confucian classrooms, perfecting the inheritance system of rural intangible cultural heritages.

Second, it's necessary to push forward the construction of village-level comprehensive cultural service centers and to stage performances and shows in rural areas, advancing cultural poverty alleviation in a targeted way.

Third, we need to deepen integration of moral constraints and legal management, introducing Confucian culture into community-level management.

Fourth, we should allow culture to have its full impact in promoting rural industry development. It's required to build ethnic villages and towns into famous cultural tourism towns (villages), strengthen the development of cultural tourism products and create a series of deep experience projects with traditional cultural characteristics.

Qu Yuqiao, director of the Zaozhuang municipal bureau of culture, radio, television and publication

Zaozhuang will make efforts in three ways to bring about rural revitalization:

First, we will set up a rural cultural infrastructure platform. The Zaozhuang municipal government will speed up the construction of community-level comprehensive cultural service centers and multifunctional activity rooms and improve the infrastructure of comprehensive service halls and outdoor recreation venue. We will also publicize cultural announcement and other data.

Second, we will hold cultural activities in rural areas. Zaozhuang will present cultural and art festivals, opera shows and films to rural people; push forward the "library+college" mode and rural (community) Confucian program and organize campus events to promote traditional Chinese culture.

Third, to protect and to make good use of cultural heritages, the Zaozhuang municipal government will strengthen collecting and sorting out of the rural cultural resources and organize important exhibitions and shows such as "Cultural and Natural Heritage Day" and "Intangible Cultural Heritage Month".