The inheritance and development of Wuhu iron paintings from the perspective of cultural industry

. Wuhu iron painting is a unique arts and crafts of Wuhu. As one of the traditional Chinese handicrafts, it has extremely high artistic value. Under the influence of new media, the development of Wuhu iron paintings has been hindered, and has fallen into problems such as insufficient talents, lack of funds, and broken inheritance. In order to propose a more valuable inheritance and development path, we now use literature analysis and case study methods, combined with policy documents and excellent cases, to explore the development direction of the cultural industry on the basis of existing research, and propose form innovation and improvement of media Economic system, establishing a sound education inheritance model, opening up industrial barriers, and integrating multiculturalism are four measures in order to promote the inheritance and development of Wuhu iron painting, stimulate the internal driving force for the development of Wuhu iron painting, and form a sustainable development chain.


Preface
Wuhu iron painting, formerly known as "iron flower", is a traditional folk art that originated in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties.It is a handicraft with local cultural characteristics in China.As early as the early Qing Dynasty, Wuhu blacksmiths produced auspicious patterns with specific stories on chandeliers, screens, and windows, such as "Mandarin ducks playing in the water", "Eight Immortals crossing the sea", "Three friends in winter", "Plum blossoms", etc., orchid, bamboo, chrysanthemum" and other patterns.At this time, iron flowers were no longer ordinary daily necessities, but became decorative paintings with certain decorative value, but real iron paintings had not yet been created.It was not until Tang Tianchi introduced the brushwork of traditional Chinese painting The combination of artistic conception and iron painting can be seen from his surviving work "Flowers and Birds in Four Seasons" (now in the Palace Museum, Beijing ). [1]In 2006, Wuhu iron painting skills became one of the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage protection projects; in 2008 , Yang Guanghui was awarded the title of "Asia-Pacific Handicraft Master"; in 2012, Master Chu Jinxia became the representative inheritor of "Wuhu Iron Painting" and "Forging Skills" and won the National Intangible Cultural Heritage Award.But now Wuhu Iron Painting is facing the problem of having no successors.Difficulties, low income and poor employment prospects have made many young people interested in Wuhu iron paintings.The inheritance and development of Wuhu iron paintings are facing a serious crisis. [2]Problems existing in the inheritance and development of Wuhu iron paintings at the current stage

Inheritance dilemma
People are the basis for the protection and inheritance of intangible cultural heritage.As a kind of spiritual culture, the inheritance of intangible cultural heritage is highly dependent on people. [3]If there are no heirs, the inheritance chain may be interrupted.At present, the Wuhu iron painting masters known to the public are all older, and the aging phenomenon is serious.In addition, Wuhu iron painting is characterized by relatively free painting methods, complex production techniques, single teaching methods, and difficult basic skills.It takes a long time to train a new generation of capable successors and is more difficult.In addition to hard work, learning Wuhu iron painting also requires students' talent and understanding, and has certain requirements for students' learning ability.Due to the limitation of the source of students, there are currently relatively few students studying and inheriting Wuhu iron paintings, and most of them are technical secondary school and college students with relatively poor learning ability. [4]There is a lack of leading and compound literary and artistic talents, and there is a talent gap.It is difficult to meet the development needs of the cultural industry in today's society and is not conducive to the inheritance and development of Wuhu iron paintings.

Development dilemma
First of all, iron painting is a traditional arts and crafts as an intangible cultural heritage.The material characteristics of iron painting are the basis of its craft or artistic creation process.Fully exploring the artistic expression of iron painting materials is the only choice for iron painting artists.The Wuhu iron paintings seen so far require anti-corrosion protection due to the limitations of iron material properties.Affected by the black and white effect of Chinese paintings, the surface of the iron paintings is usually painted black, but this actually destroys the inherent natural beauty and uniqueness of the iron material. [5]The texture effect,.From an aesthetic point of view, rust is also a unique artistic effect of iron paintings.Therefore, from the perspective of artistic creation, we have not made the best use of everything.There are two reasons for using this method of processing iron paintings.First, the difference between public aesthetics and artistic aesthetics.Iron painting is more targeted at the mass market.Popular aesthetics make the traditional black paint treatment more popular among the public.The rust-enriching effect has not yet been recognized by the public.Secondly, the characteristics of the material mean that it is easily corroded, especially in the south, where the air humidity is relatively high and the storage time is limited, so anti-corrosion protection must be provided.
The key innovation link of Wuhu iron painting is how to make full use of the natural properties of iron on the basis of anti-rust.
Secondly, the material "iron" is the unshakable foundation for the development of iron painting art, and "painting" is the basic form and direction of this traditional art craft.As we all know, the artistic creations of Wuhu iron paintings mainly include traditional themes such as Chinese paintings of landscapes, flowers and birds, as well as modern comic themes.It also includes tourist souvenirs representing local characteristics and scenery, such as Anhui Yingbin pine, Huizhou architecture, etc.The mediocre subject matter makes Wuhu iron paintings appear conservative and outdated, which is also a common problem with intangible cultural heritage.Many so-called innovative iron paintings on the market are just sensational, not only rejecting the characteristics of the material, but also losing the artistic concept of Chinese painting.This is mainly because the creator's forging skills are not refined, his understanding of materials is insufficient, and his aesthetic level needs to be improved.As time goes by, iron paintings with traditional themes continue to improve and become more imaginative, and there is still room for further development of traditional themes.How to further expand the depth and breadth of Wuhu iron painting patterns on the basis of tradition and choose good patterns and new patterns suitable for iron painting forging are important innovation directions for Wuhu iron painting.

Form innovation
Innovation is the only way forward for traditional arts and crafts.Facing the current market economic situation, it is not easy to inherit traditional crafts as intangible cultural heritage, and it is even harder to innovate.How to get out of this predicament is a common problem faced by the government, practitioners and universities that study iron painting art.With the support of the government, the participation of artists, and the creation of a school-enterprise cooperation model, iron painting art can create new sparks.For example, the National Art Fund Lecture "Wuhu Iron Painting Art Works Tour Exhibition" and the Wuhu Iron Painting Art Works Innovation and Development Seminar were organized to brainstorm and summarize many innovative and constructive suggestions.
First of all, with the development of society and the advancement of science and technology, for iron paintings, although the iron material has limitations, as an artistic medium that carries the image of iron paintings, the material properties of iron cannot be changed, so it is necessary to deeply study its material properties, a comprehensive language that expresses the characteristics of iron and the essence of forging art."Iron" is a relatively active metal.Pure iron is a metal crystal with a silver-white metallic luster.Since the surface of iron is often covered with a protective layer, its main component is black iron oxide, it usually appears gray.Gray-black, with good elasticity and ductility.At room temperature, iron does not easily react with non-metallic elements such as oxygen, sulfur, and chlorine in dry air.If it is contaminated, it will easily rust in humid air.When encountering acid, alkali, and salt solutions, rust will form and appear faster.How can we make the best use of it and bring out its beauty?Let's talk about it from two aspects: material and craftsmanship. [6]After introducing the iron, we found that the iron itself is silvery white.Due to the different composition of the surface protective layer, the color shows a gradient from gray to gray black, while the corroded and oxidized iron appears brownish red.From an aesthetic point of view, its color The diverse beauty of materials can enrich the visual effects of iron painting art, enhance the artistic expression of iron painting, and improve the artistic quality of iron painting.Secondly, iron has good elasticity and plasticity, and iron paintings have been forged thousands of times.The forging process is also part of its artistic value.The traces left by forging are strong proof of the artistic value of iron paintings.Different iron painting artists use different forging methods to achieve different texture effects in iron paintings.Nowadays, too much black pigment covers the natural traces of the forging of iron paintings.Preserving the traces of the forging process of iron paintings can break the material limitations of "iron", expand the expression techniques of iron painting art, and enrich the ontological language of iron paintings.painting.Take "Tianmen Mountain Taiping Landscape" by Song Binghui, a student of the National Art Fund's "Wuhu Iron Painting Art Talent Training" project, as an example.Using images to create mountains breaks the traditional method of casting iron images.Holes are dug into the iron plate to create the mountains, then the texture is quenched, changing the rigid shape, enriching the color of the iron and finding an intelligent rhythm in the texture.this is the best.Improve iron painting artists' understanding of material properties, encourage them to skillfully use material properties to express their thoughts in artistic creation, and realize the texture effects produced by various forging methods.
Secondly, the themes of iron paintings were once based on traditional Chinese paintings, but now they draw inspiration from all types of art. [7]Although it seems to be prosperous, many iron paintings lack artistic beauty.Compared with today's so-called "innovative" theme works, traditional themes appear more artistic.Most of the traditional patterns are selected from the works of famous artists from past dynasties.The work itself has extremely high artistic value.Both the composition and the pen and ink can maximize the artistic quality of iron paintings.For example, Mr. Zhang Jiakang's painting, the representative iron painting "Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains", is based on the Yuan Dynasty and based on Huang Gongwang's "Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains"."Welcoming Pine" is the result of the collective efforts of Wuhu iron painting artists.It is a masterpiece that has been tempered for many years.Its model is the traditional Chinese painting "Horse" by the famous painter Wang Shicen.Xu Beihong's "Plum Orchid" and "Bamboo Chrysanthemum" are also popular traditional patterns in iron paintings.In the context of innovation, if old trees are to bloom new flowers, it is necessary to inherit art classics.Choosing motifs and patterns suitable for forging techniques in iron paintings must not only have specific aesthetic meaning and humanistic spirit, but also consider their composition.and the rhythmic relationship of the image.Take the works of Qian Yue as an example.He graduated from Sichuan Fine Arts Institute.His works use iron painting techniques to reproduce the traditional "pine, bamboo, plum orchid" motif, but the expression paradigm is very different from the tradition: the pine tree expressing welcome has Its shape is "Farewell Pine" and cannot be viewed calmly.", the bamboo became "bamboo outside the door", the plum blossoms were broken off from the branches to form a pile of "plum blossom firewood", and the orchid grass grew crazily and turned into a "waste orchid altar".The whole purpose is to create a "ruined orchid altar" in a modern context.It shows different visual effects of traditional themes.Of course, there are many more patterns suitable for making iron paintings than the traditional patterns we have seen.This requires us to continuously expand the scope of Wuhu iron painting themes on the basis of digging deep into the tradition.We are While sorting out traditional patterns, we should also look for modern patterns with certain artistic value to meet the diverse needs of contemporary aesthetics.

Improve the media economic system
With the rapid development of science and technology and the country's increasing emphasis on intangible cultural heritage, intangible cultural heritage begins to be disseminated through new media channels.More and more young people are interested in traditional culture and begin to take the initiative to learn traditional culture.The image of Wuhu Steel can be disseminated through an open and interactive new media platform.Based on this, this article proposes effective ways to use modern media to promote the spread of Wuhu iron paintings.
The first is to use the live new media platform to expand the scope of influence of Wuhu Iron Painting.Relevant authorities have already made similar attempts.For example, in 2016, a special original performance of Wuhu Iron Paintings was held in the form of live broadcast, and in 2022, the Wuhu Municipal Culture, Radio, Television and Tourism Bureau held a nine-day Wuhu Iron Painting Cloud Exhibition.This type of live broadcast of government affairs is not uncommon, but each live broadcast is short and has few activities.Although the number of clicks and views is large, it lacks sustainability and it is difficult to build a stable fan base.Additionally, there are breaks between each live broadcast.Heat is difficult to maintain for long periods of time.[8] In order to better attract audiences, the main elements of Wuhu Tiehua Communication should continue to be broadcast live simultaneously, paying attention to the traffic processing characteristics of the live broadcast platform to achieve a win-win situation in the live broadcast room.The economic benefits brought by the dissemination and live broadcast of Wuhu iron paintings.
Secondly, cultivate a new generation of successors and make good use of the Internet star effect.Encourage the younger generation of Wuhu iron painting artists to shoot their daily life, study, life and performance through short films, and support talented Wuhu iron painting actors to show the charm of Wuhu iron painting by participating in appropriate cultural and entertainment performances.In addition, efforts should also be made to cultivate a new generation of inheritors of Wuhu iron paintings and turn them into stars to attract more fans and promote the spread of Wuhu iron paintings.
Third, focus on hot topics and create short videos that are in line with trends.Wuhu iron painting contractors must fully demonstrate the characteristics of iron paintings.Relevant departments can present the learning process of Wuhu Iron Painting in an interesting form and attract more young people to watch related videos through attractive copywriting.At the same time, the classic Wuhu Tiehua aria will also be performed.Wuhu iron paintings can combine the development history of Wuhu or draw classic stories to attract the public's attention.Wuhu iron paintings can also be promoted through creative, interesting and popular methods.

Establish a positive education inheritance model
The classroom is the primary place for cultural inheritance.Relying on intangible cultural heritage inheritors to carry out local education, allowing more people to experience Wuhu iron painting production, forming a solid education inheritance model from both mass education and vocational education, through government guidance and the use of traditional arts, campuses, new media platforms and other measures, to promote the spread of Wuhu iron paintings.The second is to use new media platforms to disseminate Wuhu iron painting knowledge to the audience through new media platforms such as Bilibili and Douyin.At the same time, create more targeted content based on the audience's interests and preferences to attract more people to learn Wuhu iron painting.The online platform can break the limitations of time and space, let more people know about Wuhu Iron Painting, create a suitable atmosphere in the whole society, and also realize traffic monetization and increase the income of Wuhu Iron Painting inheritors.[9]  Third, Wuhu Iron Painting has a small scope of activities in school districts, and is mostly focused on schools for younger age groups.Although it has achieved some results, its overall scope of influence is still very limited.Relatively speaking, college students have stronger communication skills.Therefore, the Wuhu Iron Painting Communication Unit can cooperate with high schools and universities to provide high school students and college students with opportunities to understand and learn Wuhu Iron Painting through campus art or relevant elective courses, while promoting the spread of Iron Painting.Wuhu pictures.

Breaking down industrial barriers and integrating diverse cultures
Place the iron paintings in the overall urban development environment of Wuhu, form a healthy integrated development relationship with other modern new cultures and foreign cultural industries in Wuhu City, and make full use of the Wuhu tourist city platform to drive tourism expression and build all aspects of the tourism cultural industry, related to elements The ecological industrial chain enables the development of iron painting conservation tourism.The combination of culture and tourism is an effective way to realize the value and comprehensive benefits of the intangible cultural heritage iron paintings.For example, with the slogan "Wuhu Intangible Cultural Heritage Tour", parent-child tours, study tours, family tours and other projects are organized, iron art painting performances based on intangible cultural heritage are added, and tourists participate in Wuhu intangible cultural heritage painting production activities.Iron paintings, using the Xinghuang Mountain Welcome Pine and Wuhu Fantawild Xiong Daxiong secondary "Internet celebrity" stars to create small and exquisite cultural and creative tourism products, can also allow the public to view iron paintings and other windows in urban lighting, stations, squares and other places.Through these methods, we will comprehensively improve the visibility and appeal of the iron painting intangible cultural heritage in public consciousness and promote the protection and inheritance of Wuhu iron painting intangible cultural heritage.Secondly, create an IP image.Create a surrounding image with the characteristics and design of Wuhu iron paintings, promote the promotion of Wuhu iron paintings, and create more economic benefits.

Analysis conclusion
As an intangible cultural heritage, Wuhu iron paintings have certain artistic value and contemporary value.To "revitalize" the image of Wuhu iron, the government and the general public must cooperate, use new media to participate in media economic operations, and create new cultural creativity that conforms to social preferences.products, establish a positive education inheritance model, and develop the industrial chain.Break down barriers, integrate diverse cultures, form a relatively complete and balanced industrial chain, truly develop tourism with culture, highlight culture with tourism, promote better integration of culture and tourism, make culture and tourism interactive, mutually beneficial, and promote coordinated development.

Outlook
Wuhu iron painting intangible cultural heritage is a precious art that has been tempered by time.It is the inheritance and embodiment of material civilization, and also inherits the hard work and exquisite skills of several generations of iron painters.In the context of the rapid development of modern civilization and foreign culture, if effective protection and inheritance are not strengthened, it will slowly withdraw from the stage of history, and its artistic value and wisdom will also be forgotten by society.This further encourages us to actively participate in the protection and inheritance of Wuhu Iron Statues, increase publicity, encourage public participation, integrate modern multiculturalism, consolidate the city brand image of Wuhu Iron Statues, make full use of government support in terms of policies, resources, funds, etc., and formulate The protection and inheritance mechanism of iron paintings and their inheritors allows Wuhu iron paintings, an intangible cultural heritage treasure, to be better inherited and shine with infinite brilliance.
1. Promote Wuhu Iron Painting in the classroom and stimulate students' interest in learning through entertainment.Interest is the best teacher.Entering the classroom through Wuhu Iron Painting can make students interested in Wuhu Iron Painting, and at the same time spread relevant knowledge of Wuhu Iron Painting, and then actively understand Wuhu Iron Painting, which is conducive to cultivating and discovering a new generation of Wuhu Iron Painting successors.