Traditional Crafts Endure the Test of Time

Aligning Traditional Culture with Modern Needs

I studied art and design in school, but all arts are interrelated. My academic background helped me learn how to make the hairy monkey, which involves multiple skills. In the learning process, I discovered a sense of fun, shared by my mother, and came to appreciate the charm of folk arts and crafts as well as the culture behind them.  

In the past few years, an increasing number of primary and middle schools in China have opened courses on intangible cultural heritage. Besides my teaching activities, I founded a research team whose members are my art school friends. We designed courseware, and experimented with new ideas in teaching. I also introduced new technologies into my hairy monkey class. For instance, I developed a software using 3DMAX to display the production process of the hairy monkey on the big screen. What’s more, I led my students to place the monkey figurines in settings plucked from their lives, such as calling 119 and 110 when encountering a fire or criminals. This way, the age-old handicraft becomes educational and relevant to current times, responding to issues of concern among teachers and parents.

My team is now teaching in several primary and middle schools in Beijing. I feel very proud. For a long period in the past, craftsmen could not make a decent living, and therefore very few from the younger generation would enter the trade. Things are different now. With strong government support and solid market demands, I can sufficiently support myself by practicing a craft that I love and that introduces me to many like-minded people. It has provided me with the life I’ve always dreamed of living.

It takes passion and innovation to revive a traditional culture. My hairy monkey works are different from those of my mother as they focus more on the present, what’s happening in it, and what appeals to young people. My mother’s works are about the past, and how she remembers old Beijing.

My team and I plan to develop derivative products involving technologies that are more advanced. Though the work is still in the early stage, every new attempt and every breakthrough are heartening, and sustain our resolve to press forward on this course.