Essay on culture
Since entering the 21st century, globalization has become a common trend faced by many fields, not only science and technology, economy, but also culture, art and other fields. . When people of different skin colors and different languages ??are all using the same PC or Mac, when people from different regions and different races are enjoying McDonald's and Coca-Cola, when we walk out of the courtyard houses where we have lived for generations and live in cement houses. Bungalows... Can we feel that national culture and national traditions are gradually disappearing? Can we feel that our "mother tongue" is gradually losing its voice? Facing the surging trend of internationalization and standardization, what kind of culture will modern design propose? What about the demands?
1 Design the disappearance of “mother tongue”
The original meaning of mother tongue refers to “the first language, which is the first language a person comes into contact with, learns and masters” "One or several languages" is usually extended to the original and original things or contents, and is used to refer to the traditional cultural meaning of the nation and the local region. The "mother tongue" of design refers to the content and codes of traditional culture and national culture in design. Entering the 21st century, we must realize that the so-called "globalization" is actually a trend of "global Westernization". It is undeniable that this trend is a great harm to multiculturalism and regional culture. In the field of design, the performance is to eliminate the cultural orientation in design and use a single aesthetic principle and way of thinking as the design criterion. my country's modern design is far from forming its own independent style. After experiencing the invasion of "Western Wave", "Oriental Style" and "Korean Wave", it was discovered that its own design language has always been imported, and its "mother tongue" has also been Gradually disappear in the imitation of times.
2. What is the "mother tongue" of design?
When exploring the "mother tongue", we always recall the scenes and environments when we were babbling. Similarly, the design of the "mother tongue" also contains in the traditional culture of the nation. If we try to open up the history of Chinese culture, we will cheer for the splendor of Chinese civilization, but we will also feel sad about its current state. Chinese traditional culture is a culture with long-lasting vitality created by the Chinese nation on the ancient land of China, showing its long-lasting and profound charm. In terms of the cultural content that design can involve, it mainly includes three aspects: macro-ideas, meso-methods and micro-elements.
2.1 Macroscopic Thought - Traditional Chinese Philosophy Level
In traditional Chinese culture, the philosophical culture mainly represented by Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhist culture is the rational accumulation of the wisdom of the Chinese nation. Although there are differences in the beliefs and positions adhered to by the three, they influence the philosophical psychology and way of thinking of the Chinese nation in different aspects. In the long historical process, the three are not completely tripartite, but complement each other and penetrate into each other. They are eclectic and integrated to form the traditional philosophical level of "three religions in one". Among them, the most essential philosophical concept is the harmonious concept of "unity of man and nature". "Unity of man and nature" refers to a mode of thinking that regards the development and changes of the universe, life, or all things in nature and human society as interconnected, harmonious, and balanced orderly movements. As Qian Mu, a master of traditional Chinese culture, said: "In Chinese culture, the concept of 'unity of nature and man' is the destination of the entire traditional Chinese cultural thought." Therefore, harmony is also regarded as the highest criterion for all things in the world in traditional philosophy and culture.
2.2 Meso-Method - Traditional Chinese Skills Level
The traditional Chinese thought of “valuing Tao over weapons” is very obvious, which has greatly influenced our country’s traditional skills. development. The ancient sages and sages even held a derogatory and exclusive attitude towards "techniques of all kinds" such as production techniques. For example, "Book of Rites and Kingship" says: "Anyone who practices skills to do the best" "does not compete with the officials", " They make obscene noises, wear strange clothes, use strange skills and weapons, and make people suspicious and kill them." It can be seen that in the ancient society where Confucianism was the orthodoxy, "emphasis on government affairs, despise nature, and reject craftsmanship" became the traditional concept, which also made Chinese craftsmen, mechanics, civil engineers and other craftsmen despised. .
2.3 Micro elements - traditional Chinese utensils
Chinese civilization has developed for thousands of years, and its style and characteristics are extremely distinctive. From the beam structure of traditional buildings to the mortise and tenon structure of furniture, from the patterns in stone and wood carvings to the patterns on clothing fabrics, they all show the similarities in the characteristics of traditional Chinese modeling elements.
For example, the furniture is mainly in Ming and Qing Dynasty furniture styles, the architecture is dominated by the dormitory style with large roofs and beam-and-column structures, and the most prominent utensils are porcelain. In addition, traditional crafts such as ceramics, lacquerware, wood and stone carvings, embroidery, dyeing and weaving, printing, paper-cutting, etc. have provided us with rich cultural materials and reference content. The "cultural codes" formed from calligraphy, painting and other art fields also show special cultural connotations in actual design applications, and are widely used in appliance design, which also provides a basis for the borrowing and borrowing of elements from each other. Code exchange and cross-utilization provide a wealth of "first-hand resources."
3 Reappearance of the "mother tongue" of design
From the perspective of the history of Chinese cultural development, we have a rich "mother tongue" of design, but since modern times, we have not been able to use it rationally. and convey. On the contrary, the Western world has repeatedly drawn "nutrients" from traditional Chinese culture and formed unique Westernized "Chinese fashions."
“Tradition” is not something external to the body. It cannot even be externalized or objectified, but becomes an objective entity that has no flesh-and-blood relationship with us. Tradition is the potential energy that permeates individuals and groups, directly or indirectly, positively or negatively, influencing and shaping our beliefs, attitudes towards life and behavioral norms. From the perspective of design culture, facing up to tradition, understanding tradition and carrying forward tradition are the keys to the formation of national style in modern design. In order to reproduce the cultural connotation and spiritual essence of the traditional cultural "mother tongue" in modern design, the author believes that we should start from the following points: First, take the national spirit as the main theme and emphasize both form and spirit. "National spirit" is the intermediary between the nation and the design form. The design form is like a mirror of the national spirit, and the national spirit is the soul of the national design. The simple sentence "Made...in...China (Made in China)" represents not only the quality of a product, but also the evaluation and judgment of the design level and culture of a nation and a country. To reproduce the "mother tongue" of traditional Chinese design, we must re-understand the spirit of the Chinese nation and carry out a new interpretation in design. Relying solely on the recombination and integration of original elements, symbols and patterns to conceive of a new “shape” will only lead to formality and superficiality. On the basis of a true understanding of the national symbols, we must integrate them and inject new ideas to make the performance more expressive, that is, "true in form and true in meaning." Secondly, take traditional culture as the source and embrace everything.
The continuation of China's five thousand years of national culture has given birth to a "Chinese shape" that is gentle, elegant, down-to-earth and honest. It is highly respected in the Western world, but has been despised by its own descendants for nearly a hundred years. This is worth pondering. The philosophical thoughts, creation laws, aesthetic concepts and countless classic examples contained in traditional culture have provided rich resources for today's design to a certain extent, but we have not yet been able to fully utilize them. Of course, what we want to do is "learn from the past" but not "restore the past" or "dislike the past". Chinese culture has been eclectic since ancient times, and it is this characteristic that has allowed Chinese culture to continue to this day without interruption or extinction.
4 Conclusion
Today, the wave of globalization has swept the entire world, and our country’s traditional culture has gradually lost confidence under the impact of strong Western culture, and the design of "mother tongue" "It's even more on the verge of disappearing. Therefore, if we want to develop Chinese-style design, we must proceed from the future development prospects, absorb the excellent elements of foreign culture, comprehensively transform traditional culture, eliminate the outdated dross, and explore new life forms of traditional culture. At the same time, the formation of the national style system must be based on the nation's own historical tradition. Only in this way can we create excellent works that not only adapt to world trends but also suit national conditions, contain tradition and have the spirit of the times, showing the Chinese style.
Artist He Huaishuo once said: "I believe that truly global art will never be born in a place where national art is poor and decadent, but must be born on the soil where national art is prosperous and strong." This The viewpoint is used for the modernization of national design, and the same is true. ;