Old Chinese texts basis of modern design contest

A craftsman demonstrates the traditional rubbing technique at the National Museum of Classic Books in Beijing. [Photo by Ta Chuan/China Daily]

The National Center for Preservation and Conservation of Ancient Books and the Library Society of China, a network of public libraries in the country, will jointly launch a contest on the upcoming World Book Day to encourage young Chinese to explore ancient texts.

On Saturday, when the competition begins, participants will be expected to create new designs based on old texts－the earliest of which date back to the Shang Dynasty (c.16th century-11th century BC).

More than 50 Chinese institutions are offering their archives to contestants to come up with design works that will be exhibited in different cities in June.

The best will be awarded prizes in October and the works are expected to be converted into cultural souvenirs, among other items of commercial use.

Not just for college students, the contest is open to professional designers and artists as well.

Huo Ruijuan, secretary-general of the Library Society of China, says the collections in libraries that are at the disposal of contestants include ancient texts, old maps, seals, calligraphy works and art pieces.

She expects more than 1,000 designs to be submitted.

Zhang Zhiqing, deputy director of the National Center for Preservation and Conservation of Ancient Books, says: "Cultural products like museum souvenirs that show creativity have become popular in the past few years. Libraries that house myriad literary resources should also develop better value for their collections."

He says traditional libraries in China have typically paid more attention to contents of ancient books and focused on developing derivatives based mostly on text.

"But artistic elements hidden in the classics are also important," says Zhang. "Ancient books can be better integrated into modern people's lives in different ways."

Lin Shitian, who works for the National Library of China, says: "Designers can get inspired by ancient languages and find high aesthetic values in them."

She is in charge of the June exhibition to be organized at the library's National Museum of Classic Books.

Founded in 2014, the museum has attracted 2.8 million visitors so far.

Lin says the exhibits can get people interested even though they seem very old today.

For the upcoming contest, the national library will provide eight ancient books and 10 photos of collections that record China's history of writing.

The pieces include a chronicle of Canton in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), a Dongba manuscript－a hieroglyph of the Naxi ethnic people in Southwest China－and oracle bones.

Zheng Fengyin, deputy dean of pottery design and fine art school at Jingdezhen College in Jiangxi province, says: "The collections can give us many ideas to make the designs."

Jingdezhen, a city in East China, is considered the country's pottery capital.

"Some creative elements of ancient books can be used to usher in new pottery styles. We've arranged special courses this semester for students to study such possibilities."

He is also considering using the college's connections with companies to convert design works to products.

Huo, from the Library Society of China, says the competition is being organized with a larger picture in mind.

"We want to make it a big platform so people can develop things that show popular culture," she says, adding that the competition could serve as an incubator for ideas.

As for the winning designs, putting them into commercial use would also mean developing copyright systems involving individuals, institutions and companies.