China News Service, Taiyuan, September 10th. Title: Shou Yi also conveys the heart: the "handheld" intangible cultural heritage path of the fifth generation descendant of the century-old Taigu Cake
Author Yang Jing Li Jinyang
"I am a child who grew up smelling the aroma of cakes." In the memory of Li Junwei, the fifth-generation representative inheritor of Taigu cake-making skills, a representative project of national intangible cultural heritage, the deepest imprints of his childhood are the warm sweet smell in the yard, the rustle of the master's kneading dough, and the dancing firelight in the furnace.
On the 9th, Li Junwei, the fifth-generation representative inheritor of the Taigu Cake making technique, a representative national intangible cultural heritage project, shared his inheritance story. Photo by Wu Xiaoqing
When this heavy century-old sign was passed into his hands, Li Junwei admitted frankly that he faced many practical problems: "With traditional handwork, you can't make many cakes in a day; if you stay in Taigu, the fragrance of the cakes cannot spread to the land of Sanjin; and the products will not be new for decades." In order to prevent the time-honored sign from gradually fading in the tide of the times, he chose to quit his job, return to his hometown to start a business, and take over this responsibility.
Faced with the dilemma, Li Junwei led the team to build a standardized intelligent production workshop, using modern technology to stabilize quality and expand production capacity. At the same time, he did not rest on his laurels, but led the R&D team to launch specialty pastries such as low-sugar sugar-alcohol five-black cakes and sea-buckthorn sandwich cakes representing Shanxi flavor.
"The ancient techniques have achieved large-scale production, and the century-old taste has entered thousands of households." Li Junwei said.
Sales were opened, but with them new confusions emerged. At first, in order to expand the market, Li Junwei tried to cooperate with Internet experts to promote Taigu cakes. But he discovered a practical problem: "Even if the expert is very careful, it is difficult to fully explain the origin of Taigu Pancake, the intangible cultural heritage production process, and the story of the integrity of Shanxi merchants who 'use justice to make profits' behind it."
"Isn't the most suitable person to talk about intangible cultural heritage the inheritor himself?" After thinking about this, Li Junwei decided to "step in front of the camera himself" and boldly tried to shoot a short video.
In order to better present the intangible cultural heritage skills in front of the camera, he devoted himself to cultivating this traditional skill. "The entire ingredients are strictly based on the traditional formula of 'three oils and four sugars', and the entire production process strictly follows the traditional process. From 'kneading, sticking sesame seeds, hot noodles, turning over, and baking over high and low heat,' every process is meticulous and must be described to the fans." Li Junwei said: "Making the video also forced me to learn and understand this skill more systematically and in-depth."
In this way, Li Junwei spent five years and shot more than 20,000 videos, using a real perspective to let more people understand Taigu Pancake and Shanxi Intangible Cultural Heritage.
The short video not only brought Taigu cakes out of the circle, but also made Li Junwei unexpectedly become the teller of Taigu’s humanistic stories.
"We have a coach named Gangzi in Taigu who has been working silently for thirty years, regardless of remuneration, providing free physical training for local children and protecting the growth of young people." After hearing this story, Li Junwei was deeply touched: "I want to use my own communication method to pass on this spirit to more fans."
After the video co-produced by Li Junwei and Coach Gangzi was released, it received a large number of likes, comments and reposts from netizens. This incident gave Li Junwei a deeper understanding of the word "inheriter": "As an inheritor and also an online communicator, I not only let fans see the intangible cultural heritage skills, but also use the power of the Internet to tell the humanistic stories of Taigu well so that more people can understand my hometown."
From the production workshop to the mobile phone screen, from art preservation to heart-to-heart communication, Li Junwei used more than 20,000 short videos to create a new path for intangible cultural heritage. In his hands, Taigu cake is no longer just a piece of pastry, but has become a taste carrier that combines skills and humanity, taking on new vitality in the digital age. (over)
