Poetry: Show’s gamelike format boosts appeal
“They can get people interested in ancient Chinese poetry to a certain extent. But don’t expect too much from a bit of TV. Culture influences people mainly through the sway it has on their souls and temperaments, andyoucan’thavethatimpactjustby making a few hit TV shows.”
It is easy to get people to talk about popular TV shows, but such talk tends to be ephemeral, he says. On the other hand, bringing about changes in the field of culture is a long-term process because there is much more to culture than what you can see in a TV program.
He suggests that textbooks should contain more about traditional culture and art, that the material should be more interesting, and that more opportunities should be created for young people to experience traditional life and culture, rather than just learning about them
While some try to promote traditional culture such as poetry in various ways, many others follow their passion for classic poetry in their own ways.
For example, group activities such as poem recitals, online themed forums on poetry, and social media accounts dedicated to poetry have attracted many people who share the same interest.
QingTaoandLiZheng,twoyoung professionals in Beijing, have been using their spare time to organize group activities on weekends that bring together dozens of poetry aficionados to read and discuss poems. Almost all are young people from various walks of life, and during the gatherings members take turns at giving presentations on poetry and discussing poetry and poets.
Qing, who is a part-time writer, says he sees poems as nutrition.
“If you want to make writing a hobby, reading poetry is very handy for sharpening your word skills, because in poems every word is carefully chosen and finely balanced. We don’t expect all of our members to be able to write poems in the end, but by engaging in such activities there is no doubt they can improve their language skills.”
Wen Chen, a member of the group, says it offers him an opportunity to exchange ideas with others.
“By doing that I can learn more about poetry, and have the satisfaction of learning things from the discussions.”