Revitalizing Value of Humanities in the Twenty-four Solar Terms through Visual Design, Liaoning Province, China

Abstract

The system of “Twenty-Four Solar Terms” (TST) is an order of seasonal solar orbit being used in the Chinese traditional calendar to understand nature and regulate local festivals to their way of life. It is ancient intelligence for more than 2000 years of harmonious living with nature, which reflects value of humanities in philosophical art of living. However, its time-guide function in modern Chinese calendar has gradually lost its importance because modernization in the recent decades has changed people’s lifestyle. Several terms are still used for some popular festivals, e.g. Qingming (Pure Brightness) and Dongzhi (Winter Solstice), however other terms are ignored by modern Chinese society. Although UNESCO submitted it to be intangible cultural heritage of mankind in 2016, which could be a turning point and opportunity to promote it, many Chinese people are still unaware of its traditional importance. Investigation into its cultural loss and possibility of revitalization in the educational field has been carried out in Liaoning Province of China by using questionnaires to understand its familiarity and retained cultural inheritance practices. The target groups contain students, parents, teachers and general population. The results show that 84 % of sampled young individuals were willing to learn and inherit it, while 41% of sampled parents were willing to participate in parent-child activities. Furthermore, almost all of sampled target group supported incorporating it into education. The results also confirm that children are interested in the system of TST, which could be transformed into various lessons through visual communication design.