The awards ceremony of the 13th Mountain Flower Awards of Chinese Folk Literature and Art was held in Guangzhou on Jan 13.

Feng Jicai, famous writer, litterateur, folk artist and Tianjin University professor won the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Well-known folklorist Wu Bing'an also won a Lifetime Achievement Award.

Feng Jicai (L) and Wu Bing'an at the awards ceremony [Photo/Xinhua]

The theme of the award ceremony was “When Flowers Bloom”. Pan Lusheng, president of the Chinese Folk Literature and Art Association, said in a speech that the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation requires cultural pioneers, who should always pay close attention to cultural development and explore its laws.

Pan held that they should devote themselves to cultural protection and spare no effort to arouse people's awareness of protecting folk literature and art; they need to be dedicated, wise and respectable and are the backbone of Chinese culture.

At the ceremony, Feng expressed his deep love of folk culture. He said that in order to protect folk culture he has conducted research in many places. He has walked loess, black soil and fields, noting that at the ceremony, he walked the red carpet to accept the award, which demonstrates that folk culture is now considered high culture reflecting China's cultural self-awareness and confidence.

"I love culture too much. It's a new beginning for me to inherit culture," Feng Jicai said. In the last twenty years, Feng engaged in historic culture protection and folk culture preservation, and also initiated and hosted a Chinese folk cultural heritage rescue project while promoting the protection of traditional villages. He has had a positive impact on society.

In the future, he said, literary and art workers will still need to walk the country's soil and fields to discover precious Chinese folk cultures.

Feng Jicai, folk artist and professor of Tianjin University.[Photo provided to exploringtianjin.com]

The Mountain Flower Awards of Chinese Folk Literature and Art, a biennial supreme award for Chinese folk art, is co-hosted by the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles and the Chinese Folk Literature and Art Association.