Pass on the fire from generation to generation
In the transmission of Nanjing's gold leaf forging skills, from the earliest days of single transmission, from ancestors to fathers and fathers to sons, to the various forms of transmission through apprenticeship, the transmission and development of gold leaf is also changing. The development and application of modern fully automatic gold leaf beating machinery is gradually erasing the marks of traditional gold leaf forging skills, and it is especially urgent to focus on the protection of traditional forging skills in the context of industrialization.The ancient and solemn apprenticeship ceremony not only inherits the technique, but also teaches people to appreciate the thousand-year heritage behind the gold leaf.
As a representative inheritor of Nanjing's traditional gold leaf technique, Mei Zhenghua has studied under Mou Changsong, a veteran of gold leaf, and has become the third generation of gold leaf forging technique. He is known as a "cure expert" in the industry, and his "seven-way hammer" has been inherited by more than 600 masters.In order to promote the traditional Chinese gold leaf ritual of respecting teachers, in 2012, Mei Zhenghua, nearing retirement, took on Ge Caijin, Shi Jiahong, Gu Qing, Chen Xinhua, Chen Ping and Wang Dongping as the new generation of inheritors of the gold leaf forging technique.
In 2011, the Ministry of Education announced the first batch of national activities for the transmission of excellent Chinese culture and arts in primary and secondary schools, aiming to lead young students to enhance their national self-esteem, confidence and pride through activities for the transmission of excellent Chinese culture. The "spark" of NFA education was ignited in China, and inspired a large number of NFA study tours in China to learn and experience Jinling Gold Leaf. Through a variety of channels, such as non-foreign heritage study tours, handicraft inheritance, discussion and exchange, cooperation and dissemination, and the integration of modern technology, culture, education, art, film and television, we have been able to pick up the memories of gold leaf techniques, stories, masterpieces and characters that are unfamiliar to young people and unknown to them, yet amazing to them. From 2015 to 2019, JLF has received a total of more than 48,000 students on study tours and has been increasing year by year, from schools as close as Suzhou, Zhejiang and Shanghai to schools as far away as Qinghai, Shaanxi and Guizhou.At the same time, in order to cooperate with the university to establish a high-level higher vocational institution with Chinese characteristics and to carry out the integration of production and education between enterprises and universities, Jinling Gold Foil has also negotiated with Jiangsu Economic and Trade Vocational and Technical College to establish the "Jinmao College of Non-Foreign Heritage" and build a research center for the inheritance and innovation of "non-foreign heritage" culture. In July 2019, Jinling Gold Foil cooperated with Jiangsu Arts Foundation to conduct a month-long training and exchange program on gold foil culture, application value, gold foil techniques, modern extensions, development of gold foil culture and creativity, and practical experience. Jinling Gold Foil also designed and developed a DIY product kit, which allows the experiencers to have hands-on experience of applying gold while listening, watching and enjoying, and sowing the seeds of Chinese gold foil forging techniques into the hearts of millions of students through visits and practice.
