The Dissemination of Zhejiang Red Culture from the Perspective of New Media ()
1. Introduction
1.1. Background of the Study
The year 2021 marks the centennial anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC). The government guides the people to study the party’s history actively, enlighten their minds, do practical things, and open up new situations. General Secretary Xi Jinping has issued important statements since the 18th CPC National Congress “Make good use of the red resources, inherit the red gene, and pass on the red country from generation to generation”, pointing out that the people should attach great importance to the study and application of party history, stressing that “history is the best textbook”, revealing that the study of party and national history is a compulsory course for upholding and developing socialism, which continues to push forward the various undertakings of the party and the country.
Under the environment of the continuous emergence of new media, red culture communication cannot just be spread by the traditional media. So it needs to improve the technology and cultural knowledge of communicators, change the communication methods and innovative content, and explore the cultural value contained to achieve the effect of improving the spread of red culture. In this way, red culture can be better inherited and protected. Its greatest value can be exerted.
1.2. Significance
1.2.1. Theoretical Significance
Zhejiang red culture faithfully records the history of the CPC’s struggle for the Chinese people, witnesses the history of “without the Communist Party of China (CPC), there would be no new China”, and shows the true meaning of “without the Communist Party of China (CPC), there would be no reform and opening up of socialism with Chinese characteristics”. Spreading the red culture of Zhejiang makes people feel honorable. Through the publicity of red party history culture, the appeal of red stories is enhanced, and then the upsurge of party history and culture in various regions of the country is set off. The vitality of red genes in various places is activated, and the “cultural self-confidence” is enhanced. With new media as the carrier, the “bilingual +” propaganda model is adopted, and it is committed to making the world feel the red spirit that belongs to China.
1.2.2. Practical Significance
Propagandize the red culture in the form of new media, and provide opportunities for teenagers to know the red culture gene, so that they can personally experience the red spirit of the martyrs, deeply understand the story of the party history, and dialogue with the martyrs, so that the party history and culture can be accepted naturally in a subtle way. At the same time, with the help of party history education to improve college students’ cognition of party history, young students, especially those with bilingual ability, can see the great achievements of revolutionary ancestors, in the imperceptible influence of red culture, enhance the sense of mission, stimulate the sense of responsibility. Let them better inherit the party’s history and culture and spread the red gene outwards with their foreign language advantages.
By further exploring the cultural connotations and advantages of revolutionary morality, the sustainability of revolutionary relic resources will be enhanced. Give full play to the leading and inheriting nature of the resources of revolutionary sites, and promote the coordination of value orientation and spiritual inspiration. Promote the protection of revolutionary sites and relics with development and publicity, maintain subsequent development to protect red genes, promote the sustainable development of the development and utilization of revolutionary sites in Zhejiang, enhance the contemporary red gene inheritance index continuously, and promote the unity of economic and social benefits.
1.3. Research Structure
The research will present current situation of the dissemination of red culture firstly, then figure out problems and opportunities in the dissemination. Lastly, demonstrate the ways to promote Zhejiang red culture.
2. Literature Review
Studies of Red Culture’s Dissemination
Nowadays, the research on the dissemination of red culture mainly focuses on ideological and political education, red tourism, cultural integration, and so on. For example, Zhang Xiaolong emphasized ideological and political education, publishing the Crux and Innovation: Reexamining the Ideological and Political Education Function of Red Societies [1] . As for An Jing, she targeted colleges and universities while propagating ideological education in her thesis Integration of university red culture and ideological and political education in the new media era [2] . Both of them serve the goal of ideological and political education in the new era, etc.
Some scholars are aimed at red tourism. Chang Jingzhong’s article A Strategic Research of Promoting Tour Guide’s Ability in Red Tourism [3] , Liu Ruyi, Fan Nana, Li Xuhong’s essay Using new media in the context of cultural and tourism convergence The path of spreading yunfu red tourism culture [4] and Red propaganda on Fingertips: Short Video Operation of Red Tourist Attractions [5] written by Bao Yan and Wang Hexi and so on. They all spread red tourism resources through new media and drag the spread of red culture.
However, few people research the dissemination of Zhejiang red culture from the perspective of new media.
3. Current Situation of the Dissemination of Red Culture
Professional organizations and personnel are the key factors to ensure the inheritance and development of red culture. However, there is a lack of systematic and holistic research on red culture in most places [6] . There are few professional research institutions and staff, narrow research ideas, and low grades of results. The research focus is mostly on the collection and collation of materials, while the in-depth research, spiritual connotation excavation research, and targeted research on the excavation and inheritance of red cultural resources, the understanding of the red spirit, and the summary of historical experience are weak. Therefore, under the premise of competing for the development of neighboring regions, homogeneity, single and scattered problems have emerged, lacking integration and clear development positioning.
Some localities and departments do not pay enough attention to activities such as red culture propaganda, teaching, research, experience travel, etc., resulting in the low utilization rate of revolutionary memorial venues, the lack of prominent spiritual themes, the lack of a strong sense of ceremony, and the poor quality of activities. Although some red cultural resources such as red cultural heritage, memorial halls, revolutionary sites, and martyrs’ cemeteries have been listed in patriotic education bases or developed into red tourist scenic spots, in addition to receiving college, middle, and primary school students, cadres of administrative organs, and staff of state enterprises and institutions to visit and study, not so many people have visited on their own. According to the statistics from Central People’s Government of the People’s Republic of China [7] , the number of domestic tourists reached 6.6 billion, www. cqn. Com.cn found that the number of red tourists achieved 1.4 billion [8] , accounting for only 21%.
The theme of red literary and artistic works is also relatively simple, repetitive interpretation, and often appears with a preachy face, making the audience easy to produce sense boredom. According to the statistics of the cultural and tourism department, 74.9% of the audience believes that the current red cultural education activities are more symbolic than educational significance, and 61% of the audience believes that the red cultural education is empty and preachy, blunt and indoctrinated. In recent years, although we have promulgated the “Law on the Protection of Heroes and Martyrs”, there have still been some much-criticized anti-Japanese “thunder” dramas and “god” dramas, distorting or misunderstanding the connotation of red cultural resources, spoofing red classics, ridiculing heroic figures, and far-fetching deifying characters and events. All of these have seriously eroded the historicity, authenticity, and seriousness of red cultural resources, and affected the image of red culture in the minds of the audience.
In recent years, although we have promulgated the “Law on the Protection of Heroes and Martyrs”, there have still been some much-criticized anti-Japanese “thunder” dramas and “god” dramas. For example, Anti-fucked Man, the hero is a group of people with unique skills in the martial arts war play. In Black Fox, the protagonists are even more fashionably dressed than most modern people, and the Chinese weapons are so sophisticated that they often have weapons that didn’t exist at the time and are used to extraordinary combat effectiveness. And in My Brother’s Name Is, The description of the national army is weak and incompetent, the Japanese army is shaped like a retarded idiot, it seems that the victory of the fourteen years of war of resistance is headed by the hero of a few heroes, with a few captured shells in exchange. It distorts and misunderstands the connotation of red cultural resources, spoofs red classics, ridicules heroic figures, and far-fetching deifies characters and events.
4. Problems and Opportunities in the Dissemination
Table 1 shows the problems and opportunities in the dissemination.
4.1. Single Mode of Transmission
The content of red cultural education is mainly brought into the classroom through special lectures and other courses, so the extension of party history knowledge is limited [9] .
The immediate characteristics of new media terminals are revealed with the promotion and popularization of 5G networks [10] . The new media has made the information spread efficiently, timely, and transparently. Above all, the spread of red culture is very common through networks like Wechat, Tik Tok and microblogs, and so on. Compared with traditional newspapers, radio, television, and other media, new media can not only disseminate red culture in a timely and efficient manner but also overcome the shortcomings of poor storage and fleeting traditional media with their super compatibility and sharing. Under the background of the rapid development of new media on the Internet, all kinds of new media platforms are flocking to the scene. The downloading, uploading and forwarding of red cultural resources have become the most common operations. These routine operations have easily been popular. The dissemination of red cultural resources requires both the use of new media’s superior resources and the breakthrough of negative factors of technological rationality [8] .
4.2. Information Hysteresis
Many important archives cannot be opened to the public in time because of the strong political nature, reality, and sensitivity of party history. It causes the masses to lack comprehensive, fair, and objective knowledge and understanding of some historical events and historical figures in the red culture [11] .
As for the new media, the speed of dissemination of new media is very fast, showing obvious characteristics of immediacy. Netizens can quickly release information and receive information in time through mobile phones, computers, or other intelligent terminals. It breaks the rule of regular communication of traditional media and has communication without a time limit and no geographical limit.
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Table 1. Problems and opportunities.
4.3. Small Amount of Audience
The group that the school organizes to carry out the red culture class is the party member and the active member that join the Party. The scope of the red cultural class audience is limited; there is a certain gap between “educating the whole staff”. The party history has not achieved the goal of popularizing the whole people, causing the contemporary masses to lack red cultural history knowledge.
In the context of new media, the dissemination of red cultural resources is tilted towards young people. Young people are the main force of the new generation in the era of new media on the Internet. To link and collide with the information exchange and ideas of the younger generation through the intervention of new media platforms, they can effectively break the sense of distance between red culture and their time and space.
Teenagers can transmit the red cultural resources to their friends or family, it promotes the publicity of the red cultural information through new media. Meanwhile, the type of audience can be more varied.
5. Promotion of Zhejiang Red Culture
5.1. Expansion of Communication Channels
Take the party’s centennial as an opportunity to expand the communication channels of Zhejiang red culture. Due to the development of the new media era, TV, radio, books, magazines, newspapers, and other traditional media have been impacted and affected, but they still have a part of the audience and are still an important channel and front for the dissemination of red culture in Zhejiang. One of the core advantages of traditional media is content productivity. Most original initial articles still come from traditional media. The dissemination of Zhejiang red culture not only needs the traditional media to lead the main melody but also needs the integration of new media.
At this stage, the revolution memorial halls or the other buildings with red marks in various parts of Zhejiang have their public accounts. It can let them simulate the visiting scene through VR and other technical means as if they are immersed in it. It is also using red stories to shoot videos to spread the Zhejiang red story which breaks the limitations of time and place so that more people can understand the red spirit of Zhejiang. At the same time, it is necessary to improve the forms, means, and methods of red culture dissemination, so that the content of red culture is close to the psychology of the masses and the vivid form. The governments at all levels continue to create a good public opinion foundation for the dissemination of red culture. It is not only necessary to tap the characteristics of red culture, but also to closely combine the needs of the development of the times, taking advantage of the opportunity of the country to jointly carry out party history education, and use the communication form of the integration of new and old media to promote the development of red culture in Zhejiang.
5.2. Promotion of Red Tourism
The concept of culture is abstract, but culture can rely on tourism as a carrier to visualize it. On the occasion of celebrating the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, red tourism has reached a peak. The traveling APP Tongcheng shows that compared with the same period in 2020, the number of red tourists during the Dragon Boat Festival in 2021 increased by 200%. Various localities have launched red tourism routes and carried out various forms of red cultural tourism activities, with rich and colorful content and the market in full swing.
The spread of red culture in Zhejiang can enhance the sustainability of the resources of revolutionary sites by further exploring the cultural connotations and advantages of revolutionary morality. Give full play to the leading and inheriting nature of the resources of revolutionary sites, and promote the coordination of value orientation and spiritual inspiration. The protection of revolutionary sites and relics with development and publicity maintain subsequent development by protecting red genes, driving the sustainable development of the development and utilization of revolutionary sites in Zhejiang to develop red tourism and gain the unity of economic and social benefits.
What’s more, Red cultural tourism can be combined with online and offline tourism. The invention of VR, AR, AI, and other technologies, as well as the promotion of new media, provides an online platform so that users can learn the overview and route of various red tourist attractions without leaving home. It can also book tickets directly in the Mini Program, and grasp the time of activities in the scenic spot in real-time. At the same time, red tourist attractions can establish WeChat public accounts, using VR and other technical means, so that tourists can understand the projects that red scenic spots can experience in advance, thereby stimulating tourists’ tourism motivation and comprehensively improving tourist satisfaction.
5.3. The Establishment of a Bilingual Team
College students refer to a group of people who are receiving basic higher education and professional higher education who have not yet graduated or have graduated from higher education and entered society. As a frontier group of new social technologies and new ideas, and a high-level specialized professional cultivated by the state, college students represent a young and energetic family [12] . They are the main force of pioneering construction and creation and are the main group of people who promote social progress.
Since the development of reform and opening up, our party has always attached great importance to the red culture education work of contemporary college students, and in the process of traditional red culture propaganda and dissemination in colleges and universities. It is mainly achieved by setting up basic red culture education courses. However, although this traditional and single teaching form seems to carry forward the red culture, the content is too monotonous and tedious for contemporary college students. The students’ understanding of red culture education is only limited to the content of the book. So it is necessary to promote teaching methods for college students.
However, with the development of the new media, college students can comprehend the knowledge from Tik Tok, accounts, or microblogs for they are always surfing online. It also implies that they can receive the red culture more easily in this way. Based on their competence and innovation of the Internet, college students can arrange groups to set their accounts on social media to express their understanding and comprehension of the red culture. Under this circumstance, the red culture can catch the eyes of the younger generations and be transmitted more efficiently.
Spreading the story of Chinese party history well is one of the important ways for Chinese culture to be international. To let Zhejiang Party history go out, Chinese party history goes out; young people are the protagonists who tell these red stories well. At that time, foreign language students with cross-cultural abilities will be particularly important. By showing Zhejiang’s red culture in the form of multiple languages, adhering to the belief of “going out for Chinese culture and telling Chinese stories well”, in a certain sense, we will enhance the cultural self-confidence of foreign language students and encourage them to continue to work hard and strive to represent China in the world. The subtle influence of red culture enhances the sense of mission, stimulates the sense of responsibility, and better inherits. Make Zhejiang’s history and culture influence the whole country and go to the world.
6. Conclusion
As General Secretary Xi Jinping has issued important statements since the 18th CPC National Congress “Make good use of the Red Resources, Inherit the Red Gene, and pass on the red Country from generation to generation”, we should attach the importance of red culture. It can be disseminated efficiently from the perspective of new media with the combination of the traditional ways and the new ones. Let college students be more active in the understanding of red culture, and consciously inherit and spread the red culture at home and abroad.