Every August marks the peak blooming season for jasmine flowers. Recently, Liuhe District, the birthplace of the folk song "Jasmine Flower," launched a cooperative cultural brand development initiative with the Jiangsu Provincial Federation of Literary and Art Circles. The 2026 Jiangsu Provincial Folk Song Conference and "Village Songs Resounding" performance activities were announced to be held in Liuhe, with several "Master Studios" unveiled and 9 "Art Village Chiefs" officially taking office. Through a series of deep collaborations, both parties aim to inject new contemporary meaning into the "Jasmine Flower" culture and promote regional cultural prosperity and development.
The Jiangsu folk song "Jasmine Flower" was collected and adapted in 1942 by He Fang, a young literary warrior of the New Fourth Army, at the foot of Jinniu Mountain in Liuhe. It first went international in 1959 and has since been performed at major events including the Hong Kong and Macau handover ceremonies, Beijing Olympics, and Nanjing Youth Olympics. Hailed as China's "second national anthem," it has become a brilliant showcase of excellent Chinese traditional culture and represents the most iconic cultural IP for Liuhe and Jiangsu Province.
To continuously enhance this "Jasmine Flower" IP, the Provincial Federation of Literary and Art Circles and Liuhe District signed a cooperative agreement for cultural brand development. Leveraging the federation's resources and advantages in literature, talent, platforms, and organization, they will conduct in-depth cooperation in brand building, talent cultivation, delivering quality cultural resources to grassroots levels, creating excellent literary works, and cultural exchanges.
At the ceremony, in addition to unveiling the Zhang Dan Folk Art Master Studio and Chu Yunxia Folk Song Master Studio, the selection of "Art Village Chiefs" became a major highlight of the cooperation. Nine young and middle-aged artistic talents from different fields, including Hu Shunkun, a first-class performer from Jiangsu Yangju Opera Troupe, Fang Yi, Vice Chairman of Nanjing Dancers Association, and Wang Jing, Secretary-General of Jiangsu Wind Music Association, were appointed as Liuhe District's first batch of "Art Village Chiefs." They have been paired with 9 villages and communities including Qiancang Village in Xiongzhou Street, Touqiao Village in Longchi Street, and Jinniuhu Community in Jinniuhu Street, officially taking office. These "village chiefs" will focus on rural aesthetic education, civilized rural customs, and cultural tourism industry development, guiding and helping villages and communities strengthen cultural talent teams, enhance grassroots cultural construction, create rural clusters with artistic characteristics, and promote literary and artistic empowerment for rural revitalization.
What changes and contributions will the master studios entering villages and "Art Village Chiefs" bring to the villages?
"When China's literary and artistic development reaches its lowest points, it often draws cultural nourishment from folk sources to gain new life. The birth of Jasmine Flower is such a classic process," said Zhang Dan, Vice Chairman of Jiangsu Folk Literature and Art Association and adjunct professor of folklore at Nanjing Agricultural University's College of Humanities and Social Development. The studio will rely on Liuhe's rich folk art resources, such as farmer paintings, folk songs, and rain flower stones, drawing nourishment from folk arts to transform traditional advantages into contemporary development advantages. Plans include promoting innovation through exhibitions, research, and derivative product development, positioning farmer paintings as modern folk paintings, combining traditional crafts like paper cutting and New Year paintings to create cultural IPs with contemporary characteristics and tell Liuhe's story well.
Chen Yang, appointed as "Art Village Chief" of Jinzhuang Community in Chengqiao Street and General Manager of Jiangsu Yinyun Cultural Industry Development Co., Ltd., said: "More than 80 years ago, New Fourth Army literary workers 'harvested' the world-famous song 'Jasmine Flower' from this land; today, provincial artistic talents from different fields including music, dance, and painting are appointed as 'Art Village Chiefs.' This is another form of artistic inheritance, inspiring us to go deep into Liuhe's villages, take root in rural areas, deeply explore local cultural resources, and create literary works reflecting the spirit of our times and people's voices, allowing the new era's 'Jasmine Flower' to continue blooming on Liuhe's land."
A main leader of Liuhe District stated in his address that culture is the soul of a city, serving as both soft power and core competitiveness. Liuhe has nearly 2,600 years of urban history, treasuring rich historical remains including Spring and Autumn bronze bells, Warring States chariots and horses, Tang Dynasty Confucian temples, and Ming Dynasty city walls. What makes Liuhe people most proud is that this land nurtured the Jiangsu folk song "Jasmine Flower." In recent years, Liuhe District has been committed to building the "Jasmine Flower" cultural brand, holding "Jasmine Flower" cultural tourism series activities for three consecutive years, using culture to shape tourism and tourism to highlight culture, making the tangible and intangible "Jasmine Flower" visible, audible, and subtly influential throughout Liuhe, striving to make it a cultural industry brand that showcases regional characteristics and serves local development. This joint construction with the Provincial Federation of Literary and Art Circles represents a major opportunity to enhance the "Jasmine Flower" brand influence. Liuhe will provide full service support to make the "Jasmine Flower" cultural brand richer and more concrete in Jiangsu's cultural landscape, contributing Liuhe's strength to building a culturally strong province.