On the afternoon of September 12th, as the scorching sun briefly paused and light rain sprinkled over Qingyang Village in Shimen Town, Jiangshan City, visitors from other places either stopped to admire the scenery by the lotus pond, ancient ancestral halls, and cultural creative stores, or listened to stories of the Mao family, immersing themselves in the cultural atmosphere of this poetic ancient village.
Inside the "Just GAO" rice cake cultural creative store, 35-year-old Zhou Zhongyuan, the representative inheritor of the intangible cultural heritage "Rice Cake Making Techniques," was inspecting a newly stocked batch of cultural creative rice cakes while frequently introducing products to passing tourists.
"Now, rice cakes, this traditional pastry, have become the representative cultural creative snack of Qingyang Village," said Mao Jiancheng, Party Secretary and Village Committee Director of Qingyang Village. The village closely follows the "Three Good" development direction of "protect well, develop well, and utilize well," transforming visible culture into tangible wealth, making life flourish day by day.
**Rice Cakes Embedded with New Soul**
"Rice cakes are the old flavors of Jiangshan. To create Qingyang characteristics, we must be rooted in local culture," said Zhou Zhongyuan, a Jiangshan native who once served as a village official in Qingyang Village. When he started his business in 2018, he was determined to take the path of "culture empowering agricultural products."
As the birthplace of the Jiangnan Mao family lineage and the ancestral home of Mao Zedong, Qingyang Village is historically known as the "Champion Village" and "Scholar Village." During the Song Dynasty, the Mao Heshu family achieved "four generations with ten imperial examination successes, six sons and seven scholars," producing 8 ministers and 83 scholars. Taiwan's famous master of Chinese studies, Mao Zishui, is also a descendant of the Qingyang Mao family. This "flourishing literary tradition" is precisely the "soul" of the rice cakes.
With support from the village committee, Zhou Zhongyuan integrated Qingyang culture to develop a series of products including Champion Cake, Second Place Small Cuts, and Sweet Potato Third Place. In 2021, he was recognized as an intangible cultural heritage inheritor of Jiangshan Rice Cake Making Techniques.
"What's the story behind the Scholar Cake?" Faced with tourists' curiosity, whenever Zhou Zhongyuan has time, he always patiently explains the village's history. Tourists often exclaim: "Qingyang's history is even richer than what we learned online!"
In 2022, Zhou Zhongyuan utilized idle rural houses in the village to create the "Just GAO" rice cake cultural creative store, which integrates research and development, production, display, and experience. It provides intangible cultural heritage teaching, rice cake making experiences, and heritage technique transmission services, while also creating products such as Champion Eight Minister Cakes, Minister Gift Boxes, Champion Gift Boxes, as well as cultural creative derivatives like Champion figurines and Scholar folding fans.
"Now Qingyang cultural creative rice cakes have expanded to more than twenty flavors, with regular new releases," Zhou Zhongyuan said. Qingyang rice cakes have achieved transformation and upgrading from "small workshops," driving villagers to plant sesame, rice and other raw materials, creating more than a dozen job opportunities. The workshop's annual total revenue remains stable at 3-4 million yuan.
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