Research on the Cross – Media Communication Strategies and Cultural Inheritance of Jiaodong Drum in the Digital Age
Chang Liu 1 Xintao Ma1 Haoxiong Bian 1, *
School of Music, Nanjing Normal University, No. 122, Ninghai Road, Gulou District Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, 210024, China
School of Music Jinan University, No. 336, West Nanxinzhuang Road, Jinan, Shandong Jinan,250022, China
Email:liuchang920627@outlook.com
School of Music, Soochow University, No.199 Renai Road, Suzhou industrial park, Soochow University Dushuhu Campus, Jiangsu Province, 215123, China
Corresponding Author:Haoxiong Bian 1, *
School of Music, Soochow University, Jiangsu Suzhou, 215006, China music_bianhaoxiong@163.com
The paper needs to include the following funding project:
(Fund Project): Humanities and Social Sciences Research Planning Fund Project of the Ministry of Education, “Research on Literature and Materials of Jiaodong Dagu”
Project Approval Number: 24YJA760077
【Abstract】Live transmission, an intangible cultural heritage, is an important proposition in the contemporary transformation of Chinese excellent traditional culture. As a national intangible cultural heritage, Jiaodong Drum bears the local memory, folk aesthetics and regional spirit in Jiaodong area. Under the background of digital media iteration, problems such as shrinking traditional offline performance scenes, aging audience and inheritance faults are becoming increasingly prominent. Introducing the concept of cross-media communication into the practice of Jiaodong drum inheritance can break the boundary limitation of traditional folk art communication and enrich the contemporary expression forms of intangible culture. Based on the characteristics of the digital media era, this paper analyzes the practical advantages of Jiaodong drum communication innovation in the digital environment, and analyzes the existing problems of Jiaodong drum cross-media communication combined with the practical cases of Quyi communication. It combs the cross-media communication and live transmission path of Jiaodong drum from six aspects: immersive media scene construction, narrative text translation, multimedia matrix construction, IP practice development under the guidance of Lide Shuren, multi-agent cooperation and digital evaluation feedback, with a view to providing a reference practice plan for the digital activation of local Quyi.
【Key words】Digital age; Jiaodong drum; Cross-media communication; Intangible cultural heritage; Cultural heritage
With the creative transformation and innovative development of Chinese excellent traditional culture, higher requirements are put forward for the protection and inheritance of intangible cultural heritage of Quyi. As an important branch of northern drum music art, Jiaodong drum is rooted in Jiaodong local society and is a vivid carrier of regional folk culture[1]. In the digital age of rapid media iteration, short videos, virtual performances and online audio platforms reconstruct the reception habits of popular culture, and the offline performance spaces such as temple fairs and country fairs, on which traditional folk art depends, are constantly shrinking. Jiaodong Drum faces practical problems such as solidification of audience circle and lack of contact channels for young people. At present, the domestic research on Jiaodong Drum mostly focuses on vocal arrangement and textual research of its origin, and the results of systematically discussing its communication strategy from the cross-media perspective are relatively limited. Many digital practices remain in the simple handling of materials, failing to give full play to the narrative advantages of multi-media, and it is difficult to truly realize live transmission[2]. Based on this, this paper draws on cross‑media communication theory and combines the current digital‑media environment to sort out the communication status and practical dilemmas of Jiaodong Drum, explore communication paths adapted to its artistic characteristics, and strive to provide feasible ideas for the contemporary inheritance of Jiaodong Drum, as well as references for the digital protection of similar niche local drum‑style intangible cultural heritages.
1 Overview of Digital Media and Jiaodong Drum
1.1 Digital Media
Relying on information technologies such as the Internet, big data, short‑video platforms and virtual reality, digital media realizes the digital processing of information to record, store, recreate and widely disseminate cultural content. It features interactivity, fragmentation, integration and immersion[3]. The era of digital media has reshaped the landscape of cultural communication. Audiences are no longer mere recipients of cultural content, but also participants who comment on, recreate, repost and spread content. The popularization of social media, short‑video platforms and audio clients has lowered the threshold for cultural production and communication, offering new display channels for folk traditional culture. Meanwhile, the continuous upgrading of artificial intelligence, VR, digital exhibition halls and other technologies keeps expanding the forms for intangible cultural heritage communication and provides brand‑new ideas for the modern transformation of traditional quyi.
1.2 Jiaodong Drum
Formerly known as “Blind Artists’ Tunes”, Jiaodong Drum originated in the Jiaodong Peninsula and prevails in areas around Yantai, Weihai and Qingdao. It was inscribed on China’s first National Intangible Cultural Heritage List in 2006[4]. Historically, it was performed by blind artists wandering from street to street. Spread through temple fairs and folk rituals, it has developed multiple schools including the Southern School, Northern School and Eastern School. Accompanied by the san‑xian and drum‑board, it is sung in the Jiaodong dialect. Its themes cover folk tales, historical romances and red revolutionary stories, serving dual functions of entertainment and moral edification. With the advancement of urbanization, folk performances in rural areas have been on the decline, leaving young groups with few real‑life scenarios to experience Jiaodong Drum. Though cultural centers across regions have completed some rescue-oriented audio-video recordings, most of these materials are only kept for archival purposes with insufficient mass-communication efforts. Under the new-media environment, intangible-cultural-heritage practitioners need to follow the trends of media development, renew communication concepts, integrate cross‑media resources such as short videos, livestreams, digital audios and virtual performances, explore communication modes suitable for Jiaodong Drum, build a cultural-communication system that engages young audiences, and realize the living continuity of this traditional quyi art.
Traditional communication of Jiaodong Drum mainly relies on offline live performances, radio broadcasts and printed librettos. Its communication circle remains relatively closed, with audiences dominated by local middle-aged and elderly enthusiasts, and it can hardly reach young groups and out-of-region audiences. The involvement of digital media in the inheritance and communication of Jiaodong Drum can make up for the shortcomings of traditional communication modes and tap the contemporary value of this quyi‑form intangible cultural heritage.
2.1 Breaking Geographical Barriers and Broadening the Horizon of Cultural Communication
Supported by short‑video platforms, online virtual exhibition halls and audio platforms, Jiaodong Drum can break free from the constraints of physical space in the Jiaodong area and spread across the whole country[5]. Via mobile terminals, audiences can appreciate excerpts of drum ballads and learn about the development history of Jiaodong Drum anytime and anywhere, gaining access to performance footages of veteran artists that were rarely available in the past. Three-dimensional virtual opera stages and digital libretto databases allow audiences to gain intuitive knowledge of instrument forms, vocal schools and libretto texts, expanding the public’s cognitive boundary of northern drum‑based quyi arts.
2.2 Lowering Participation Thresholds and Enhancing Public Cultural Practical Competence
Digital media features high fault tolerance and easy operation. Ordinary audiences can re-edit excerpts of Jiaodong Drum and add interpretative captions with editing tools, while enthusiasts can record cover performances and share them online. Inheritors can also record short videos and deliver livestreamed storytelling-singing performances with simple devices, without the hardware requirements of large-scale theatres. The general public transforms from mere “ballad‑listening spectators” into participants in cultural communication. They deepen their understanding of the cultural connotations of Jiaodong Drum in practice and facilitate the intergenerational transmission of quyi culture.
2.3 Promoting Cross-disciplinary Integration and Forming Multi-dimensional Perspectives for Cultural Interpretation
More than merely a storytelling‑singing art, Jiaodong Drum is connected with Jiaodong folk customs, marine culture, red revolutionary history and dialect culture. Digital media can integrate documentaries, historical videos and local historical‑literature materials to establish links between drum performances and historical, folk-custom and literary contents[6]. Instead of focusing merely on vocal melodies, audiences can understand the epochal stories behind repertoires from socio-historical perspectives, build three-dimensional cultural perceptions, and deepen their comprehensive understanding of intangible cultural heritage.
3 Existing Problems in the Cross ‑ Media Communication and Cultural Inheritance of Jiaodong Drum in the Digital Age
Although digital media brings opportunities for the inheritance of Jiaodong Drum, phenomena such as mechanical content transplantation and superficial utilization of resources are prominent in current front‑line communication practices. As a result, the value of cross‑media communication has not been fully realized, and a number of problems remain to be addressed.
3.1 Superficial Media Transformation: Mechanical Transplantation Replaces Cross-Media Narrative
At present, the dominant communication practice for Jiaodong Drum is simply uploading stage‑recorded videos to short-video platforms. Such practices only accomplish carrier migration without adapting content to the characteristics of different media. Short-video platforms suit fragmented content, whereas most traditional repertoires of Jiaodong Drum adopt long‑form narratives with a leisurely rhythm. Complete performance videos can hardly capture the attention of short‑video users. Content released across various platforms suffers from high homogenization. Identical materials are reused directly on short-video applications, audio platforms and official WeChat accounts, failing to exert the differentiated advantages of each medium. Numerous precious librettos and audio recordings of veteran artists are stored in databases of local cultural centers with high access thresholds, reflecting an emphasis on archiving rather than dissemination.
3.2 Insufficient Cultural Translating, Difficulty in Stimulating Audiences’ Initiative for Appreciation and Interpretation
Rooted in the social context of the agrarian era, traditional librettos contain a large number of dialect terms without annotations, which pose great comprehension difficulties for young audiences from other regions[7]. Some online works merely present performance footage without interpretations of historical backgrounds, school knowledge or story origins. Two extreme tendencies exist in communication practices. One camp rigidly adheres to traditions and rejects any form of adaptation, becoming disconnected from the aesthetic tastes of contemporary audiences. The other camp one‑sidedly pursues online traffic, arbitrarily altering vocal tunes and distorting core storylines, which erodes the artistic authenticity of Jiaodong Drum. Performance content is output in a one-way manner, leaving little room for audiences to conduct independent interpretation, discussion and reflection.
3.3 Lack of Systematic Integration of Media Resources and Insufficient High-level Cultural Guidance
Most existing communications release scattered clips instead of constructing a knowledge network centered on the cultural core of Jiaodong Drum. Materials such as interactive timelines and historical‑cultural documentaries are rarely employed to connect repertoires with Jiaodong history and folk customs. Communication mostly stays at the level of “watching performances”. There is a scarcity of content that guides audiences toward in‑depth critical thinking. Audiences are seldom prompted to reflect on the regional cultural values behind quyi works, and the cultural and educational functions of intangible cultural heritage cannot be fully fulfilled.
3.4 Weak IP Development and Absence of Practice-oriented Content Oriented toward Fostering Virtue through Culture
Jiaodong Drum embodies cultural cores including local nostalgia, revolutionary spirit and moral edification, and possesses the value of cultivating people through culture. Nevertheless, supporting practice‑oriented cross‑media products have barely been developed up to now. Communication is confined to performance viewing. Online practical tasks and creative adaptation projects targeting teenagers are deficient. Cultural appreciation has not been transformed into mass participatory practical activities, making it hard for cultural values to take root.
3.5 Fragmented Stakeholders and Absence of Collaborative Mechanisms
Stakeholder forces are fragmented and no collaborative mechanism has been established. Inheritors, cultural centers and new‑media accounts operate independently of one another. Inheritors excel in stage performances yet lack capabilities in new‑media planning and operation. Staff members of cultural centers are occupied with miscellaneous affairs and can hardly sustain continuous media content production. Outsourced new‑media teams are often unfamiliar with the ontology of quyi art and prone to cultural misinterpretation. Without regular collaboration among all parties, talent shortages restrict the continuous output of content.
3.6 Deficient Digital Feedback and Evaluation Mechanism
The online communication effect of Jiaodong Drum is mostly measured merely by view counts and likes, focusing solely on traffic data. Process‑oriented evaluations concerning audiences’ cognitive changes, cultural identity and willingness for inheritance are absent. Hence, communication strategies cannot be dynamically adjusted according to audience feedback.
4 Implementation Paths for Cross‑Media Communication and Cultural Inheritance of Jiaodong Drum in the Digital Age
4.1 Empowered by High – Definition Digital Resources, Constructing Immersive Interactive Media Scenarios
In the cross‑media communication of Jiaodong Drum, high‑definition images, virtual performances and digital museum resources should be fully utilized to transform offline stage performances into immersive online experiences and compensate for the experiential deficiencies caused by simple video recording. For popular‑science introductions to vocal tunes, musical instruments and artistic schools, high‑definition close‑up footage is adopted to deconstruct stage performances and display details such as drum‑board striking, san‑xian playing and artists’ singing lip‑movements, enabling audiences to intuitively perceive the performing skills of Jiaodong Drum. A virtual online stage for Jiaodong Drum can be built following the virtual‑museum model. Audiences may roam freely in the virtual scene, view performance footages of artists from different schools, access high‑definition scanned copies of hand‑written librettos, select audio narrations to learn about repertoire backgrounds and school characteristics, and refer to supporting knowledge‑base materials when questions arise. Taking Fisher‑Girl Joins the Army, a classic red‑themed Jiaodong Drum work as an example, audiences can consult graphic and textual materials on Jiaodong revolutionary history while watching the performance on the virtual stage. This allows them to immerse themselves in the historical context where the repertoire originated and lays a foundation for further understanding the artistic and historical value of drum ballads. Immersive scenarios can change audiences’ state of “passively scrolling through short videos” and deepen their cultural experience[8].
4.2 Digging Deep into the Cultural Connotation of Works and Mobilizing Audiences’ Capacity for Independent Interpretation
The cross‑media communication of Jiaodong Drum should break away from the mere mode of playing performance videos, advance adequate cultural translation, reserve space for audiences to appreciate works and think independently, and guide audiences to resonate with the spiritual core of drum‑ballad works. Comparative communication can be carried out with representative repertoires, for instance, the traditional moral‑edification piece Admonishing the World[9] and the newly‑composed Jiaodong Drum work of the new era New Look of Fishing Villages[10]. With digital media, the similarities and differences in vocal tunes and rhythmic patterns can be dynamically demonstrated on the one hand; on the other hand, image materials reflecting rural life in old‑society Jiaodong and documentary videos on contemporary fishing‑village development can be presented to contrast social features of Jiaodong in old and new eras. Annotations for Jiaodong dialect terms and explanations of story backgrounds are provided to lower comprehension barriers. Through multi‑dimensional material presentation, audiences are guided to reflect voluntarily on the social functions undertaken by Jiaodong Drum in different periods, summarize how traditional quyi evolves with times, and form their own cultural cognition instead of passively accepting ready‑made conclusions.
4.3 Integrating Multi-domain Digital Materials to Build a Three – Dimensional Knowledge Network for Higher – Order Thinking
Digital media assembles multi‑domain resources covering history‑literature, folk customs and arts. Centered on Jiaodong Drum repertoires, it can extend outward to construct a three‑dimensional knowledge network, promote the integration of artistic, historical and folk‑custom knowledge, and guide audiences to conduct higher‑order critical thinking[11]. In communication practices, interactive timeline tools can be applied to connect the evolution of Jiaodong Drum schools, biographies of key artists and major social events in corresponding Jiaodong eras. Combined with local documentaries and folk‑custom videos, traditional performance venues such as temple fairs and market fairs are illustrated. When interpreting Jiaodong Drum repertoires depicting marine life, relevant materials on Jiaodong marine folk customs and fishermen’s production‑and‑life history are incorporated to prompt audiences to consider how the marine geographical environment has shaped the plain‑spoken and bold artistic style of Jiaodong Drum. Supported by multi‑media materials, audiences are encouraged to move beyond superficial appreciation focused merely on vocal melodies, reflect on how regional environment and social life shape folk quyi, understand the close bond between folk arts and local society, and fully recognize the complexity of intangible cultural heritage.
4.4 Oriented toward Cultural Education, Developing Cross-Media Creative Practical Content
Carrying forward traditional virtues, red culture and local sentiments, Jiaodong Drum bears significant value in educating people through culture[12]. Cross‑media communication should not remain at the level of aesthetic appreciation. Participatory creative practical content needs to be designed to integrate knowledge with practice and fulfil the educational goals of cultural inheritance. Taking the teaching and communication of Jiaodong Drum works with local‑rural themes as an example, centering on Jiaodong countryside and marine folk customs, besides releasing performance videos and historical‑literature materials, online practical tasks for teenagers are designed. Audiences are encouraged to use digital tools to create illustrations for excerpts of classic drum ballads, or draw on the narrative features of Jiaodong Drum to compose short new‑era stories. After appreciating repertoires, audiences express their understanding of Jiaodong regional culture through creative practice. Schools and cultural centers can hold themed solicitation campaigns via online platforms, integrating appreciation, reflection and creative practice. Such activities strengthen teenagers’ sense of identity with local intangible cultural heritage in practice and realize the goal of educating people through culture.
4.5 Constructing a Multi-agent Collaborative Model via Digital Platforms for Coordinated Development of Diverse Stakeholders
The living inheritance of Jiaodong Drum cannot rely solely on individual inheritors. It is necessary to establish a multi‑agent collaborative model and leverage the collaborative strengths of digital platforms. On the one hand, virtual collaborative communities are built based on online documents and web‑based groups, where inheritors, cultural‑center staff, university researchers and new‑media enthusiasts can share libretto materials and discuss communication plans across geographical boundaries. On the other hand, project‑based communication tasks are formulated. Team members divide responsibilities to complete repertoire selection, material collection, copywriting, online‑exhibition‑hall production, publicity and promotion. Inheritors take charge of controlling the artistic authenticity of vocal tunes and librettos and provide professional supervision. Cultural centers coordinate resources and copyright protection. University teachers and students participate in content planning and audience research. New‑media creators are responsible for account operation. All parties complement one another’s strengths and cooperate across geographical limits. Meanwhile, new‑media skill training is offered for inheritors to improve their media creation capabilities, alleviate the shortage of interdisciplinary talents, and maximize team‑work effectiveness[13].
4.6 Building a Digital Evaluation and Feedback System to Optimize Communication and Inheritance Strategies
A sound evaluation‑and‑feedback system serves as a vital guarantee for continuously optimizing the cross‑media communication of Jiaodong Drum. View counts and likes should not be taken as the sole evaluation criteria; instead, a comprehensive digital evaluation system needs to be established[14]. By adopting online questionnaires, online quizzes and work‑solicitation modules, we can, on the one hand, investigate audiences’ mastery of basic knowledge about Jiaodong Drum; on the other hand, collect audiences’ post‑view reflections and practical works, and record changes in audiences’ cognition, their degree of cultural identity and willingness to participate in inheritance. Audience feedback data are systematically sorted out to analyze content preferences among different age groups, so as to dynamically adjust communication content and forms. For example, more lightweight popular‑science short videos can be produced according to feedback from teenage audiences, while complete audio resources of full‑length repertoires are supplemented for hardcore enthusiasts. Through evaluation and feedback, demands of diverse audiences can be accurately met, communication strategies can be dynamically optimized, and the communication effectiveness of Jiaodong Drum can be steadily enhanced.
The digital era brings opportunities for communication innovation to local quyi form intangible cultural heritages represented by Jiaodong Drum. Cross-media communication does not mean replacing traditional quyi with digital technologies. Instead, it expands the living space of traditional quyi by leveraging various digital resources such as short videos, livestreams, virtual exhibition halls and online communities. Faced with practical dilemmas including superficial media transformation, inadequate cultural translation, weak collaborative forces and the absence of an evaluation system, we should base ourselves on the artistic ontology of Jiaodong Drum and uphold the bottom-line of artistic authenticity. High-definition digital images can be utilized to construct immersive media scenarios. We need to dig deep into the connotations of repertoires to motivate audiences’ independent interpretation, integrate diverse materials to build cross-domain knowledge networks, develop creative practical projects oriented toward cultural education, establish multi party collaborative mechanisms, and set up a digital feedback and evaluation system, so as to form a complete system for cross-media communication and living inheritance. In communication practices, we should avoid the misconception of pursuing online traffic one-sidedly at the cost of eroding the core of quyi art, strike a balance between innovative adaptation and original artistic features, and guide the public, especially teenagers, to understand the regional cultural values embodied in Jiaodong Drum. As digital technologies keep iterating, continuous exploration should be carried out on cross‑media modes suitable for local drum-style intangible cultural heritages, so as to constantly stimulate the contemporary vitality of traditional quyi, advance the sustainable living inheritance of Jiaodong Drum, and offer practical references for the digital protection of other niche quyi-related intangible cultural heritages in China.
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