Research: The Chinese Spring Festival Gala

"If we count from 1983, the Spring Festival Gala has reached its 40th year, evolving from a simple literary gala to a spiritual bond that connects Chinese people around the world, reflecting the profound and tremendous changes in Chinese society since the reform and opening up." (Yizhan, 2022)

In my childhood memories, Chinese New Year was very festive. Not only were there all these well-known traditional Chinese customs, such as hanging red lanterns and visiting lantern fairs. There were also many major events and performances that would be held, especially on New Year's Eve when we would watch the Spring Festival Gala on time in front of the television. Since 1983, when the Spring Festival Gala first came to the forefront, it has become an integral part of the Chinese New Year celebrations. It is also a symbol of "reunion" for families to watch the Spring Festival Gala together on Chinese New Year's Eve.

Lanhai (2022) introduced that, in 1983, China's television industry entered a phase of relatively stable and rapid development, providing the technical preconditions for the creation of the Spring Festival Gala. At that time, during the early stages of reform and opening up, people's material life was gradually improving, but their cultural life was always lacking. For this reason, China Central Television (CCTV) made use of television to present a grand cultural event like the Spring Festival to the whole country. The Spring Festival Gala has gone through three stages: from the 1980s, when it was a unique event; to the 1990s, when it grew and expanded in its exploration; to the new century, when it has become increasingly mature. The Spring Festival Gala has gradually formed a relatively stable "Spring Festival Gala model".

Shahuizi (2020) stated that, over the years, the Spring Festival Gala has shown the gentle ebullience and magnificent charm of the East in traditional Chinese aesthetics. Woof silk, Su embroidery, feather painting and other exquisite techniques are embedded in the traditional Chinese culture. Through the platform of the Spring Festival Gala, Chinese fashion trends incorporating oriental aesthetics are spread around the world, allowing oriental aesthetics to go global and blossom in all their glory.

Tseng and Ho (2011: 665) believed that “For elders with same experience, nostalgic design means being back to past memories; for young people, nostalgia is to understand the significance and value of old things.”

People have varying degrees of memory and complex feelings towards the past, and I will analyse and integrate information and design elements that can evoke nostalgia for Chinese culture through my own background and living environment, in pursuit of spiritual cohesion and emotional touch. Nostalgic design and nostalgic products will only be accepted by consumers if new meaning and emotion is injected into old forms.

“Consumers buy those nostalgic commodities is actually for his past life experiences and self-consolation prize, …” (Cui, 2015: 129)

I hope that through my personal nostalgic and personalized designs, I can revive the lost memories of Chinese culture. The culture of the Chinese 'Spring Festival Gala' and the traditional Chinese lantern culture will also be key elements in my nostalgic design. Through innovative designs on old culture, I will inject a new soul into it, thereby continuing and promoting the cultural sustainability of Chinese culture and increasing the emotional durability of the audience. Through subsequent research into fabrics and materials, I will also consider and choose to use more durable and sustainable materials in this collection to better achieve sustainability.