Recently, the “One Person, One Thing, One Life – Mr. Dong Jifa, Watcher of Kiln Culture” commemorative exhibition, hosted by the Jiashan County Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television, Tourism and Sports and the People’s Government of Ganyao Town, and organized by the Jiashan County Museum, was exhibited at the Jiashan Museum. Wadang has to mention the Jiashan dry kiln. It is said that the dry kiln is a fallacy of “thousand kilns”. There were once thousands of kiln piers, which were rich in tiles and Jingbrick. In this small town deeply influenced by kiln culture, there is an active folk collector specializing in collecting tiles, Beijing bricks, and brick carvings. Mr. Dong Jifa is one of the most obsessed among them.
Dong Jifa (June 28, 1948- November 11, 2020) was a native of Ganyao in Jiashan, a famous villager and former president of the Jiashan County Local Archives and Historical Materials Collection Research Association and vice president of the Jiashan County Collection Association. He has been collecting tiles for over 40 years, with a total collection of over 3000 items throughout his life, earning him the title of “the first person to collect tiles in Jiangnan”.
Dong Jifa’s career has expanded from tile collection to the entire chain of tile research, cultural relic protection, and cultural inheritance: collection, collection, protection, publicity, education, research, and donation. Ganyao Town Cultural Volunteer, Jiashan County Moral Model, Jiashan County Amateur Cultural Protector, Jiashan County Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Volunteer… Various titles have come one after another, but they can erase all of this. He is what people call the “little old man who loves to collect broken bricks and tiles”.
This commemorative exhibition serves as a window for everyone to understand and learn about the culture of tiles and brick carvings, presenting nearly a hundred pieces of Mr. Dong Jifa’s collection, including Beijing bricks, tiles, brick carvings, etc. The exhibition comprehensively presents Mr. Dong Jifa’s lifelong pursuit of the cause, calling on everyone to shoulder their responsibilities and missions, actively participate in cultural relic protection, inherit the precious heritage of Chinese civilization, and leave the beautiful things of the past to the future.