Study On Consumer Stratification Of Shaolin Wushu Culture

Shaolin martial arts culture, which has a long history, is the representative of Chinese traditional culture. As China’s cultural soft power is growing, the state and society pay more and more attention to the influence of Shaolin martial arts culture.Taking Shaolin martial arts culture as the connotation, Zhengzhou International Shaolin Martial Arts Festival has been held ten sessions in 24 years. Hence, to conduct a research on characteristics of those involved is of great significance to guide layered consumption, and to promote the balanced development of the production and consumption on Shaolin martial arts culture.Based on the theory of consumption culture and social stratification, this paper also combines other points of view in communication science, anthropology,sociology and so on. It is a case study on Zhengzhou International Shaolin Martial Arts Festival, using the methods of literature, expert interview and on-the-spot investigation to distinguish between different consumption groups of the festival,interpret characteristics of different consumption layers and discuss the open and closed between layers. Conclusions are drew below:1 According to different roles and identities in the festival, the whole group will be divided into three layers,namely, manager, spectator and participant. Manager layer is the dominant group in the field of martial arts. With the help of power, prestige and control of mass media, the layer achieves agreement and unity with characteristics of homogenization from participant layer as well as spectator layer( in a certain sense,participant layer too). Creating a “collective jubilation” scene, the participant layer aims to let the domestic different martial arts groups and foreign friends achieve common mood and experience through the martial arts culture carnival. As a kind of popular culture, Shaolin Martial Arts Festival is the additive mass in people’s daily life. In the process of watching this cultural festival, spectator layer can recognize their own social status, which is the expression of the continuous strive to a better life.2 The production and consumption on Shaolin martial arts culture is the result made by the martial arts manager, participant as well as spectator. They promote diverse production and diversified consumption on Shaolin martial arts culture from different aspects such as the economic development, the national construction, the martial arts circle in order as well as the pursuit of social life and so on.3 The festival is one production of Shaolin martial arts culture. Shaolin Martial Arts Festival platforms present the results produced by different martial arts culture,and the process of showing is also a kind of reproduction, which devotes to promote active production with new forms of Shaolin martial arts by different layers. As for the production and consumption on knowledge of martial arts, the intellectual involved in the Shaolin Martial Arts Festival is not only the subject of knowledge production, but also the main body of knowledge consumption.4 In the future development of Shaolin martial arts culture, characteristics of different layers in the consumption stratification can be used to guide hierarchical consumption and layered production on Shaolin martial arts culture. With the help of the mobility between layers, it is possible to buffer against the contradiction on the uneven distribution of martial arts culture resources,and actively create atmosphere which is propitious to the harmony and healthy development of martial arts.