The difficulty in rural public cultural development lies in the contradiction between supply and demand

Rural public cultural development is an important part of building the rural governance system, yet it lags far behind the city and even behind rural economic development itself, and is incompatible with the overall advancement of rural social governance; among these issues, the contradiction and mismatch between the supply of and demand for public culture is a major difficulty.

I. "Supply falling short of demand" and "supply not matching demand"

Culture aims to "transform people," and the supply of public culture must be based on people's own development needs. At present, farmers' demands regarding the supply of public culture are expressed not only in an increase in the "quantity" of demand, but also in a rise in "quality," and they present the contradiction of "supply falling short of demand" and "supply not matching demand."

1. Supply falling short of demand. Constrained by conditions such as people, money, and materials, the difference between urban and rural areas in the supply of public culture is extremely large. In population-concentrated market towns, amateur literary and artistic activities are carried out frequently, and the masses' enthusiasm for carrying out activities is relatively high, but in the much broader rural areas, the cultural foundation is weak, cultural service teams are lacking, and cultural resource sharing and cultural activities both lag behind towns. In particular, the allocation of cultural facilities is even more inadequate; the construction of township cultural stations and village cultural rooms is weak, and the sound equipment, musical instruments, clothing, and other items for farmers to carry out activities are in very short supply.

2. Supply not matching demand. Today, rural areas have generally said farewell to the era of material scarcity, and people have moved from making a living to enjoying life. The needs to seek wealth, knowledge, beauty, happiness, and health have increased, and therefore the demand for public cultural supply shows characteristics of autonomy, heterogeneity, diversity, and variability. However, there is still a certain gap between the rigid supply of public cultural products and the masses' actual needs, and it still does not quite suit ordinary people's tastes. Public cultural products under the dominance of "elite cultural taste" are not fully suited to the masses' needs, and the phenomenon of "highbrow art, few who can appreciate it" often appears.

II. Causes of the contradiction between supply and demand in rural public culture

⟦NL> 1. Local finances are tight, and funding guarantees are difficult. Rural areas have lagging economies, and fiscal revenue is not ample. Although spending on cultural undertakings has grown rapidly in recent years, compared with the people's growing cultural needs, funding input is still insufficient, creating a major constraint on the development of public cultural services.

2. The foundation of the cultural service team is weak, and talent recruitment, training, and incentive mechanisms are rigid. The public cultural service employment system at the county, township, and village levels is broken, villages generally lack cultural specialists, and county-level cultural departments lack support from lower-level management departments, leaving them in a "suspended" state. Under the existing systems and mechanisms, staffing quotas are fixed, and cultural workers' pay is relatively low. There is a lack of opportunities for study and further training, and professional knowledge and skills improve slowly, making it difficult to keep up with the requirements of cultural development. There is a lack of corresponding reward, punishment, and incentive mechanisms, and doing well or poorly makes no difference, so practitioners' enthusiasm for service is generally not high, which makes it impossible to guarantee the stability and innovation of the supply quality of public cultural products.

3. Channels for the public to express cultural needs are not smooth, and there is a lack of a "mass yardstick." The current "top-down" supply method ignores analysis of the masses' degree of demand for and satisfaction with public cultural products, and ordinary people are often passive recipients. After the government supplies public cultural products, it also does not follow up with evaluations of mass satisfaction regarding the quantity, quality, types, and other aspects of public cultural products. Farmers lack suitable channels to give feedback on their views, and the government finds it difficult to thoroughly analyze unreasonable factors in supply and difficult to correct deviations.

4. The supply entities of public cultural products are dominated by a single actor. At present, the government is still the main provider and manager of the supply of public cultural products. From regional allocation to the content and types of specific products, everything is uniformly planned and unilaterally determined by the government, and the supply entities, methods, and channels are relatively fixed. This "top-down" authoritative supply method not only hinders the enrichment, accessibility to the people, and targetedness of the content of rural public cultural products, but is also unfavorable to the development and growth of other supply entities and supply channels. At the same time, rigid resource allocation also intensifies the idleness and waste of limited cultural resources.

III. Countermeasures and suggestions

1. Strengthen supply and demand surveys, and allocate cultural facilities and services according to the masses' needs. The supply of public cultural products should fully consider the "standard" in the masses' minds. Government departments should strengthen investigation and research, and fully understand the masses' actual cultural needs, preferences, and information feedback through various forms such as visits, questionnaire distribution, online public opinion surveys, and expert discussions. On this basis, they should formulate correct supply decisions and establish a "bottom-up" supply mechanism.

2. Guarantee funding, increase investment, and establish a diversified funding mechanism. This expense should be included in the government's annual financial revenue and expenditure plan, a special account should be established, and it should be ensured that funds are used where they are most needed. A certain amount of flexible and reward funding should be increased, and economic levers should be used to mobilize practitioners' enthusiasm. Funds should be tilted toward the grassroots, funding for cultural facilities and activities at township cultural stations and administrative villages should be increased, and grassroots literary and artistic teams should be supported. Social funds should be attracted for investment and participation, and diversified funding input channels should be opened up.

3. Gather talent and strengthen the building of the public cultural work team. Rigid employment mechanisms should be changed, and talent recruitment and training should not be restricted to a single pattern. Professional talent with a certain educational background should be vigorously recruited and hired, and local folk talent should be specially recruited. The strength of township cultural stations should be strengthened, professional talent should be assigned, and the awkward situation in which township cultural stations "cannot reach the sky above or connect with the ground below" should be changed. When the current employment mechanisms and systems are difficult to change for the time being, targeted, deep, and sustained professional and regular training should be provided to existing practitioners.

4. Let cities lead the countryside, and use points to drive broader areas. Support and assistance for public cultural services in remote mountainous areas should be strengthened, with points driving broader areas and implementation carried out step by step. Cities should lead rural areas, folk-custom villages should lead ordinary villages, and literary and artistic backbones should lead the masses. Market towns and folk-custom villages with large demand for public cultural activities, high enthusiasm, and a strong cultural atmosphere should continue to receive increased support and investment, and through these typical villages and communities, surrounding villages and masses should be driven forward.

5. Base efforts on ethnic cultural resources and strengthen the development of cultural industries. Local ethnic cultural resources should be tapped, ethnic cultural industries should be supported, cultural fine works should be created, and a public cultural product system with rich content and distinctive ethnic characteristics should be formed. Where possible, local cultural resources should be combined to create "one village, one product" or "one township, one product" flagship cultural products. Folk artists and cultural capable people should be tapped, permanent and amateur literary and artistic groups should be formed, and their enthusiasm for passing on, helping, and guiding should be fully mobilized to drive more local farmers to participate in the development of public cultural services.