The City of Gourd City Empowers Traditional Culture on the Web3 New Path

Why I Am Optimistic About the Li Shizhen Intellectual Property (IP) and Its Integration into the City of Gourd City

The source of the charm of Chinese traditional culture lies in its deep historical and cultural heritage, carrying multiple elements such as rich ideological concepts, values, ethics, morals, and artistic skills, forming a complete and unique cultural system. I have my roots in the Fujian region, and from a young age, I grew up immersed in Chinese traditional culture, which has instilled a strong sense of identification and belonging in me with regard to Chinese culture.

For Chinese culture to spread globally, it needs in-depth research into the rules of global cultural dissemination and a perspective of internationalization with regard to Chinese classic figures. For example, in China’s 5,000-year civilization, there were 36 sages. How many people can name all 36 sages off the top of their heads, and how many can immediately visualize the images of these 36 sages? Culture is not niche and should not be confined to exclusive circles or self-indulgence. When the form and content are stripped away, it becomes nothing. The so-called cognitive cultural differences can only be effectively transmitted if they align with the mainstream youth population’s preferences and identities. Culture also needs to be constantly remembered and refreshed in different eras, aligning with the changes in society’s cultural landscape and using classic figures as anchors to highlight the unique features of Chinese culture and tell the stories of China.

As an outstanding representative in the field of traditional Chinese medicine, Li Shizhen has left a profound impact and valuable contributions in the history of medicine. In the midst of a plague outbreak during the mid-Ming Dynasty, Li Shizhen gave up his official position as a physician to the emperor and took on a mission to combat superstition and save lives. He travelled far and wide, dedicated over three decades to create the “Compendium of Materia Medica,” a work of great significance. With his rigorous academic attitude and extensive knowledge of traditional Chinese medicine, Li Shizhen left behind an important Chinese medical classic and made significant contributions to the development of global science and cultural exchanges between the East and West. The exploration of the Li Shizhen intellectual property (IP) is not just about heritage but also a cultural renaissance.

The “Gourd City” is creating “Mr. Dongbi” through vivid storytelling and stunning visuals, allowing the audience to deeply appreciate Li Shizhen’s outstanding qualities and passing on this spirit to a global audience. “Mr. Dongbi” actively explores the integration of reality with digital development, using IP to support the Gourd City , focusing on a central district and seven major theme venues, covering a super IP matrix, cultural arts, film and television, copyright, original jewelry design, precious metals, and other expansion applications. It gradually builds an internationally competitive digital cultural industry cluster.

Prior to joining the Gourd City, I am an investor and served as the Chairman of AA Group that is listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange. I held senior management position at one of Singapore’s leading investment firm, helped multiple companies and organization‘s realize their potential, provided them with opportunities to enter the international capital market, and offered the best capital structure solutions while seeking strategic partners to maximize returns. I also co- founded a global payment technology solutions provider.

Moving forward as an entrepreneur, I will actively participate in the operations and strategic planning of the Gourd City, aiming to make it a representative model for the digital cultural export of traditional culture IP.

Metaverse: The Virtual World of Future Humanity

In traditional cultural experiences, users are primarily passive observers and recipients, and the experience is often one-dimensional and unidirectional, making it challenging to create a truly immersive experience. In contrast, the cultural experience in the metaverse allows each individual’s identity to exist independently, separating from the real world, and can be freely customized.

The metaverse is the convergence of virtual reality and the real world, creating an entirely new digital world crafted by humans. In the metaverse, people can use virtual reality devices to enter a virtual space that is similar to or even more dynamic than the real world.

With the development of the internet and digital technology and the spread of metaverse knowledge, the metaverse, characterized by virtualization, immersion, openness, and virtual-real interaction, has rapidly grown. Various industries are actively exploring new directions within the metaverse. Additionally, accelerating metaverse development has become a strategic focus for many countries. Future economic development, industrial upgrades, and social governance will be built on a digital foundation, emphasizing high-quality development in the digital economy.

The metaverse is not a sudden creation but a natural product of the evolving times. The phrase “develop through innovation” applies to most scenarios, and the metaverse is no exception. It represents the culmination of new-generation information technologies such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, 5G, the Internet of Things, and virtual reality, and is the advanced form of the convergence between the digital and physical economies. The development of the metaverse industry involves addressing the relationship between the virtual digital world and the real world. Industry-focused metaverse applications carry new scenarios, applications, and ecosystems for the digital economy, driving deeper integration of the virtual and real worlds, nurturing new economic dynamics, possessing vast potential. It is a future industry that needs to be a key focus of development.

The metaverse is substantively impacting all aspects of the society. It represents the most significant disruption to our way of life, and at the same time, it presents a tremendous potential opportunity. The integration of digital and cultural industries is one of the most valuable and crucial application scenarios of the Internet 3.0. The metaverse is an entirely new digital world that paves the way for the development of cultural industries. It seamlessly merges the virtual and the real, creating a “coexistence of the virtual and the real” and delivering an entirely new experience. The advantage of the metaverse cultural industry lies in its ability to integrate various technologies, offer richer cultural products and services, reduce costs, improve efficiency, and expand the scope of the cultural industry. It also represents a breakthrough as we transition to the era of the Internet of Everything.

The innovative development of the metaverse relies on the integration of the virtual and real within industries.

As one of the specific application areas of the metaverse, the development of the metaverse cultural industry not only requires continuous innovation and improvement of technological means but also require designers to enrich cultural products, innovate business models, and enhance the quality and diversity of cultural products to meet the diverse needs of consumers.

The greatest feature of the metaverse is the fusion of the virtual and the real, creating a virtual mapping of the physical world, harnessing the empowerment, superimposing, and amplifying the effects of digital technology to enhance the productivity of the digital space and the physical world. Compared to other industries, the cultural industry has the advantage of having a huge market demand and extremely broad application scenarios. Therefore, it should focus on using scenario development to drive the practical application of metaverse technology and products, creating a situation of demand-driven supply and supply-creating demand, fostering high-level development. Developing the metaverse cultural industry, which promotes the synergy of the virtual and the real, can enhance the entertainment experience, improve social interactions, and fulfill spiritual needs.

Digitization connects the virtual and the real world, challenging fundamental worldviews. The metaverse carries the new ecology of the digital economy, propelling the deep integration of the digital economy and the physical economy. The Gourd City, with Li Shizhen’s IP as itscore, and with technological and industrial innovation as its two wings, promotes the integration of the virtual and the real through the logic of “strengthening the real with the digital.” Exploring digital development and promoting the deep integration of the digital economy and the physical economy is a major objective in the development of the Gourd City, both now and in the future.

The significance of digital platforms empowering the integration of the virtual and the real lies in substantially enhancing a company’s competitiveness through digital means, achieving “strengthening the real with the digital.” With breakthroughs in software and hardware technologies such as cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and remote interactions, the digital platform’s “strengthening the real with the digital” will unleash even greater potential, driving technological innovation and development in scenario integration. The Gourd City will provide cross-boundary content services that go beyond the physical world’s limits, offering diverse and integrated, IP-based, engaging, personalized, and virtual “city” management and content output services for various user profiles.