On December 14th, the network theme activity of "Dancing together in the Yangtze River Economic Belt and Exploring the Millennium Context of the Source" entered the Dazu Rock Carving Scenic Spot. Photo by Han Menglin, Xinhua Net
Chongqing, December 15 (Xinhuanet) -- Dazu Rock Carvings are the only world cultural heritage in Chongqing, with as many as 75 grottoes and more than 50,000 statues announced as cultural relics protection units so far, and are known as "the last monument in the history of Chinese grotto art". In recent years, Dazu District of Chongqing has further strengthened the protection and utilization of Dazu rock carvings, implemented rescue restoration, disaster control and other projects, deeply excavated the cultural connotation of Dazu stone carvings, achieved new breakthroughs in inheritance and utilization, let historical relics live in the present, serve the public, polish the golden business card of world cultural heritage, and make every effort to create a "cultural parlor" that is near and far away and famous in the world.
On December 14th, the network theme activity of "Dancing together in the Yangtze River Economic Belt and Exploring the Millennium Context of the Source" entered the Dazu Rock Carving Scenic Spot. The warm winter sun shines on the stone carvings, and the sound of the craftsmen digging the grottoes thousands of years ago still seems to echo in the valley.
At the Dazu Rock Carving Museum, Chen Huili, a new generation of Bayu craftsmen and director of the Conservation Engineering Center of the Dazu Rock Carving Research Institute who has been engaged in cultural relics protection for more than 20 years, reviewed the story of the restoration of the Statue of The Thousand Hands Guanyin for the reporters of the interview group.
After the restoration, the golden light of the Thousand Hands Kannon statue reappears and shines brightly. Photo by Han Menglin, Xinhua Net
The drop of a finger
Embarked on an eight-year rescue restoration
In the 21st century, the group of statues of Dazu carved stones that stand on the cliffs for thousands of years are plagued by many diseases under the erosion of wind and water for many years. One day in 2007, the sudden drop of a finger caused the State Administration of Cultural Heritage to pay great attention to the disease suffered by senju Kannon. In 2008, the No. 1 National Stone Relics Protection Project - Dazu Stone Carving Thousand Hands Guanyin Rescue Protection Project was officially launched.
"At that time, a total of 34 kinds of diseases such as stone carcass weathering, cracking of the gold layer, and painting shedding were found, and it can be said that the disease was very serious and surgery was necessary!" Chen Huili recalled.
However, there is no precedent to follow in such a large-scale and comprehensive restoration of stone cultural relics, so it has specially gathered nearly 100 experts and technical personnel from more than 10 cultural protection and engineering units such as the China Cultural Heritage Research Institute to jointly "diagnose and treat".
According to her, it took three years to study the entire restoration project to prepare a restoration plan, and modern technologies such as X-ray flaw detection and infrared thermal imaging detection were also applied to the restoration of large-scale immovable stone cultural relics for the first time.
Restoration is not just a technical challenge, but also a challenge to restoration concepts and principles. In Chen Huili's view, a major difficulty in the restoration process is to find a balance between cultural relics protection, public demand, and artistic value. "One of the most critical aspects of cultural relic restoration is authenticity, which is the principle, just like Venus with a broken arm, and the beauty of mutilation is her authenticity." Therefore, to restore the Senju Kannon, we must adhere to the principle of preserving authenticity. "Such demanding requirements also make every step of the restoration work full of greater challenges."
After overcoming one problem after another, after 8 years of hard work, in 2015, the golden light of the restored Thousand Hands Guanyin Statue reappeared, and after more than 800 years of vicissitudes, it was once again displayed in front of the world with a shining posture.
"This restoration has created a precedent for the restoration of large-scale immovable cultural relics in the country, and it is of landmark significance in the protection of cultural relics in our country, which is the pride of Dazu, the pride of Chongqing, and the pride of China." Chen Huili said that the restoration project was also rated as the third national outstanding cultural relics protection project.
The rescue restoration of senju Kannon is a microcosm of the protection of Dazu stone carvings. During the "13th Five-Year Plan" period, Dazu District invested 146 million yuan to implement 17 major cultural relics protection projects such as rock mass reinforcement, water infiltration treatment, and ontology restoration, effectively curbing the disease of stone carvings. The first phase of the Dafo Bay Water Damage Control Project in Dazu Baoding Mountain has solved the long-standing problem of "reclining Buddha" water leakage for decades. Sichuan-Chongqing Grottoes Protection Demonstration Project - Baoding Mountain Stone Carved Reclining Buddha, Little Buddha Bay Statue Repair Project, Baoding Mountain Yuanjue Cave, Beishan No. 168 Cave and other emergency reinforcement projects are also being promoted in an orderly manner.
Tourists visit the Dazu Rock Carving Scenic Area. Photo by Han Menglin, Xinhua Net
The stone carvings walk down the cliffs and into people's hearts
Unveiled at the highest level of culture and art in China
The core ideas and concepts of kindness, kindness, filial piety, righteousness and honesty condensed by Dazu stone carvings are the essence of the accumulation of Chinese excellent traditional culture in grotto art. In addition to protecting cultural relics, Dazu District also digs deep into the cultural connotation of stone carvings, carries forward excellent traditional culture, and further exerts the traditional cultural and educational value of Dazu rock carvings and the social education function of world cultural heritage.
Liu Xiangao, vice president of the Dazu Institute of Stone Carvings, introduced that the Organization Department of the Chongqing Municipal CPC Committee, the Party School of the Chongqing Municipal Party Committee of the CPC, and the Chongqing Administrative College named the Dazu Stone Carvings as the on-site teaching base for the education and training of municipal cadres, and also recruited and encouraged them to build a teaching base for the practice of filial piety and honesty, and educated leading cadres to form a positive spiritual pursuit and healthy and noble moral sentiments, which has now radiated to Sichuan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Shanghai and other provinces and cities, with a wide range of influence.
In addition, Dazu District has also promoted the creation of a regional discipline with Dazu rock carvings as the core and covering the study of Sichuan-Chongqing grottoes, "Dazu Science", which will raise the research of Dazu rock carvings to the height of systems and disciplines. At present, the Dazu Research Institute has been established in the Sichuan Academy of Fine Arts, and actively builds an international academic discussion platform for Dazu, actively carries out international academic exchange activities, and has held more than 20 academic exchange activities such as "International Academic Symposium on Dazu Science", "International Academic Symposium on The Restoration of Dazu Stone Carvings" and "International Academic Symposium on the Protection of Chinese Stone Cultural Relics".
In addition, the "Stone as a Mirror - Dazu Stone Carving Excellent Traditional Culture Atlas" organized and compiled by the Propaganda Department of the Dazu District Party Committee and the Dazu Stone Carving Research Institute is about to be completed and published, which focuses on the theme of dazu stone carvings and inscriptions, closely follows the theme elements of kindness, kindness, filial piety, righteousness, and honesty, and is in-depth and simple, and the pictures and texts are rich, giving new era value and significance to inheriting and promoting the excellent traditional culture of Dazu stone carvings.
"Dazu should not only excavate the stone carving culture, but also let the stone carving culture go out and live, walk down the cliff and enter the hearts of the people, and promote the Dazu stone carving to go abroad and enjoy the world's reputation." Liu Xiangao said.
On September 17 this year, the "Special Exhibition of Dazu Stone Carvings" was opened at the National Museum of China, with a total of 82 exhibits (sets), nearly 100 pictures of cultural relics, and multiple multimedia videos. This is the first time that Dazu stone carvings have been listed in the highest level of cultural and artistic halls in China.
In order to let the stone carving culture go out, in recent years, Dazu District has launched the "Dazu Stone Carving World Tour Exhibition" and 100 exhibitions, 100 lectures, 100 museums to donate books, 100 sets of micro-video exhibition and broadcast "400 Project" cultural tourism promotion activities, and has exhibited more than 20 times in the United Kingdom, Canada, Japan and China Beijing, Tianjin, Chengdu, Suzhou and other places, telling the story of Dazu stone carvings. In addition, Dazu District has also focused on promoting the construction of the "Bashu Grottoes Cultural Tourism Corridor Alliance" and the "Bashu World Heritage Alliance", established the strategic development alliance of the four major grottoes of Dunhuang, Yungang, Longmen and Dazu, and established an in-depth cooperation mechanism for the four major grottoes.
Visitors take photos inside the Dazu Rock Carving Museum. Photo by Han Menglin, Xinhua Net
The immortal legend of Yangtze River culture
Continue to write the light of a new civilization in the new era
Dazu stone carvings, this immortal legend carved on the cliff, the treasures of Yangtze River culture and Chinese culture, will continue to write the light of new civilization in the new era.
According to reports, next, Dazu District will also take the creation of a scientific research base for the protection of stone cultural relics in southern China as the goal, strengthen cooperation with domestic and foreign scientific research institutions and colleges and universities, strengthen research on protection technology, focus on the key technologies for the protection of stone cultural relics in the south under high temperature and high humidity conditions, and vigorously improve the level of protection technology. Further increase the protection and management of small and medium-sized grottoes in Dazu, comprehensively improve the level of protection and management of cultural relics of Dazu rock carvings, launch a three-year rolling protection plan for small and medium-sized grottoes in Dazu, and comprehensively improve the status quo of the protection and management of cultural relics of small and medium-sized grottoes from many aspects such as long-term mechanism, ontology protection, safety precautions, environmental improvement, and supporting facilities, so that the 68 scattered small and medium-sized grottoes will become the "nostalgia" that people will not forget.
At the same time, we will expand the spread and influence of Dazu rock carving culture, firmly seize the opportunity of the construction of the Twin Cities Economic Circle in Chengdu-Chongqing Region and the Bashu Cultural Tourism Corridor, and work with relevant cultural relics protection institutions and research institutions in Sichuan-Chongqing region to jointly promote the integration of protection, research and display of Dazu Rock Carvings and other cave temples in Sichuan-Chongqing region, and build a Sichuan-Chongqing Grotto Temple National Heritage Park.
In addition, Dazu District will also vigorously implement the digital project of Dazu stone carvings to achieve permanent preservation and sustainable use. Strengthen the application of modern technologies such as the Internet of Things, cloud computing, and virtual reality, strengthen the construction of smart museums and smart scenic spots, and build a digital museum of Dazu rock carvings and a digital display center of Dazu stone carvings. Develop Dazu stone carving digital film and television, digital sculpture, digital cultural and creative products, etc., and strive to launch a number of high-quality digital achievements.
Source: Xinhua Net