Utilization and Protection of Modern and Contemporary Cultural Relics - Visiting the Datong Normal Campus has a feeling
"World of Cultural Relics", 2004.01 Lang Baoli
Entrusted by the Shanxi Provincial Bureau of Cultural Relics, we undertook the supplementary review of modern and contemporary cultural relics in the Atlas of Chinese Cultural Relics and Shanxi Fascicle, which lasted more than half a year and covered all counties in the province. A large number of new materials were discovered, and the investigation task was completed well. In more than half a year of investigation, we have come into contact with a large number of modern and modern cultural heritage, registered thousands of sites, however, in the face of the current situation of these sites, our mood is very heavy, broken houses, fallen monuments, broken artifacts, except for a few sites managed by the cultural relics department, it is not too much to describe it as "full of clouds". These sites are luckier than those that have disappeared, but it is not difficult to see that their disappearance will not be long away. The main reason for the destruction of these cultural heritages is the problem of the cultural relics management system. A large number of modern and modern cultural relics are mostly not within the scope of hierarchical protection, and the property rights are mostly owned by individuals or collectives, while the national law has no practical protection methods and specific measures for individuals or collective industries belonging to the category of cultural heritage, so these property rights owners can dispose of the cultural heritage they own arbitrarily, resulting in the destruction of a large number of modern and modern cultural heritage. In urban construction, many important historic districts, cultural heritage listed in the hierarchical protection or not included in the hierarchical protection, are reduced to ashes by the roar of bulldozers. In the investigation, we actually encountered such a thing: in a famous historical and cultural city, the real Ming and Qing historical districts were completely demolished, and preparations were made to build an ancient cultural street imitating the architectural style of the Ming and Qing dynasties in this open space. Such a thing makes us feel that it is by no means funny, thinking of the destruction of the ancient city of Dinghai reported by the media, the demolition of the former residence of a famous person in Beijing, the "three holes" incident of washing, the destruction of the Buddha by the Taliban in Afghanistan, and so on, a lingering sadness, anger but helplessness filled the heart.
However, in our work, we have met many people who are very enthusiastic about the protection of cultural heritage, who have provided us with clues and showed us the way, who have lamented the damaged cultural heritage and put forward many suggestions for the protection of cultural heritage. There are also many leaders and comrades who are not engaged in cultural relics work who have made outstanding contributions to the protection of cultural heritage, and Shi Min, president of Datong Normal School in Shanxi Province, and his colleagues are such examples. From them, we see hope for the protection of cultural heritage.
Datong Normal School is located in Shilidian, a western suburb of Datong, Shanxi, on the banks of the Wuzhou River. Her predecessor was Shanxi Provincial No. 3 Middle School, which was founded in the 6th year of the Republic of China (1917), when the Shanxi Provincial Government allocated 15,000 yuan of silver yuan and selected tianjin Nankai campus as a model for the construction of the school. Therefore, people called it "Little Nankai". Since the establishment of the school, the name of the school has changed several times. From Shanxi Provincial Fourth Normal School, Shanxi Provincial Third Middle School, Datong Middle School, straight to the current name - Datong Normal School. Tens of thousands of talents have been trained for the country, including senior talents such as generals, government ministers, and provincial party secretaries, but more are teachers working in the poor mountainous areas of northern Yanbei in obscurity.
The school covers an area of 500 acres, divided into teaching area, living area and agricultural experimental area. The building of the teaching area is basically the original building at the time of the establishment of the school, and the layout is symmetrical from north to south. The school gate is a combination of Chinese and Western arch pillar iron fence doors, and the eight archway doorposts are connected by low anti-arch walls and Western-style iron fence doors, forming a solemn and uninhibited school gate. Inside is the school motto wall and flower bed, the office building is behind the flower bed, for a single-storey building, the outside of the building has a Canopy with Chinese-style columns, doors and windows are Western-style arch windows, and the outside is a stone relief type door and window set. The gray clear water wall and white relief arches and windows are hidden in the lilac and rose bushes, which is particularly pleasing to the eye. Passing through the office building is the auditorium, which is a combination of Chinese and Western architecture, the former is the bell tower (in the 1950s, the upper part of the bell tower was demolished), and the back is the Si'a Ding Auditorium, which is also a gray clear water wall, white arches and windows. The auditorium covers an area of 528 square meters, with 1,000 seats, and excellent sound and light effects. Behind the auditorium is a large flower bed, around which 12 independent classrooms are built, with a sparse layout and no interference with each other. Each classroom has a building area of 106 square meters, the same gray walls, white windows, and four roofs. The long windows on both sides of the classroom are bright, the lighting is excellent, the roof is high, and the space is large. Low in front of the ground and high in front of the ground, learning in such an environment is a wonderful enjoyment.
The 12 classrooms were slightly damaged in the 1995 earthquake, and during the repair process, the school leaders insisted on the policy of protecting the original appearance of the buildings, spending nearly 400,000 yuan to renovate the buildings in seclusion without any change in appearance. A comrade who accompanied us in the investigation told us that 400,000 yuan can build a new building of the same area. As we stood under the huge peach trees in the flower beds (which were also planted when the school was founded), admired these exquisite buildings, and appreciated the school leaders' efforts to protect cultural heritage, we saw through the bushes a towering building behind us, four stories high, with gray walls, white arched windows, four Awa roofs, and the wind chimes in the corners of the eaves sounded pleasantly with the wind. Everyone was touched by the solidified music and couldn't help but praise the designers of the school, at this time, Principal Shi asked us to take a closer look and told us that the building was completed and handed over last year. When everyone listened, they were even more amazed, because it is not easy to preserve cultural heritage, and it is even more precious to be able to develop cultural heritage. This new building, which is in line with the old architectural style, adds a strong color to the school building. If you compare the original campus to an elegant serenade, plus this building behind a large playground, it becomes an imposing symphony. Principal Shi told us that the building was completely self-financed by the school, and in order to maintain the consistency of the architectural style, the school and the design unit made great efforts, and the capital investment increased by more than 1 million. Hearing this, we can't help but be solemn about President Shi and his colleagues, who can combine their profound cultural heritage with school construction, and adhere to the consistency of school architectural style in the absence of financial support from the superiors and the understanding of individual comrades below, resist pressure, and protect and develop the classic architecture of the early years of the Republic of China. Without a name, without profit, it has protected an important cultural heritage in obscurity. This fact shows that in our country, the protection of cultural heritage requires the participation of the whole people, and it is even more necessary to raise the awareness of cultural heritage protection of leading cadres at all levels, because in our country, administrative leaders at all levels play a decisive role in the protection of cultural heritage. Cultural heritage is the main component of the cultural environment of human society, it is as important to us as the ecological environment, for the ecological environment, we have paid a heavy price, only to get the attention of the whole people. The ecological environment destroys us and we can restore it, while the cultural environment is non-renewable. Here, we call on our leading cadres at all levels to establish a sense of cultural heritage protection as soon as possible and protect our cultural heritage like Principal Shi of Datong Normal School.
Photography: Peak
(The author is an associate professor at the School of Archaeology, Shanxi University)