The Department of Culture and Tourism of Shandong Province (Shandong Provincial Bureau of Cultural Relics) held a press conference on the 20th. Photo by Zhao Xiao
Jinan, 20 Jan (China News Network) -- The Department of Culture and Tourism of Shandong Province (Shandong Provincial Bureau of Cultural Relics) held a press conference in Jinan on 20 January to announce that the ruins of the wreck of the No. 1 shipwreck in Weihai Bay have basically been confirmed as the wreck site of the flagship of the Beiyang Navy, "Dingyuan", and have been included in the first batch of underwater cultural relics protection areas in Shandong. Shandong has also become the second province in China after Guangdong to declare an underwater cultural relics protection zone.
According to public reports, the underwater archaeological survey project of the site of the "Weihai Bay No. 1" JiaWu shipwreck was launched in 2017. In 2018, investigators found the site of a shipwreck outside the East Village of Liugong Island in Weihai. In 2019, investigators launched a special investigation into the sunken ship by means of sand extraction and disclosure, and found that the iron armor with a length of 2.86 meters and a weight of more than 10 tons was the identity symbol of the Dingyuan "ironclad ship", and it was basically determined that the sinking ship of the "Weihai Bay No. 1" was the flagship of the QingbeiYang Navy - the Dingyuan ship.
Data map: Weiwan No. 1 armored plate hoisting site. Courtesy of Shandong Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism
"The 'Weihai Bay No. 1 Shipwreck Site' has become the first batch of underwater cultural relics protection areas in Shandong, providing new ideas for the overall protection of underwater cultural heritage." Wang Shougong, director of the Cultural Relics Protection and Archaeology Division of the Shandong Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism (Provincial Cultural Relics Bureau), said at the meeting that the northeast coast of the mountain is adjacent to the Bohai Sea and the yellow sea in the east, and the coastline accounts for one-sixth of China. The unique geographical conditions and the long history of navigation and transportation have left a wealth of underwater cultural relics in Shandong. Delineating underwater cultural relics protection areas and establishing and improving protection systems and control measures are conducive to strengthening the protection of underwater cultural relics and inheriting and carrying forward the excellent traditional culture of Qilu.
On the same day, the sixth batch of Shandong provincial-level cultural relics protection units were also announced at the press conference, including 39 ancient ruins, 21 ancient tombs, 85 ancient buildings, 6 cave temples and stone carvings, and 106 important historical sites and representative buildings in modern and modern times.
Wang Shougong said that taking the opportunity of announcing the sixth batch of provincial-level cultural relics protection units and the first batch of underwater cultural relics protection areas, Shandong will further strengthen the protection and utilization of cultural relics, improve the records and archives, set up protection signs, delineate the scope of protection and construction control zones, and incorporate the red lines and rigid requirements for the protection of cultural relics resources into the territorial spatial planning at all levels to ensure the safety of cultural relics. At the same time, we should do a good job in displaying and utilizing, integrate cultural relics resources into strategies such as the construction of national cultural parks, the integration of culture and tourism, and rural revitalization, and further promote the revitalization and utilization of cultural relics, so that the results of cultural relics protection and utilization can better benefit the public.
Infographic: Investigators step into the water. Courtesy of Shandong Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism
In addition, a total of 80 revolutionary cultural relics were included in the sixth batch of Shandong provincial-level cultural relics protection units, accounting for more than 30%. Qi Yunting, deputy director of the Revolutionary Cultural Relics Department of the Department of Culture and Tourism of Shandong Province (Provincial Cultural Relics Bureau), said that this is a concrete embodiment of Shandong's profound red heritage and rich revolutionary cultural relics. The province will continue to intensify the protection and utilization of revolutionary cultural relics, publish the second batch of the province's revolutionary cultural relics directory; issue and implement the "Shandong Revolutionary Cultural Relics Protection and Utilization Area Work Plan", promote the construction of the revolutionary area, implement a number of centralized contiguous protection projects and overall exhibition and display projects; strengthen the rescue, collection, and research of physical objects, documents, archival historical materials, and oral histories related to the "four histories," and launch a number of high-quality exhibitions with characteristics and weight. (End)
Source: China News Network