Shaanxi Yan'an pagoda mountain scenery. Image China
Henan Anyang Yin Ruins Museum Garden Women's Good Tomb Display. Image China
During this year's Spring Festival, Pingyao Ancient City held events to attract tourists from all over the world to visit. Photo by Cao Yang
The Beautiful Spring Color of the Wushan Section of Chongqing in the Yangtze River Basin. Image China
Since the Eighteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China, General Secretary Xi Jinping has made important expositions and instructions on the protection of historical and cultural heritage many times, which has pointed out the direction of efforts and provided important guidelines for enhancing cultural self-confidence and strengthening the protection of historical and cultural heritage in the new era. We invite relevant scholars to share their learning, reflections and vivid practices.
- Editor
Archaeology has a long way to go
Wang Wei
On the occasion of the 100th anniversary commemoration of the birth of Yangshao culture discovery and modern Chinese archaeology, General Secretary Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory letter, hoping that the majority of archaeologists would "continue to explore the unknown, reveal the origin, and strive to build archaeology with Chinese characteristics, Chinese style, and Chinese style, better display the style of Chinese civilization, carry forward the excellent traditional Chinese culture, and make new and greater contributions to the realization of the Chinese dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation."
Archaeology is inseparable from understanding history. Through a series of major discoveries, several generations of archaeologists have extended the historical axis, enhanced historical credibility, enriched historical connotations, activated historical scenes, demonstrated the historical context of the origin and development of Chinese civilization, and empirically proved the centuries-old human history, 10,000-year cultural history, and more than 5,000 years of civilization history of the mainland. However, how to do a good job in the excavation, collation and interpretation of these archaeological achievements is an important topic and long-term task facing every archaeologist.
20 years ago, I was commissioned by the Ministry of Science and Technology to lead the research on the source of Chinese civilization. Together with more than 400 scholars from more than 20 disciplines, we have jointly tackled key problems in multiple disciplines, and conducted all-round research on the environmental background of the origin of Chinese civilization, the acquisition of resources, the progress of technological technology, the migration of people and the exchange and interaction of civilizations, and achieved remarkable results. However, our communications efforts have been insufficient, and society knows very little about these important achievements. Happily, the situation has improved markedly.
The archaeological work of the Sanxingdui site in Guanghan, Sichuan Province, has been restarted since the end of 2020, and tens of thousands of exquisite and magical cultural relics have been excavated in the newly discovered 6 sacrifice pits, which further demonstrates the characteristics of the pluralistic integration of Chinese civilization and shows the cohesion and centripetal force of Chinese civilization. More importantly, this live archaeological broadcast was actively participated by many channels of the Central Radio and Television Corporation, and nearly 10 scholars with profound achievements in the field of archaeology in Xia Shang Zhou participated in the live broadcast and commentary. At the same time, focusing on the excavation site of Sanxingdui, a number of sites and museums with certain relevance are connected live, including the Jinsha site and Chengdu Museum that belong to the Chengdu Plain, the Yanshi Erlitou site in Henan and the Site of Yin Ruins in Anyang that are the same or similar to the Sanxingdui cultural age, as well as the Xingan Tomb in Jiangxi in the Yangtze River Basin of the Shang Dynasty, and the Shanxi Bronze Museum that collects many Pieces of Shangzhou Bronzes. Let the audience appreciate the formation and development process of the pluralistic and integrated Chinese civilization, which has aroused the young generation's strong interest in Chinese civilization. This live broadcast, as well as participating in the recording of the "Chinese Archaeological Conference", are my unforgettable experiences.
Not long ago, a comprehensive academic work "A Century of Chinese Archaeology (1921-2021)", which was completed by 276 archaeologists and completed in three years, was published. This set of books consists of 4 volumes, 12 volumes, and more than 9 million words, systematically sorting out the major archaeological discoveries and achievements in the past hundred years, and at the same time combining the research trends at home and abroad, the academic prospective discussion in various fields has been conducted. More than 200 archaeological topics, many of which are interesting and informative, are an effort by our archaeologists to popularize the results of archaeology to the public. But we can't stop there. Over the years, I have always had a vision: can we build a number of Chinese civilization theme parks, using VR (virtual reality) and other digital technologies, so that young people and even more people, including people around the world who are full of yearning for Chinese civilization, can immerse themselves in the profound Chinese civilization. Hopefully, this vision of mine will come true.
(The author is chairman of the Chinese Archaeological Society)
Dig deep and spread the value of heritage
Wang Xudong
This year's Spring Festival, the Forbidden City Digital Cultural Relics Library released 15,000 new cultural relics images, so that everyone can experience the "Year of Ice and Snow on the Clouds" without going to the Forbidden City. Whether it can do a good job of resource sharing is the touchstone of whether a museum carrying Chinese civilization can become a "world-class".
The Forbidden City has the world's most complete preservation of ancient wooden palace complexes and more than 1.86 million cultural relics and treasures, and is the gathering place of China's excellent traditional culture. In recent years, we have actively implemented the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important expositions and instructions on the protection of historical and cultural heritage, deeply excavated and disseminated the value of promoting the world cultural heritage of the Forbidden City, systematically explained the new meaning of the Times of Chinese culture, and built a diversified and convenient communication bridge between cultural relics, history and the people.
Digitalization is an important means to effectively transform museum resource endowments into communication momentum. The Forbidden City attaches great importance to the digitization process of collections, starting from 2020, collecting 70,000 to 75,000 pieces of cultural relics information every year, and now has publicly released 83,000 cultural relics images, and has established display platforms such as "Digital Treasure Pavilion" and "Famous Paintings of the Forbidden City". But at this rate, it will take nearly 20 years to digitize all artifacts. We actively put the museum on the "cloud" to achieve open sharing of conservation results. Digital exhibitions such as "Discovery and Nourishing Heart Hall - Theme Digital Experience Exhibition" and "Qingming Shanghe Tu 3.0" High-tech Interactive Art Exhibition" have been very popular. In 2021, "'Pattern' to Carry the Road - Forbidden City Tencent Immersive Digital Experience Exhibition" presents the pattern world with 5.3 meters high naked-eye 3D cultural relics, Tired Qinzhai VR and other projects. Digital display breaks through the limitations of physical exhibitions, and the audience's participation and sense of experience are stronger, which meets the psychological needs of "touching" cultural relics.
Fruitful academic achievements are the cornerstone of activating the vitality of China's excellent traditional culture. The Forbidden City has undertaken or participated in about 40 national, provincial and ministerial scientific research projects. Projects such as the national major cultural project "(New Edition) General History of China" and the major project of the National Social Science Foundation "Collation and Research on the Oracle Bones of the Forbidden City" are progressing smoothly. In 2021, the Forbidden City implemented the open project plan for the whole society for the first time, receiving a total of 227 application projects from colleges and universities, scientific research institutions, and 41 projects from 37 units. The open academic platform brings together many forces and provides important support for the interpretation of the values of the Forbidden City.
As a Chinese cultural parlor for civilization exchanges and mutual learning, telling Chinese stories to the world is one of the development visions of the Palace Museum. In recent years, we have successively held activities such as the World Ancient Civilization Protection Forum and the "Cultural Salon of the Forbidden City of Envoys stationed in China", which have become an important platform for the dissemination of traditional culture on the mainland. Signed cooperation agreements with 15 institutions, including the International Association of Museums Collection Protection Committee, the Italian Advanced Institute for the Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Relics, and the British Museum, to jointly carry out archaeology and cultural relics restoration in many countries. The Training Center of the International Association of Cultural Relics and the Training Center of the International Society for the Protection and Restoration of Cultural Relics settled in the Forbidden City, contributing to the cultivation of international talents.
"Let the cultural relics collected in the museum, the heritage displayed on the vast land, and the words written in ancient books come alive", enhance cultural self-confidence, enrich the people's spiritual world, and enhance the national spiritual strength, the Forbidden City has been on the road.
(The author is the director of the Palace Museum)
The integration of culture and tourism opens a new bureau for heritage protection
Han Ziyong
Since the Eighteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the "chemical reaction" of the integration of culture and tourism has been the most obvious in the deep integration of historical and cultural heritage protection and tourism.
In the past 10 years, museums and art galleries have been in the ascendant. In the past, some high-cold, niche fields, such as archaeology, poured into the daily lives of ordinary people, adding traditional charm to the deepening modern rhythm. With the advancement of archaeological excavations at liangzhu, Sanxingdui, double locust tree, Haidian Hou and other sites, these sites and museums quickly became popular punching places.
From Henan Satellite TV's "Tang Palace Night Banquet", to the "Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains" that triggered the "Forbidden City Run" and the dance drama "Only This Green"; from cultural and creative fever and food videos, to the traditional life aesthetics of Traditional Life such as Chinese music, Hanfu, time-honored brands, and tea ceremonies; from the ancient village tour of the ancient city and ancient town, to the art of rural construction, characteristic towns... The interactive win-win situation of historical and cultural heritage protection and large-scale tourism pattern is gradually forming, the inheritance and promotion of China's excellent traditional culture and creative transformation and innovative development have become a consensus, and the use of national aesthetic resources and cultural codes in production and consumption scenarios is becoming increasingly rich... All these deep integrations of culture with tourism, life and society are undergoing a wonderful and spectacular "chain reaction".
At the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics, the activation and application of intangible cultural heritage elements such as the 24 solar terms represented by Lichun stunned the world. Today, even if you walk into a remote mountain village, you can encounter vivid examples of intangible cultural heritage helping tourism and helping rural revitalization. Intangible cultural heritage, a word that sounds a bit awkward at first, has been popularized on such a large scale, taking root, growing leaves, blossoming and bearing fruit, and living in the fertile fields of the times. "A good wind with strength, send me to the clouds", the secret of a successful career, is the majestic thrust of historical development. This thrust comes from the people and is rooted in the people's pursuit of a better life.
Chinese civilization has a long tradition of collecting customs and customs, and has long nurtured a strong sense of history and the spiritual characteristics of persisting in the pursuit of ideals. Cautious pursuit of the distant, the unity of heaven and man, harmony and benevolence, self-improvement, the unity of home and country... All of this, in the slightest wisp, weaves a cultural beauty of diversity, endless life, and clouds, which is presented in the intangible cultural heritage of ruins, museums and seas of stars. It has enabled us to always walk in the forefront of the world in the long years of history, and it will certainly play a tremendous role in the new journey of comprehensively building a modern socialist country and realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
Especially the Great Wall culture, the Grand Canal culture, the long march spirit, the Yellow River culture, the Yangtze River culture... These historical contexts and spiritual heritages, which span the land of China, are marked in the form of national cultural parks, and systematic inheritance protection, creation and transformation, and tourism planning are carried out, which highlights the high degree of cultural consciousness and self-confidence in the new era, and will surely make the protection of historical and cultural heritage a new realm and open a new situation.
(The author is president of the China Academy of Arts)
People's Daily ( 2022-03-15 20th edition)