◆ Hello Dean Xu, welcome back to Zhejiang, congratulations on becoming the first external dean of Liangzhu Museum.
Xu Tianjin: Thank you! My ancestral home is Yongkang, born in Xinjiang, after birth has been living in Yongkang until graduation from primary school, and then went to Shaanxi with my parents, I went to school in the north, did thesis in the north, the archaeological site of Peking University is also all in the north, and now retired, going around and back again, it is also very unexpected. Before I felt that I had not excavated in the south, I had visited other sites several times, and I also imagined that I could go to the south to see the exploration of the archaeological site after retirement, but I did not think that I would come to Liangzhu, from the time they began to mention this (as the president of the Liangzhu Museum (Liangzhu Research Institute)) idea, I have not dared to come, my heart is worried, there are many obstacles.
◆ You are too modest, you are a top archaeologist.
Xu Tianjin: After all, Liangzhu is a world cultural heritage, the starting point is so high, it is more difficult to do something decent, and the current exhibitions and activities seem to have achieved a very satisfactory degree. Of course, it does not mean that there is no space, there is still space, that is, how to complete it needs to be considered.
◆ In the end, you still came, there should be some special reason, right?
Xu Tianjin: If you must say the reason, it should be some ideas from my own, I hope to realize the ideas in the museum, and see if I can borrow a good platform like Liangzhu to achieve some of them. Moreover, Liangzhu has a great advantage, and the execution speed from the beginning of the idea to the landing is very fast.
◆So what are your plans after you become the dean?
Xu Tianjin: I think it is still necessary to take Liangzhu as the core, which is the core of the core, which cannot be lost at all, but also strengthened, and it is still necessary to constantly introduce new things in, to combine the relationship with Liangzhu and do some new content.
◆ You must have some ideas, right?
Xu Tianjin: There are some of them, the earliest idea is particularly simple, that is, to make the source of five thousand years of civilization more solid. At present, I want to do several topics, and the specific content is temporarily left in suspense.
◆ Does Dean Xu have an ideal museum in mind?
Xu Tianjin: The ideal look should be that all the archaeological maps and photos are there, this library can be the same as the library, I am an ordinary person can borrow, we should have such a place, education also needs, research also needs, social sharing also needs, cultural creation is more needed. This will also have relatively high requirements for the quality of the public. It takes a long process of development.
◆ Dean Xu, you should have also seen our cultural and creative products, how do you think you should make good use of the artistic value of cultural heritage?
Xu Tianjin: The cultural creation we want to do must be the best product, not a one-time tourism product. When we change the concept, then the development of each product will be different, provided that academic research must keep up, design and production must also keep up, and there will be qualitative changes when the two become one. For example, what is the beauty of the Liangzhu Yuchun pattern? In fact, the color itself is also an aesthetic object, the so-called chicken bone white, thousands of years of time to stay on the utensils, the changes brought to the utensils, the ancient color in the Chinese aesthetic, the object of our aesthetic is time, the old is not the old itself, is an attitude towards time.
◆ Dean Xu, as a senior archaeologist, what do you think is the biggest difference between archaeologists and ordinary people?
Xu Tianjin: This question has also been asked before, my own feelings, the biggest difference is that we look at things on different time scales, we may be in a thousand years or five hundred years as a unit, the average person may be in the sky as a unit, this is a particularly big difference, with a thousand years as a unit, now everything is not a thing, the only thing to consider is that our era can leave a little worth leaving for the future, which is more important.
Source: Liangzhu Ruins Management Area Micro-Rong Media Center
--Related Reading--
Archaeologist Xu Tianjin was appointed president of the Liangzhu Museum (Liangzhu Research Institute).
On April 14th, the Liangzhu Museum (Liangzhu Research Institute) held a dean appointment ceremony, and Professor Xu Tianjin of the School of Archaeology and Archaeology of Peking University was invited to serve as the dean, which was the first external dean of the Liangzhu Museum. After being hired as the dean, Xu Tianjin will fully preside over the academic construction and cultural relics protection of the museum.
According to public information, Xu Tianjin is the earliest organizer and promoter of public archaeology in China, graduated from the Department of History of Northwest University in 1982 majoring in archaeology, and later studied under Professor Zou Heng, a famous archaeologist at Peking University, to study for a master's degree in Shangzhou archaeology, graduating in 1985. He is currently a professor, doctoral supervisor, and vice chairman of the board of directors of the Shanxi Museum.
Xu Tianjin is mainly engaged in the teaching and scientific research of field archaeology and Shangzhou archaeology. Since graduating in 1982, Xu Tianjin has participated in and presided over the archaeological excavation and research of important sites such as the Beicun Ruins in YaoXian County, Shaanxi, the Wangjiahe Cemetery in Tongchuan, the Ruins of Xuejiaqu in Suide, the Tianma-Qucun Ruins in Shanxi, the Cemetery of marquis of Northern Zhao, the Ruins of the Western Zhou Yanguo in Fangshan Liulihe in Beijing, and the Zhouyuan Ruins in Shaanxi; the discovery of the Western Zhou Oracle bones of the Zhou Gong Temple and the excavation of the Zhou Gong Temple ruins for a long time. Xu Tianjin has successively presided over the compilation of monographs such as "Archaeological Exploration", "History of Jijin Cast Country", "Bowfish National Jade", etc., served as the main author of the large-scale field archaeological excavation report of "Tianma-Qucun", participated in and undertook the research of the major research projects of the Ministry of Science and Technology "Xia Shang Zhou Dynasty Project", "Chinese Civilization Source Exploration Project" and the key research topics of humanities and social sciences of the Ministry of Education.
Liangzhu Museum
Liangzhu Museum, located in Meilizhou Park, Liangzhu Street, Yuhang District, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, is an archaeological site museum that collects, researches, displays and promotes Liangzhu culture, with a construction area of about 10,000 square meters, which broke ground in March 2005 and opened to the public in October 2008. In August 2017, according to the latest archaeological achievements of the Liangzhu site and the Liangzhu culture, the basic exhibition of the Liangzhu Museum was upgraded and reopened to the public in June 2018.
The museum covers a total area of more than 40,000 square meters, with a construction area of 10,000 square meters, designed by the famous British architect Dai Wei Chippfield, the building is very simple, breaking through the shackles of figurative form, reflecting the harmonious integration of art and nature, history and modernity. The building won the "Best Public Building Award" judged by the prestigious magazines BusinessWeek and Architectural Records.
The regular exhibition area of the museum is more than 4,000 square meters, which is divided into 3 exhibition halls. The theme of the regular exhibition is that the Liangzhu site is a sacred place that empirically proves the history of Chinese civilization for 5,000 years. Relying on the three exhibition halls of "Water Town Zeguo", "Sacred Land of Civilization" and "Jade Soul National Spirit", the exhibition comprehensively, three-dimensionally and truly displays the archaeological achievements and heritage values of Liangzhu ruins and Liangzhu culture, and embodies the important position and unique contribution of Liangzhu civilization in the historical development process of "pluralism and integration" of Chinese civilization.
Liangzhu culture dates back about 5300-4300 years, and more than 600 pieces (groups) of various precious cultural relics such as jade, stoneware, pottery and lacquered wood ware from the Liangzhu culture period are exhibited in the courtyard. The exhibition strives to innovate the display concept, rationally use advanced display methods and means, strive to achieve diversification of communication methods, combine the traditional display of the museum with digital display and other means, rationally use large-scale oil painting, scene restoration, digital multimedia and 3D printing and other new technologies, strengthen the audience's feeling of visiting in the physical cultural relics, expand the limited display space of the museum, and provide personalized digital display services for the audience.
Important collections