The "14th Five-Year Plan for Archaeological Work" was released on the 22nd, clarifying 7 major tasks and 18 key tasks of archaeological work during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, and proposing that by 2035, the mainland should basically build "archaeology with Chinese characteristics, Chinese style and Chinese style".
In recent years, as the Liangzhu ruins, Erlitou sites, Sanxingdui sites, etc. have attracted public attention, the "unpopular" discipline of archaeology has attracted more and more attention from the whole society, and known and unknown "national treasures" have often become public hotspots. This year, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage has set up a new department of archaeology, and for the first time, a special plan has been prepared for archaeological work, which is to some extent the epitome of the general trend of archaeological "heating".
Archaeological excavations, the most eye-catching thing is what "dug" what is found. The picture shows tourists viewing Yubi at the Liangzhu Museum in March 2022. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Weng Xinyang
For the planning itself, the public is most concerned about what archaeologists will "dig" in the next few years, how to "dig" and where to see the results. Combing through the planning, we can clearly see the three main lines - solving major historical problems, high-quality development of the cause and making cultural relics come alive.
What are the major historical issues?
It is not where the emperor is buried, nor where the wealth of the dynasty will end up. In the international academic community, there are three major topics - the origin of mankind, the origin of agriculture and the origin of civilization; in China, major historical issues in the eyes of archaeologists have been written into the planning.
"Through the implementation of major projects such as 'Comprehensive Research on the Origin and Early Development of Chinese Civilization' and 'Archaeological China', we will continue to promote academic research on the origin of mankind, the origin of agriculture, and the origin of civilization, and scientifically show the origin of Chinese civilization and the spatio-temporal context of the formation and development of a unified multi-ethnic country." Through the 'Sino-foreign Joint Archaeological Action', we actively participate in the study of world civilization and explore the laws of human social development, and present ancient China more objectively, comprehensively and truly from a global perspective. Li Qun, vice minister of culture and tourism and director of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, said.
In layman's terms, the task of Chinese archaeologists is to continue to study where we "came from", "what kind of road we have traveled" and "why we have taken this road".
Why are we obsessed with figuring out our past? In addition to the instinctive questioning of the foundation of one's own bloodline, it is also out of a strong demand for future development.
Today's China is undergoing extensive and profound social changes, and is also carrying out great practical innovations in upholding and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics. Our practical innovation must be based on the law of historical development and must march in the correct direction of history. Archaeology, on the other hand, is an important task in displaying and constructing the history of the Chinese nation.
The rapid development of scientific and technological power has made the archaeological cause show a new atmosphere. The picture shows archaeologists working at the sanxingdui archaeological excavation site in Guanghan City, Deyang, Sichuan province in September 2021. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Wang Xi
With goals and tasks, the plan also clarifies a series of measures for the high-quality development of archaeology.
At the scientific and technological level, it is necessary to promote the construction of national and provincial archaeological science laboratories, actively cultivate cutting-edge interdisciplinary disciplines, promote the research and development of key technologies in archaeological science and the improvement and upgrading of archaeological technology and equipment; at the hardware level, such as building a gene bank of Cultural Relics of Chinese Civilization, a national key regional archaeological specimen warehouse and a regional archaeological research base; and at the policy level, implement the policy of "archaeology first, then transfer" to continuously improve the protection capacity of historical and cultural heritage.
But for any cause, the most critical element is people.
This is especially true for Chinese archaeology – according to statistics, there are currently more than 6,000 archaeologists on the mainland, and according to the plan, the total number of archaeologists in the country will exceed 10,000 by the end of the "14th Five-Year Plan" period.
This is a major leap forward, and it is also a necessary leap.
As the only civilization in the world that has continued since ancient times and has never been interrupted, the long river of Chinese civilization has spanned more than 5,000 years, leaving a huge number of treasures and problems to be solved. According to statistics, during the "13th Five-Year Plan" period alone, more than 5,000 archaeological excavation projects were carried out in China.
Looking forward to the future, Chinese archaeology needs more people who make policies scientifically, people who bury their heads in field archaeology, people who devote themselves to historical research, people who boldly apply cutting-edge scientific and technological means, and people who tell archaeological stories brilliantly... From the implementation of the national archaeological talent revitalization plan to promote the construction of world-class archaeological institutions, the plan has taken a solid step in the dimension of "people".
From "simulated archaeology" into the classroom to the "archaeological blind box" selling well, the public expects cultural relics to come alive. In April 2021, a history teacher at a school in Hebei Province instructed students to "excavate and clean up cultural relics". Xinhua News Agency
Bringing cultural relics to life is a key word in planning.
In addition to the "Archaeology + Media" communication plan and the promotion of the results of the "Archaeological China" major project, the plan proposes an archaeological science popularization work that has not been systematically carried out by the cultural relics department before, that is, the Chinese Archaeological Reader Writing Project -
Organize experts in the fields of archaeology, history, education, and culture to jointly compile authoritative and popular Chinese archaeological books, and systematically expound the history of mankind in the mainland for millions of years, the cultural history of 10,000 years, and the history of civilization for more than 5,000 years according to the latest archaeological research results, and clearly explain the brilliant achievements of Chinese civilization and the major contributions to human civilization.
Lively storytelling, rather than clinging to ivory towers; telling stories of ancient civilizations, not "traffic" stories of rare treasures... The ability to transform and display archaeological results directly determines the effectiveness of archaeological work in providing historical and cultural nourishment for the whole society. Looking forward to the "14th Five-Year Plan" and making cultural relics come alive - this era topic for all cultural relics workers in the new era has just been broken, and the task is heavy and the road is long.
Reporter: Shi Yuchen
Editors: Wang Wei, Leng Yanyan
Produced by Xinhua News Agency