Mr. Xie Chensheng (1922-2022), who has contributed his life to the cause of Cultural Relics Conservation in China, drove to the west of the crane this morning at the age of 100.
Mr. Xie Chensheng is known as "a living history of China's cultural relics protection", he has said many times: "Looking back on my more than 70 years of cultural relics undertakings, I have always firmly believed that protecting cultural relics is to protect the country." ”
In January 2019, 97-year-old Mr. Xie Chensheng was interviewed by Wen Wei Po (Li Yang/Photo)
In 1949, he drafted the first cultural relics decree of New China, and since then he has become the main participant and author of a series of cultural relics regulations in New China, known as "a pen for cultural relics"; in the "Cultural Revolution", he went to the Central Committee regardless of safety and danger to write a document on the protection of cultural relics by the CPC Central Committee; in the era of reform and opening up, he drafted the first "Cultural Relics Protection Law" of New China, adhering to the "protection first" of cultural relics work; since the 21st century, in the face of the wave of real estate development, at the historical juncture of the existence and ruin of ancient cities, he is even more related to the "protection of cultural relics"; since the 21st century, in the face of the wave of real estate development, at the historical juncture of the ancient city's existence and ruin, he is even more in agreement with the "protection" of cultural relics work. The bulldozer" protest has fully accelerated the legislative process for the protection of famous historical and cultural cities on the mainland.
In January 2019, this reporter visited Mr. Xie Chensheng, who was 97 years old, and at that time, due to physical reasons, Xie Chensheng had greatly reduced his work and rested in peace. But even in the case of severely reduced vision, he is always concerned about the protection of cultural relics. During the interview, what made the reporter most memorable was Elder Xie's concern for the protection of the old Beijing City, from which he could feel his firmness, tenacity and adherence to the protection of the ancient city, and heard his deep love for the precious cultural heritage of the motherland!
"The country and the mountains have left a trace of victory, and my generation has come back." This is a poem by Meng Haoran, beloved by Elder Xie, who said: "Guarding the soul of national culture and leaving a victorious trace for the country and the future generations is an important step that we must take in the process of rejuvenation of this ancient nation." ”
How many things have become the past, only those ancient cities and cultural relics preserved through his appeal will eventually precipitate into the precious memory of the motherland's cultural heritage, which will never fade. The cause of Chinese cultural protection and inheritance that Mr. Xie Chensheng has struggled for all his life will surely be passed on from generation to generation!
Here, we will revisit the "Xie Chensheng: Guardian of Cultural Relics of the Motherland" published in the Wen Wei Po series "My Motherland and Me - 70 People in 70 Years" series of characters on January 3, 2019, in order to commemorate Mr. Xie Chensheng, who has contributed his life to the cause of Cultural Relics Protection in China.
"Xie Chensheng: Guardians of Cultural Relics of the Motherland" was published in the special edition of "My Motherland and Me - 70 People in 70 Years" in Wen Wei Po on January 3, 2019
In 2019, on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the founding of New China, Mr. Xie Chensheng wrote an inscription for the interview article of Wen Wei Po entitled "Protection of Cultural Relics, Highlighting Characteristics". Elder Xie said that the outstanding feature is to protect the cultural relics according to their original appearance.
Xie Chensheng: Guardian of cultural relics of the motherland
Mr. Xie Chensheng is known as a "national treasure" in the cultural and cultural circles, and it can be said that the cause of cultural relics has long been integrated into his life. He is the historical witness of the 70 years of cultural relics work in New China, and he is also the most solid and tenacious force to promote the development of cultural relics protection, just as Mr. Jin Chongji, a historian who has known him for more than half a century, said: "After Zheng Zhenduo and Wang Yeqiu, two predecessors, people call Comrade Chensheng 'the guardian of the motherland's cultural relics', and he deserves it." ”
Follow Zheng Zhenduo, "Do a good job in protection and policy"
With gray hair, a clean face, and a navy blue Chinese-style placket, mr. Xie Chensheng, 96, exudes a soft and serene atmosphere against the background of the winter sun.
In the past two years, Xie Lao's eyesight has begun to decline, but his ear power is still very good, and his thinking is very clear. Xie Lao's daughter told reporters that in the first half of last year, Xie Lao also went to other places to attend meetings, and in June he underwent minimally invasive surgery for liver cysts, and after half a year of recuperation, his state gradually recovered. Not long ago, he braved the cold to attend a conference on the protection of historical and cultural neighborhoods, which was really admirable.
In fact, Xie Lao was diagnosed with bladder cancer at the age of 71 and later metastasized to lung cancer, but for more than 20 years, he did not succumb to the disease and learned to "coexist peacefully" with the tumor. Surgery, chemotherapy, leaving the hospital to continue to run, write letters, hold meetings, investigate... This state of affairs lasted almost until the age of 95.
The reporter asked Elder Xie: "What is the driving force that makes you always devote yourself to the cause of cultural relics?" ”
Elder Xie replied without hesitation: "Because I have been engaged in the protection of cultural relics all my life!" This is my responsibility. The tone was gentle, but clear and powerful.
When did Mr. Xie Chensheng, who "only did one thing in his life", start to associate with cultural relics? This began in 1946. That year, 24-year-old Xie Chensheng followed his eldest brother and historian Xie Guozhen to Shanghai to buy books for Northern University, and Cultural Relics expert Xu Senyu set up a banquet to entertain. During the banquet, Mr. Zheng Zhenduo talked about the lot of work at hand and the urgent need for manpower assistance, Xu Senyu immediately recommended Xie Chensheng to Zheng Zhenduo, agreed to put into work the next day, assist Zheng Zhenduo in cleaning up wartime cultural relics, and participated in the compilation of the "Catalogue of Cultural Relics Flowing into Japan After Noon in China" presided over by Xu Senyu. Xie Chensheng, who has loved literature, history and cultural relics since he was a child, seized this rare opportunity and officially embarked on the road of cultural relics research.
After the founding of New China, in November 1949, Zheng Zhenduo was appointed director of the Cultural Relics Bureau of the Central Ministry of Culture to take up his post in Beijing, and he called his secretary Xie Chensheng to Beijing and said: "You should engage in cultural protection work, this matter is more important than research." At that time, Xie Chensheng wanted to take the road of research, Zheng Zhenduo said: "The protection of cultural relics is the first, without protection there is no research." ”
Zheng Zhenduo also told him: "We must do a good job in protection and policy." These words seem to be a bright light to illuminate the road ahead, Xie Chensheng firmly remembered in his heart, "It was Mr. Zheng Zhenduo who set me in the cause of cultural relics in this life." Up to now, I have also been carrying out the tasks he has given me. ”
The first task zheng zhenduo entrusted to him was to draft the earliest batch of cultural relics protection decrees in New China. "The most important issue now is to cut off the claws of the devil, and we can no longer let a large number of cultural relics outflow." Zheng Zhenduo said.
The young Xie Chensheng initially knew nothing about the regulations on cultural relics, and Zheng Zhenduo taught him by hand, handing him a large number of ancient and modern Chinese and foreign materials for reference, telling him what the spirit of the law was. In this way, under the guidance and help of Zheng Zhenduo, Wang Yeqiu, Pei Wen and others, Xie Chensheng began to draft the first batch of government decrees and regulations for the protection of cultural relics in New China.
On May 24, 1950, the Government Council of the Central People's Government promulgated the First Batch of Regulations for the Protection of Cultural Relics, such as the Interim Measures for prohibiting the Export of Precious Cultural Relics and Books, the Interim Measures for the Investigation and Excavation of Ancient Cultural Sites and Ancient Tombs, and the Instructions on the Protection of Ancient Cultural Relics and Buildings. After the promulgation of the decree, the large-scale outflow of cultural relics was quickly curbed. This marks the end of the past era of allowing a large number of Chinese precious cultural relics to flow out, and the history of Chinese cultural relics being destroyed, stolen and excavated, and smuggled in modern times is over.
Xie Lao recalled that the large-scale state-based cultural relics protection management and archaeological excavation work that had never been carried out in China's history began to unfold.
Mr. Xie Chensheng (file photo)
In 1953, China began to carry out the first five-year plan, in order to cooperate with the capital construction, in October of that year, the Government Council issued the "Instruction on the Protection of Historical and Revolutionary Cultural Relics in capital construction projects" drafted by Zheng Zhenduo himself; in 1956, the "Notice on the Protection of Cultural Relics in Agricultural Production and Construction" drafted by Xie Chensheng was issued.
With the development of construction, the state has further put forward the principles of "both beneficial to the protection of cultural relics and beneficial to capital construction" and "key protection and key excavation". Elder Xie recalled that the protection of Beihai Regimental City in 1954 was the best example of the implementation of this policy. At that time, beijing was planning to demolish the 800-year-old Beihai Regimental City in the plan to widen the road, and Mr. Zheng Zhenduo was firmly opposed, and Liang Sicheng also wrote to Premier Zhou Enlai to express his opposition. One afternoon in the summer of 1954, Premier Zhou made a surprise visit to Tuancheng for a field trip, sat in Tuancheng for two hours, and finally said: "It is okay to widen the road, but it is not possible to demolish Tuancheng." The prime minister finally decided to retreat the Wall of the State Council across the street by 20 meters to the south, preserving Tuancheng.
In 1956, the debate over whether to demolish the walls of Beijing was fierce, and both Xie Chensheng and Luo Zhewen were adamantly opposed to the demolition of the city walls, and they were called the "city wall faction" they called. Xie Chensheng advocated, "Anything that can be dismantled or not demolished, or that cannot be dismantled today, should be 'left under the knife', more discussions should be carried out, and even left for a few more days or years before doing it." Even in the debate, he proposed that "it is better to protect more than to make mistakes."
To this end, Xie Chensheng drafted a report of the Ministry of Culture recommending that the State Council protect the Beijing City Wall and the Xi'an City Wall, although the Beijing City Wall was not preserved, which became his regret so far, but fortunately he saved the Xi'an City Wall. In 1961, the State Council announced the list of the first batch of national key cultural relics protection units, and the Xi'an City Wall was prominently listed.
"Why protect cultural relics? Cultural relics are the carrier of national culture, and for a country and a nation, history is the root and culture is the soul. Once a cultural relic is demolished, the precious value attached to it ceases to exist. How can we let our own country and nation lose their souls? Mr. Xie said.
Mr. Xie Chensheng in the Three Gorges in 2012 (file photo)
He wrote legislation and established rules and regulations for the cause of cultural relics
Some people say that Xie Chensheng's life experience is half of the legislative history of the protection of cultural relics in New China, which is not exaggerated at all. The first batch of laws and regulations on the protection of cultural relics in New China, the first Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Cultural Relics, and many laws and regulations on cultural relics work since the reform and opening up were almost all drafted or mainly drafted by him.
"The letter of the law should be hard-hitting, the conclusion is not a discussion, and there can be no expression that is too flexible or loose. In the future, the revision of the "Law on the Protection of Cultural Relics" can only be strict, not lenient, and this principle must be adhered to for a long time. This is the profound insight summarized by Elder Xie for decades of engaging in cultural relics legislation.
In the late 1950s, after the climax of the Great Leap Forward, a comprehensive and systematic law was urgently needed to correct past deviations. Therefore, the Cultural Relics Bureau began to draft the "Interim Regulations on the Protection and Management of Cultural Relics", written by Xie Chensheng, wrote 11 drafts before and after, which lasted more than a year, and finally passed by the plenary session of the State Council on November 17, 1960. Article 1 of the "Regulations" clearly stipulates that "all cultural relics of historical, artistic and scientific value shall be protected by the State." ”
For the first time, the Regulations also put forward the concept of "national key cultural relics protection unit". Elder Xie still remembers a small episode at the plenary session of the State Council when the first batch of national cultural security units were discussed and approved. At that time, the meeting was presided over by Vice Premier Chen Yi, who suddenly stood up after seeing the document and said: "I cannot preside over this meeting," "We are a country with an ancient civilization of five thousand years, so many cultural relics, you proposed to protect 180 national key cultural relics, this is not OK." The staff quickly told him that this was only the first batch, and there were second and third batches, as well as provincial and county-level cultural security units. Chen Yi listened, said "This is OK", and then sat down.
During the "Cultural Revolution", "breaking the four olds" endangered cultural relics, Xie Chensheng and his colleagues stepped forward and loudly called for a clear line between cultural relics and "four olds", he proposed that "cultural relics are historical materials, and some cultural relics can also be used as negative teaching materials and historical witnesses without smashing." In 1967, he first drafted the "Proposal on the Protection of Revolutionary Cultural Relics and Ancient Cultural Relics", and then was commissioned to draft "Some Opinions on the Protection of Cultural Relics and Books in the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution" for the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. Since then, the large-scale destruction of cultural relics has been curbed.
The preservation of the Beijing Ancient Observatory is also what Elder Xie still talks about. In 1968, Beijing was preparing to build China's first subway, just to pass under a 500-year-old ancient observatory, according to the plan, the construction unit to tear down the observatory and move it to other places for preservation, Xie Chensheng and Luo Zhewen both thought about going, and finally wrote a report to Premier Zhou, hoping that the observatory for astronomical observation in the Ming and Qing dynasties could be protected at the original site. After Premier Zhou saw it, he immediately instructed that "this observatory should not be demolished" and also approved a large amount of funds to let the subway take a detour.
In 1995, members of the Appraisal Group of Ancient Chinese Calligraphy and Painting discussed the Catalogue of Ancient Chinese Calligraphy and Painting. From left: Xie Chensheng, Liu Jiu'an, Yang Renkai, Xie Zhiliu, Qi Gong, Xu Bangda, Fu Xinian (file photo)
In 1977, Wang Yeqiu, then director of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, began to organize the formulation of the Law on the Protection of Cultural Relics, and Xie Chensheng, as the main drafter, began to draft this important law. The law took five years to draft and several drafts before it was promulgated and implemented in 1982. The Law on the Protection of Cultural Relics stipulates that "when repairing, maintaining and relocating cultural relics, cultural relics protection units must abide by the principle of not changing the original state of cultural relics", and also proposes that "cities with great historical value and revolutionary significance shall be protected by the State Council as historical and cultural cities". This law has become the fundamental law of the country's cultural relics work after the reform and opening up.
Since then, in the development and construction of the 1980s, there have been serious differences within the cultural relics industry on the protection of cultural relics, and even some people have proposed "raising cultural relics with cultural relics", Xie Chensheng opposed this idea, resisted various pressures, and always adhered to the position of protection as the mainstay. Finally, in November 1987, the State Council issued the Notice on Further Strengthening the Work of Cultural Relics, stressing that "strengthening the protection of cultural relics is the foundation of cultural relics work and the premise for giving play to the role of cultural relics." Without protection, it is impossible to play the role of cultural relics. Xie Chensheng participated in the drafting of this "Notice" throughout the process, and he adhered to the principle of "protection first", so far, the idea of "cultivating cultural relics with cultural relics" has been completely denied from the national level.
Speaking of this, Mr. Xie Chensheng sighed quite emotionally: "Since the founding of New China, our cultural relics protection policy has eliminated interference from all aspects, and the guiding ideology has always insisted on putting protection first, relying on the masses to protect cultural relics, and relying on the legal system to protect cultural relics. In the past 70 years, the correct policy of cultural relics work has not changed, which is not easy! ”
In August 2004, during the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the Dunhuang Research Institute and the 100th anniversary of Chang Shuhong's birth, Xie Chensheng and Fan Jinshi studied the cave protection planning plan on the spot (file photo)
Running and shouting, the blood of Dan heart to protect the ancient city
In 1995, Xie Chensheng retired from his post as a consultant to the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, when he was too old to be diagnosed with cancer. At this time, the protection of China's famous historical and cultural cities was in a hurry, and every demolition order and the fate of every hutong touched his heart and made him unable to stop.
In 2000, in the renovation of dangerous old houses, pieces of old town hutongs disappeared in the roar of bulldozers, which made the cultural protection community feel sad.
"When I was a child, I lived in the small watermill alley of the White Pagoda Temple, and I think back to the courtyard where my family entered at that time, the weeping flower gate, the lilac flower, the vine and rose rack, it was really beautiful!" Elder Xie said, "As a famous historical and cultural city, Beijing is unique in the world, but since the 1990s, due to the wrong way of renovating dangerous old houses, it has demolished and built hutongs and courtyards, bulldozed heads and built buildings, causing considerable damage to the style of the ancient capital." ”
He even believes that to demolish ancient buildings is to demolish history. In 2002, together with 25 veteran experts, including Zheng Xiaoxie, Hou Renzhi, Zhang Kaiji, Wu Liangyong, and Luo Zhewen, he sent a letter to the central leadership, urgently calling for "an immediate end to all demolition and relocation work within the Second Ring Road."
In March 2003, Xie Chensheng twice wrote to the leaders of Beijing Municipality over the protection of the courtyard, writing: "The courtyard is the cell of the ancient city, and if the courtyard is destroyed, the life of the ancient city will disappear." ”
In August of the same year, the impatient Xie Chensheng once again raised his pen and wrote a letter to the central leadership, expressing his concern about the transformation of the old city of Beijing, calling for measures to strictly protect the courtyard as soon as possible and prohibit its demolition, and wrote: "In the future, as long as I have three inches of courage, I will continue to work hard to protect the cultural heritage of the motherland and fight unremittingly against all kinds of undesirable phenomena that endanger the cause of our party." In the end, the national leader made important instructions on the protection of historical and cultural heritage and the style of the ancient capital on Xie Chensheng's letter, and the large-scale demolition was called off.
In the early winter of 2013, Xie Chen was born in an anzhenli home in Beijing
It is precisely for this reason that Beijing has formulated the Beijing Urban Master Plan (2004-2020), which clearly puts forward the overall protection principles of historical and cultural cities and makes specific provisions for the protection of the traditional architectural form of "Hutong-Courtyard". It can be said that it is precisely under the perseverance of Xie Chensheng and a group of cultural protection experts that the transformation of the old city has since embarked on the road of adhering to the government-led and public welfare priority.
At every critical moment in the transformation of the old city, the voice of Elder Xie will be heard. Shan Jixiang, director of the Palace Museum, commented on him: "In the repeated appeals and sealed letters, many cultural relics and famous city blocks have been preserved and passed on to future generations, and many wrong practices have been corrected in time and benefited future generations. ”
In those years, many people who knew and did not know him would ask him for help, and his home telephone had almost become a civilian "cultural security hotline".
In 2013, he was furious when he heard that the 1,500-year-old ancient city of Hancheng in Shaanxi, which was built in the Sui and Tang dynasties, was being destroyed to create a tourist landscape. At a critical juncture, Xie Chensheng urgently requested the Ministry of Construction to stop this destruction. He also wrote to the central leadership, calling for the blind reconstruction of the ancient city to be stopped. In the end, the letter received the attention and approval of the central leadership, which supported his opinion. "It can be said that we have won a big battle." The old gentleman's tone was full of relief.
To this day, Elder Xie often recalls that he was on the battlefield of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, and heard a lyric sung by the motherland condolence group: "What do I defend?" Defend your hometown, defend the old pine tree in front of your hometown, and call it a thousand years green to be evergreen. In his mind, the cultural relics are the "old pine tree" in front of his home, which is his eternal "nostalgia", which makes him willing to devote his life to fighting for it and guarding it.
【Reporter's Note】
The green mountains are there, and the people are not old
Mr. Xie Chensheng once said: "I am obsessed with the protection of cultural relics because I love my country and my nation. ”
If you ask Xie Lao's longevity secret, what is it? This, perhaps, is his answer. In the interview, Xie Lao's student told reporters that when he was unwell, he often touched his chest with his hands, and his expression was also somewhat painful, but whenever someone talked to him about cultural relics, his state would improve significantly, and he seemed to forget the discomfort of his body.
In 2018, due to physical reasons, Xie Lao drastically reduced his work, but the April publication of "Xie Chensheng Dictation: Chronicle of Major Decisions on the Cultural Relics Undertaking in New China" once again brought him into the public eye because of the process of many major decisions in the cultural relics undertaking in New China that he detailed in the book, as well as the profound insights he had explored from the practice of 70 years of cultural relics work.
"He is a true soldier, taking the world as his duty and the great national righteousness as his duty." Professor Yao Yuan of Nanjing University, the author of this book, told reporters that Elder Xie repeatedly instructed him in his narration that it is necessary to clearly explain the connotation of the 16-character policy of "protection first, rescue first, rational utilization, and strengthening management." Elder Xie believes that the important principle of "without protection, it is impossible to play the role of cultural relics" is a scientific summary of the basic experience of China's cultural relics work in the past 70 years, and should be unswervingly adhered to for a long time.
Elder Xie's attitude towards the protection of cultural relics is always so loud. In the interview, the most memorable thing for the reporter is that Elder Xie repeatedly talked about the protection of Beijing City several times, and after almost talking about the memories of each stage, he would mention a sentence about Beijing City, just like the old man who had suffered from wind and rain to the younger generations, and listened to people who were moved by it.
"Beijing City, there is no way to dismantle what has been demolished, and what has not been demolished must not be demolished, it must be preserved." "Beijing's cultural relics cannot be less, and the contours of Beijing cannot be changed." "The only things in Beijing, as many as are left, we must keep as many as we want." ......
From this, I heard his firmness, tenacity and perseverance in the protection of the ancient city, and heard his deep love for the precious cultural heritage of the motherland!
"The country and the mountains have left a trace of victory, and my generation has come back." This is the poem of Meng Haoran, whom Elder Xie loves. How many things have become the past, only those ancient cities and cultural relics preserved through his appeal will eventually precipitate into the precious memory of the motherland's cultural heritage, which will never fade.
Author: Wen Wei Po reporter in Beijing Li Yang
Editor: Jiang Shengxin