Xie Chensheng died, and his 100-year-old life was only in "cultural relics to save the dead"

In 2010, "Mr. Xie Chensheng's Correspondence" was published. The book not only offers suggestions on the macro policies for the protection of cultural relics, but also offers suggestions for the protection of famous cultural cities, historical districts, and cultural relics and monuments; there are needle criticisms of the retrograde trend of the times, and there are also praise and encouragement for scientific decision-making. The picture shows Xie Chensheng (left) and Shan Jixiang (right). Zhou Highlight/Photo

In 1921, a shovel of the yangshao village site unearthed a brilliantly patterned faience pottery piece; in 1922, Xie Chensheng, whose ancestral home was Wujin, Jiangsu Province, was born in Beijing. These are two small things that have little to do with each other, after all, there are too many big things that have happened in those two years.

On May 2, 2022, Xie Chensheng, the first generation of cultural scholars and scholars in New China, passed away at the age of 100. Modern Chinese archaeology is inspired by the discovery of the Yangshao culture, and Xie Chensheng is by far the most complete witness. Even the definition of "cultural relics" was first systematically and clearly expounded in the 1980s when Xie Chensheng was the director of the editorial board of the "Cultural Relics Volume" of the Encyclopedia of China.

When his predecessors have gone down in history, his story is written at the end.

In 1922, Xie Chensheng was born in a lush scholarly mendi: his father graduated from Beijing Normal University, the earliest graduate of Peking University; the historian Xie Guozhen was his cousin, and there were also epigraphers, journalism professors, and famous journalists in the family. When he was a child, Xie Chensheng lived for a while at No. 1, Xiaoshuichuan Hutong, Jinshifang Street, Baita Temple, Beijing, which was the house of Xie Guozhen's family.

Xie Guozhen is more than 20 years older than him, and there is no white Ding in the family, Tang Lan, Rong Geng, Liang Qichao's disciple Liu Pansui, oracle bone expert Sun Haibo... Gradually, Xie Chensheng also liked literature and history and cultural relics. By the way, the original owner of this house was the "Style Lei" family, the Lei family that presided over the royal building for more than 200 years in the Qing Dynasty.

"There are lilacs and rattan racks in the courtyard, and it is really comfortable to live..." In Xie Chensheng's memories, it was a beautiful courtyard full of childhood memories, "But I still yearn for revolution."

Xie Chensheng's two elder brothers joined the underground party organization in 1932 and joined the youth league at the affiliated middle school of Peking University. Since middle school, Xie Chensheng has read books such as Aischi's "Popular Philosophy", and slowly, he wants to go to Yan'an and join the revolution. Hiding from his family, Xie Chensheng and several classmates secretly went on the road, but after several twists and turns, the trip was still stalled in Xi'an.

After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War in 1945, by chance, Xie Chensheng followed Xie Guozhen to Shanghai. At that time, the Nationalist government was cleaning up the loss of wartime cultural relics, and the person in charge was Zheng Zhenduo, and Xie Chensheng began to help Zheng Zhenduo compile the Catalogue of Cultural Relics That Flowed into Japan After the Afternoon of China. The catalogue took 9 months to compile, but in the end, the cultural relics were not asked for.

In 1949, new China wanted to establish a cultural relics bureau, Zheng Zhenduo went north to take up his post, and Xie Chensheng followed him. From then until his death, in addition to his military experience during the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, Xie Chensheng never changed units or left the cultural relics work in his life. A pennant hangs on the wall of his home, which reads, "I only do one thing in my life, and I will protect the ancient city with my heart." This was given to him by the National Cultural Security Volunteer when he was 88 years old, and he recognized this evaluation.

After turning eighty, Xie Chensheng wrote a poem of seven absolutes: "Why should the revolution be in contention with the world? It is difficult to face the storm, and the old man can still be a strong soldier. "Nowadays, perhaps cultural relics are very hot, museums are very hot, and cultural museums have become a trend culture that young people focus on. But the story that happened between Xie Chensheng and cultural relics has always had the color of "salvation" for decades.

In 1968, Beijing built Metro Line 1, just to pass under the observatory located at the Jianguo Gate, and the construction unit planned to demolish the ancient observatory and move the ancient astronomical instruments on the platform to be preserved elsewhere. Such a large project also takes into account the issue of cultural relics placement, but Xie Chensheng is still anxious, and together with several colleagues, he wrote a report to Zhou Enlai, saying that this is not only a matter of preservation of astronomical instruments, but more importantly, there are astronomical records on the same point for hundreds of years, which is the only one in the world. After Premier Zhou received it, he immediately made instructions, not only to let the subway take a detour, but also approved the 2 million yuan required for the detour, which was a huge amount of money at the time.

In 1992, at the Fifth Session of the Seventh National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, Xie Chensheng initiated and united 76 members to submit a proposal entitled "We Should Attach Great Importance to the Protection of Cultural Relics in the Flooded Areas of the Three Gorges Project," suggesting that the protection of cultural relics in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area should be carried out ahead of schedule. During the Three Gorges inspection in 1993, Xie Chensheng also proposed that Baiheliang absolutely could not leave the original site and could not be relocated, and suggested that an underwater museum should be established. Ten years later, on the Yangtze River in Fuling, Chongqing, the Baiheliang Underwater Museum finally started construction, and officially opened to the public on May 18, 2009, on International Museum Day.

"Protection first, rescue first, rational utilization, and strengthening management", the sixteen-character work policy that is well known in the cultural and cultural circles, was actively promoted by Xie Chensheng to be written into the general provisions when the Law on the Protection of Cultural Relics was revised in 2002. At that time, Xie Chensheng participated in the drafting of the mainland's first law on the protection of cultural relics in the cultural field, which had been promulgated for 20 years, and new situations and new problems had emerged in the social environment.

Xie Chensheng once said bluntly: "The destruction of the first 30 years can be said to be mainly due to the problem of understanding, but today, it is mainly a matter of interests. He believes that the economicization of cultural relics value, the industrialization of cultural relics work, the marketization of cultural relics management, and the internationalization of cultural relics property rights were the four erroneous tendencies of cultural relics work at that time.

It is also important to protect cultural heritage and to enhance people's awareness of protection. In July 2005, Xie Chensheng and 11 other experts and scholars jointly sent a letter to national leaders calling for the establishment of a "Cultural Heritage Day". Since 2006, the second Saturday of June has become the "Cultural Heritage Day" of the mainland.

In March 2002, Xie Chensheng went to Lizhuang, the former site of the Construction Society, and said something like this: "Our country's 'Cultural Heritage Day' began with the commemoration of Liang Sicheng, and now the biggest crisis is the protection of famous historical and cultural cities, and We have not yet completed Mr. Liang's task." I had little contact with Mr. Liang, but his ideas influenced me for half a century. The 'Liang Chen Plan' of that year was not realized, but 50 years later, when the State Council approved the overall urban planning of Beijing, it clearly put forward the principle of 'overall protection of the old city', which was a consolation to Liang Sicheng and Mr. Chen Zhanxiang. ”

In fact, Xie Chensheng left his retirement in 1994, and many things were done after he left his retirement. In 2010, he also wrote a letter to Shan Jixiang, then director of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, proposing to compile and publish the "Collection of Cultural Relics Donated by New China" in response to the chaos of cultural relics collection in society, so as to clear the source. The initiative was immediately approved and organized, and 5 years later he saw the first books published.

"Xiao Xie", who followed Zheng Zhenduo to sort out cultural relics, slowly became "Xie Lao", and fewer and fewer people called him by his name. The story of Xie Chensheng is not only his own history of cultural relics protection, but also many names before him - Zheng Zhenduo, Liang Sicheng, Xia Nai, Xie Zhiliu, Zheng Xiaoxie, Su Bai, Luo Zhewen, Zhang Zhongpei...

Xie Chensheng once said, "I have always believed that protecting cultural relics is to protect the country." In the future, more people will follow the attempts and persistence of their predecessors on the road of cultural relics protection.

Resources:

"Xie Chensheng Dictation: A Chronicle of Major Decisions on the Cultural Relics Undertaking in New China", Xie Chensheng and Yao Yuan, Life, Reading, and Xinzhi Sanlian Bookstore, 2018

"Four Erroneous Tendencies in the Current Work of Cultural Relics: A Speech at the Symposium of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress to Commemorate the 30th Anniversary of Promulgation", Xie Chensheng, Scientific Research on Chinese Cultural Relics, 2013-03

"Cultural Relics", in Encyclopedia of China: Cultural Relics and Museums, Encyclopedia of China Publishing House, 1993

Source: China Youth Daily