◆ Several Opinions on Strengthening the Reform of the Protection and Utilization of Cultural Relics and the 14th Five-Year Plan for the Protection and Scientific and Technological Innovation of Cultural Relics have been issued successively, providing policy guidance for the protection and utilization of cultural relics in the new era.
◆ With the high-quality construction of the national cultural park, the historical and cultural symbols of Chinese civilization are becoming clearer. Nowadays, people wander in the National Cultural Park, feel the greatness of civilization, the shock of history, and experience the deep flow of still water and the sea of rivers.
◆ In July 2019, the ruins of Liangzhu Ancient City were inscribed on the World Heritage List. In July 2021, the Great Wall was awarded as a model case of World Heritage protection and management by the World Heritage Committee... These "highlight moments" are vivid examples of China's great progress in promoting the protection of historical and cultural heritage in the new era.
◆ The appearance of ancient China has been depicted more and more clearly in archaeological excavations, and the role of archaeological work in demonstrating Chinese civilization and spreading Chinese culture has been continuously highlighted.
◆ A handful of rice husks reveals the secret of being sunk underwater for a long time: Scientists judge the approximate age of rice husks put into porcelain bottles by carbon dating and ancient plant DNA research on the rice husks in the porcelain bottles in the ship, and verify the "age" of the ancient ship No. 2 at the mouth of the Yangtze River.
◆ He Zun, who engraved the word "China" in his "heart", the Changxin Palace lamp that embodies the advanced environmental awareness of the ancients, and the Jinou Yonggu cup that carries the meaning of "May the government be popular, and pray for the eternal stability of the rivers and mountains"... From January 26 to May 4, 2022, in the exhibition hall of the Wenhua Hall of the Palace Museum, people explored the vitality and vigorous power of ancient civilizations in the exhibition "Why China".
China has a long history and a broad civilization.
Historical and cultural heritage carries the genes and bloodline of the Chinese nation, and belongs not only to our generation, but also to future generations. The report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China pointed out: "Strengthen the protection of cultural relics and cultural heritage, strengthen the protection and inheritance of history and culture in urban and rural construction, and build and make good use of national cultural parks." ”
On May 27, 2022, Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, President of the People's Republic of China, and Chairman of the Central Military Commission, presided over the 39th collective study of the Politburo of the CPC Central Committee, emphasizing that cultural relics and cultural heritage carry the genes and bloodlines of the Chinese nation and are non-renewable and irreplaceable resources of China's excellent civilization. It is necessary to bring more cultural relics and cultural heritage to life and create a strong social atmosphere for inheriting Chinese civilization. It is necessary to actively promote the protection and utilization of cultural relics and the protection and inheritance of cultural heritage, tap the multiple values of cultural relics and cultural heritage, and disseminate more value symbols and cultural products that carry Chinese culture and Chinese spirit.
In July 2017, Gulangyu Island was inscribed on the World Heritage List.
General Secretary Xi Jinping made an important instruction: "The purpose of applying for the heritage is to better protect and utilize, we must sum up successful experience, learn from international concepts, improve long-term mechanisms, carefully protect the cultural heritage left by the ancestors, and better pass on the historical context." ”
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core has stood in a new historical position, cared about and promoted the protection and utilization of cultural heritage from the strategic perspective of retaining cultural roots and preserving the soul of the nation, and made a series of important instructions and comprehensive arrangements. The vast number of cultural relics workers are upright and innovative, pioneering and enterprising, and explore the road of protection and utilization of cultural relics that conforms to the national conditions of the mainland.
As of the end of 2021, The mainland has a total of 108 million state-owned movable cultural relics (sets), 767,000 immovable cultural relics, 5,058 national key cultural relics protection units, and 6,183 registered museums; there are more than 100,000 representative items of intangible cultural heritage at all levels, including 1,557 national representative items of intangible cultural heritage; more than 90,000 representative inheritors at all levels, including 3,062 representative inheritors of national intangible cultural heritage; 13,026 national lists of precious ancient books, 203 national key protection units of ancient books; and 56 world heritage items, ranking second in the world. As of the end of November 2022, 43 items have been inscribed on UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage List and List, ranking first in the world...
Across time and space, the brilliant light of civilization inspires deeper and more lasting strength in the hearts of hundreds of millions of Chinese sons and daughters, illuminating the road to national rejuvenation.
[Protection: Protection first, build a solid bottom line]
The protection of cultural relics is beneficial in the present and in the future.
Cultural relics carry splendid civilization, inherit history and culture, and maintain the national spirit, which is a precious legacy left to us by our ancestors and provides profound nourishment for strengthening the construction of socialist spiritual civilization.
In 2022, the National Cultural Relics Work Conference was held, which established the new era cultural relics work policy of "protection first, strengthening management, excavating value, effective use, and making cultural relics come alive". Li Qun, vice minister of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and director of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, said: "This declares a new orientation, new mission and new responsibility for cultural relics work. ”
Over the past decade, the mainland has actively promoted the protection of cultural relics and handed over a brilliant answer.
This is a top-level design that is constantly perfecting -
Several Opinions on Strengthening the Reform of the Protection and Utilization of Cultural Relics and the 14th Five-Year Plan for the Protection and Scientific and Technological Innovation of Cultural Relics have been issued successively, providing policy guidance for the protection and utilization of cultural relics in the new era.
Documents such as the Opinions on the Implementation of the Project for the Protection and Utilization of Revolutionary Cultural Relics (2018-2022) and the 14th Five-Year Plan for the Protection and Utilization of Revolutionary Cultural Relics have established a task book and road map for strengthening the work of revolutionary cultural relics in the new era;
Documents such as "Guiding Opinions on Strengthening the Protection and Utilization of Cave Temples" and "Planning for the Protection and Utilization of Yellow River Cultural Relics" have been issued to provide specific guidance for the protection of relevant cultural relics...
The establishment of a system with a clearer structure and clearer responsibilities will escort the protection of cultural and natural heritage.
This is a clearer cultural relics background -
Complete the first national census of movable cultural relics and special surveys of the Great Wall and cave temples;
The total length of the Great Wall was measured to 21,196.18 kilometers, and the distribution and preservation status of 2,155 cave temples and 3,831 cliff statues were clarified.
Establish a national directory of 26,416 provincial-level cultural relics protection units, and publish the first batch of 1,658 lists of ancient famous inscriptions;
Build a national database of movable cultural relics census and strengthen the collection and management of museum collections;
Implement the project of protection and restoration of precious cultural relics in state-owned collections, and complete the restoration and protection of 62,000 pieces/sets of precious cultural relics in state-owned collections during the "13th Five-Year Plan" period...
Comprehensively survey the rich family background, effectively improve the comprehensiveness and accuracy of the basic data of cultural relics nationwide.
This is an increasingly solid security barrier –
The only two physical seals of the Bada Mountain Man have been found, the exquisite lacquered wood artifacts restored by the first batch of cultural protection in the tomb of Liu He, the Marquis of Haidu, and the inscribed weapons unearthed from the tomb of the suspected descendants of King Goujian... On November 16, 2022, "Gandi Treasures 2022 - Jiangxi Cultural Relics Achievements in the New Era and Jiangxi Province's Achievements in Combating Cultural Relics Crimes" was launched at the Jiangxi Provincial Museum, becoming a vivid epitome of the mainland's continuous construction of a solid cultural relics safety protection barrier.
In recent years, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, together with the Ministry of Public Security, has continued to carry out special operations to combat cultural relics crimes, strictly investigating and strictly handling major cultural relics cases such as the Ming Tombs, the Eastern Tombs of the Qing Dynasty, the Yin Wu Site, and the Qian Yong Tomb, and since the special operation in 2020, more than 4,200 cases have been detected, more than 9,700 criminal suspects have been arrested, and 93,000 pieces of cultural relics have been recovered;
A series of measures to continuously improve the overall level of cultural relics safety.
This is a major project of rescuing and resurrecting -
From the main city of Shijiazhuang City, go north, cross the turquoise Tuotuo River, and you can see the majestic South City Gate of Zhengding Ancient City.
Climb the tower to overlook, the ancient street and ancient buildings, ancient temples and towers, the ancient charm of the ancient city, the central axis of the ancient city, the ancient building contour, and the city skyline at a glance. Thanks to the restoration and upgrading project of the ancient city implemented in recent years, a large number of "national security" cultural relics and monuments have stood out from the houses and achieved "dignified resurrection".
From the ancient city of Zhengding, the early buildings of southern Shanxi, to the Mogao Grottoes, Chengde Mountain Resort and surrounding temples, and then to the Yan'an Revolutionary Site Group, a large number of major cultural relics protection projects have been completed one after another. Over the past decade, the mainland has effectively improved the protection of cultural relics damaged by major natural disasters such as earthquakes, typhoons and floods through the rescue and protection of cultural relics damaged by major natural disasters such as earthquakes, typhoons and floods, and the implementation and solid promotion of the pilot project of preventive protection of cultural relics buildings.
This is a cultural park that awakens memories -
Jiangsu, the province with the longest river channel, the largest number of cities flowing through the Grand Canal, and the largest number of sites listed as world cultural heritage, is also the key construction area of the Grand Canal National Cultural Park.
The 4th Grand Canal Cultural Tourism Expo, Canal City Cultural Tourism Boutique Exhibition, Canal Intangible Cultural Heritage Exhibition, Canal Digital Cultural Tourism Industry Exhibition, etc. were launched in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province. Among them, 51 intangible cultural heritage items from eight provinces (cities) along the Grand Canal were unveiled at the Canal Intangible Cultural Heritage Exhibition (taken on September 23, 2022) Courtesy of the Department of Culture and Tourism of Jiangsu Province
"The Grand Canal is a rich cultural heritage. Jade carvings with knives as pens and jade as paper are one of the essences of Yangzhou canal culture..."In the integrated classroom of "Canal Ideology and Politics" of Yangzhou Meiling Middle School, teachers of different disciplines take "continuing the cultural bloodline" as the theme and take the Yangzhou jade culture that thrives because of the canal as a clue, and take turns to teach.
In 2022, the Grand Canal Research Project (Phase I) passed the quality credit recognition of Jiangsu Lifelong Education Credit Bank Management Center, and became a non-academic education course open to basic education; The digital cloud platform of the Grand Canal National Cultural Park was launched and the "Universiade Youth" module was launched to initially establish the knowledge map of canal culture and education... The water of the thousand-year-old canal is nourishing the sons and daughters of China in a new way.
In October 2020, the Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China made strategic arrangements for cultural construction during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, clearly proposing the construction of national cultural parks such as the Great Wall, the Grand Canal, the Long March, and the Yellow River; In January 2022, the Leading Group for the Construction of National Cultural Park issued a notice to deploy and start the construction of the Yangtze River National Cultural Park.
With the high-quality construction of the national cultural park, the historical and cultural symbols of Chinese civilization have become increasingly clear. Nowadays, people wander in the National Cultural Park, feel the greatness of civilization, the shock of history, and experience the deep flow of still water and the sea of rivers.
This is the common heritage of all mankind -
On the evening of July 25, 2021, Fuzhou, Fujian. With the sound of the hammer falling at the 44th session of the World Heritage Conference, "Quanzhou: The World Ocean Trade Center of Song and Yuan China" officially became the 56th World Heritage Site in China.
East and West Pagoda of Kaiyuan Temple in Quanzhou, Fujian Province (taken on July 8, 2021) Photo by Song Weiwei/This magazine
"The protection of Quanzhou's series of heritage takes the inheritance of historical and cultural values as the goal, resolutely implements the protection principle of minimum intervention and research first, guides and encourages the joint participation of archaeology, architecture, cultural relics protection, structural materials and other disciplines, implements a number of cultural relics protection projects, implements a variety of protection systems against lightning, fire and theft, establishes an early warning and emergency response mechanism for natural disasters such as typhoons and floods, and properly protects the outstanding universal value and authenticity of monuments and sites." Li Qun said.
Many pragmatic measures have been effective. In July 2019, the ruins of Liangzhu Ancient City were inscribed on the World Heritage List. In July 2021, the Great Wall was awarded as a model case of World Heritage protection and management by the World Heritage Committee... These "highlight moments" are vivid examples of China's great progress in promoting the protection of historical and cultural heritage in the new era.
In the Inner Mongolia Museum "Jade See Civilization - Red Mountain · Exhibits on display at the Liangzhu Cultural Relics Exhibition (taken on August 28, 2022) Photo by Li Zhipeng / This magazine
Pooling the strength and wisdom of all parties, the vitality of cultural heritage protection in the new era has been continuously bursting out, the connotation has become increasingly rich, and it has entered a new stage of high-quality development.
[Continued: Inheritance is known, explore the unknown]
The river flows endlessly.
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core has attached great importance to archaeological work, made special arrangements for the construction of archaeology with Chinese characteristics, Chinese style and Chinese style, made great progress in mainland archaeology, empowered the cause of cultural relics through scientific and technological innovation, implemented the project of cultural relics talent construction in depth, and highlighted the recourse work.
——Excavating and interpreting the rich connotation of cultural heritage, sharing and inheriting the excellent traditions of Chinese civilization, extending the historical axis of Chinese archaeology, and enhancing historical self-confidence.
In the past ten years, the mainland has promoted more than 8,800 archaeological excavation projects, achieved important results in the archaeology of sites such as Erlitou, Shiyan, Liangzhu and Sanxingdui, and made important progress in frontier archaeology in Xinjiang, Tibet and other places. Underwater archaeology has been steadily advanced, and the investigation of underwater cultural heritage in the South China Sea, East China Sea, Huangbohai Sea and key inland water areas has been organized and implemented, deep-sea archaeology in the Xisha Sea area has exceeded 2,500 meters, the archaeological excavation of the "Nanhai I" shipwreck has exceeded 182,000 pieces/sets, and underwater archaeology such as "Zhiyuan Ship", "Jingyuan Ship" and "Dingyuan Ship" has been carried out one after another. 55 national archaeological site parks were completed and opened, and 150 key sites during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period were identified. Scientific and technological archaeology, foreign-related archaeology, and public archaeology are developing rapidly.
The "Archaeological China" major project further lifts the fog of early Chinese civilization, and the "Chinese Civilization Source Exploration Project" verifies the history of Chinese civilization for more than 5,000 years with detailed archaeological data. The face of ancient China has been depicted more and more clearly in archaeological excavations, and the role of archaeological work in demonstrating Chinese civilization and spreading Chinese culture has been continuously highlighted.
——With advanced technology and cutting-edge forces, we will study ancient times and show distant civilizations.
On November 21, 2022, using the world's first "arc-shaped beam non-contact cultural relics overall migration technology", the largest wooden shipwreck found in underwater archaeology in mainland China, the Yangtze River Estuary No. 2 ancient ship, was successfully salvaged in the waters of the Yangtze River Estuary.
A handful of rice husks reveals the secret of being sunk underwater for a long time: Scientists have judged the approximate age of the rice husks in the porcelain bottles and verified the "age" of the ancient ship No. 2 at the mouth of the Yangtze River by dating the rice husks in the porcelain bottles and ancient plant DNA studies.
In the past ten years, the interdisciplinary and cross-field cooperation in mainland archaeology has been continuously deepened, and technical solutions in the protection of ancient murals, ceramic painted cultural relics, water-saturated lacquered woodware protection, and environmental monitoring of cultural relics in the collection have entered the first echelon of the world.
Breakthroughs have been made in non-destructive extraction of archaeological sites and rapid identification of relic traces, and laboratory archaeological technologies such as carbon dating measurement, DNA analysis, and isotope analysis have become increasingly mature.
A number of proprietary equipment such as intelligent display cabinets, archaeological cabins, and mobile laboratories for cultural relics protection have impressed international counterparts... Scientific and technological innovation is becoming an inexhaustible driving force to support the development of cultural relics.
——The Chinese culture has been passed down from generation to generation, cultural relics talents continue to gather, and archaeology continues to continue.
He Yunao, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and director of the Institute of Cultural and Natural Heritage of Nanjing University, once shared a data: around 2003, there were only a dozen students applying for the archaeology major of Nanjing University, and by 2021, this number had grown to hundreds.
Over the past decade, the mainland has promoted the implementation of the project of building cultural relics talents in the new era, strengthened the education and training of cultural relics talents, improved the system and mechanism for the development of cultural relics talents, continuously optimized the talent structure, greatly expanded the scale and quantity, and significantly improved the quality and ability.
In 2022, the Catalogue of Postgraduate Education Disciplines (2022), deliberated and approved by the 37th meeting of the Academic Degrees Committee of the State Council, added the professional degree category of "cultural relics" to the interdisciplinary category to provide disciplinary professional support for the cultivation of high-level talents in cultural relics protection. In the same year, the National Archaeological Talent Revitalization Program became a national-level talent project, and the index of doctoral students in archaeology increased by 57%.
In October 2021, the first professional skill standard in the cultural relics industry, the National Occupational Skill Standard for Cultural Relics Conservators, was promulgated, providing a guarantee for the construction of the talent team for cultural relics restoration, with remarkable achievements in the construction of the talent team and a more solid foundation for the development of the cultural relics industry.
Looking at the land of Shenzhou, generations of archaeologists have worked hard in the field, using solid archaeological data to deeply engrave cultural self-confidence on the cornerstone of forging the bloodline of the nation, so that the long-standing inheritance is no longer a yellowing memory, and the ancient civilization has regained its brilliant style.
-- The return of national treasures has witnessed national development and national rejuvenation, and written a new chapter in the protection of cultural relics.
"'Horse Head' returns to the garden!" In December 2020, the bronze statue of Ma Shou was returned to its hometown after 160 years of absence: the Old Summer Palace.
Italy returned 796 pieces of cultural relics and artworks, Zeng Burke's bronze artifacts were recovered across the sea and returned to China, the Tianlongshan Grottoes "Lord Buddha Head on the North Wall of Cave 8" returned to his homeland from Japan, and China signed bilateral agreements or memorandums of understanding with the United States, Switzerland, Romania, Argentina and other countries to prevent theft, excavation and illegal entry and exit of cultural relics... In the past ten years, more than 1,800 pieces / sets of lost cultural relics have been returned to the motherland.
More and more "national treasures" are on the way home, and breakthroughs have been made in the recovery and return of cultural relics lost overseas.
【Promotion: Innovation and Creation, Accumulating Strength】
In the spring of 2022, begonia bloom in the Forbidden City.
He Zun, who engraved the word "China" in his "heart", the Changxin Palace lamp that embodies the advanced environmental awareness of the ancients, and the golden ou yonggu cup that carries the meaning of "may the government be popular, and pray for the eternal stability of the rivers and mountains"... From January 26 to May 4, 2022, in the exhibition hall of the Wenhua Hall of the Palace Museum, people explored the vitality and vigorous power of ancient civilizations in the exhibition "Why China".
In the long course of history, the Chinese nation has formed a great national spirit and excellent traditional culture, which is the cultural gene of the Chinese nation that is endlessly and prosperous, and is also the spiritual force for realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
Data show that in 2021, the total number of registered museums in the mainland has reached 6,183, and 5,605 museums across the country have achieved free opening. In recent years, the number of museum exhibitions has remained above 20,000 per year, and the number of museum visitors has increased from 560 million in 2012 to more than 1.2 billion in 2019; in 2022, museums around the world will launch more than 2,000 cloud exhibition projects and cloud education activities, cloud exhibition, cloud education, cloud live broadcast and other online communication methods, so that hundreds of millions of visitors can share the achievements of museum development without leaving home...
Revisiting the wisdom accumulated in history, people are proud of Chinese civilization and accumulate great strength to advance towards national rejuvenation.
Today, cultural heritage is entering people's spiritual lives in a more vivid way.
"Vowing to win the 'Green Horse'", "After waiting for more than 20 days, it finally arrived"... In the summer of 2022, the Gansu Provincial Museum's cultural and creative product, the copper galloping horse plush toy "Ma Tao Feiyan", became a hit, selling about 20,000 pieces in a week, and both online and offline stores were sold out.
Wang Hairou, marketing director of the Cultural and Creative Center of Gansu Provincial Museum, said that the design team of "Ma Tao Feiyan" was bold and creative while retaining the characteristics of the prototype of the cultural relics, and made cartoonish and ugly humor treatment of the image of the front of the copper galloping horse, which was in line with the aesthetic taste of young people and narrowed the distance between cultural relics and the public.
The ingenious archaeological blind box, the cultural and creative ice cream that people are reluctant to taste, the well-made "Forbidden City Calendar"... The depth and breadth of cooperation between various market entities and museums have gradually increased, expanding from the initial exhibition design and construction to museum planning and operation, education and research, media communication, cultural and creative development, marketing and promotion, etc., laying the foundation for meeting the public's diversified and high-quality cultural needs.
Duan Xiaoming, president of Hunan Museum, believes that behind the popularity of the museum's cultural and creative products, it reflects the people's yearning for a better life, the public's recognition of China's excellent traditional culture, and also reflects the orderly opening of museum resources, making cultural relics resources a source of inspiration for innovation and creation in many industries, serving economic and social development.
On the night of Chinese New Year's Eve in 2022, "Only This Green Green" condenses thousands of miles of rivers and mountains, restores the famous paintings of the Northern Song Dynasty, and amazes Shenzhou with a dance; In the hit TV series "Menghualu", the intangible cultural heritage tea opera shined and was praised by countless audiences as "more perfect than coffee latte"; Based on Chinese myths and legends and folk tales, the domestic animation "Big Fish and Begonia" and "Journey to the West: The Return of the Great Sage" have achieved a double harvest at the box office and word of mouth... The Chinese cultural context, which has lasted for more than 5,000 years, has merged into the surging forward torrent of the new era, and the influence of excellent traditional culture has formed a trend of breaking the circle.
"I would like to give out a bag of gold and only want to see Khiva." In this old Central Asian proverb, the charm of the ancient city of Khiva in southwestern Uzbekistan is on display. As the first World Heritage Site in Uzbekistan, the city is home to dozens of protected historical and cultural sites, some of which have fallen into disrepair.
In 2014, Ukraine and China decided to cooperate in the protection and restoration of the ancient city of Khiva, focusing on the restoration and renovation of the Amir Tula Madrasa and the Hassan Murad Kushbegi Mosque and the surrounding environment in the ancient city. Adhering to the principles and concepts of international cultural heritage protection, Chinese experts do their best to preserve the original state and historical information of cultural relics in the restoration process, and use local traditional crafts and materials as much as possible.
Time is like water, the historical style of the ancient city of Khiva has been revitalized, inheriting the good story of the Sino-Wuxi Silk Road civilization exchange that has lasted for thousands of years.
Today's China is not only the China of China, but also the China of Asia and the China of the world. In the past ten years, more than 500 cultural relics from the mainland have been exhibited in and out of the country, and 44 joint archaeological projects have been implemented in 24 countries including Saudi Arabia.
In China in the new era, the ancient cultural context is carried forward in the continuous inheritance, and the Chinese civilization has demonstrated its strong vitality in the development of the times, stimulated the great cultural self-confidence of the Chinese people, and illuminated the magnificent journey of national rejuvenation.
Published in Outlook, Issue 3, 2023
Text| "Outlook" Newsweek reporter Shi Yucen, Wang Peng, Xu Zhuang
Cultural Heritage Media | Copywriting Tang Duoduo; Visual Design Yu Qianhuan
Source: The Outlook