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On July 18, on the occasion of the 44th session of the World Heritage Committee, the "Protection and Research of Maritime Silk Road Heritage" theme side meeting was held, sponsored by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, jointly organized by the Maritime Silk Road Protection and Joint Declaration of World Cultural Heritage Cities Alliance and the China Cultural Heritage Research Institute, and co-organized by the China Association for the Protection of Monuments and Sites. Song Xinchao, deputy director of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, Jing Feng, Director of the Asia-Pacific Department of the World Heritage Center, and Theresa Patricio, President of the International Council on Monuments and Sites, attended the meeting and delivered speeches. At the meeting, Song Xinchao said that China will continue to strengthen international consultation and cooperation with international organizations such as UNESCO and countries along the Silk Road, jointly do a good job in the protection of the Silk Road, carry out thematic research, explore the strategy of transnational joint heritage application, and jointly protect, inherit and make good use of the precious historical and cultural wealth of all mankind.
Maritime Silk Road
Song Xinchao, deputy director of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, delivered a speech
The Maritime Silk Road, a maritime passage between ancient China and foreign countries for communication, trade and cultural exchanges, also known as the "Maritime Ceramic Road" and the "Maritime Spice Road", was first mentioned in 1913 by the French orientalist Sha Qi. The Maritime Silk Road sprouted in the Shang Zhou Dynasty, developed in the Spring and Autumn Warring States, formed in the Qin and Han Dynasties, flourished in the Tang and Song Dynasties, and transformed into the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and is the oldest known sea route. China's Maritime Silk Road is divided into two routes: the East China Sea Route and the South China Sea Route, of which the South China Sea is mainly centered.
The South China Sea Route, also known as the South China Sea Silk Road, starts mainly from Guangzhou and Quanzhou. In the pre-Qin period, the ancestors of Lingnan opened up a trading circle with ceramics as a link in the South China Sea and even the Coast of the South Pacific and its islands. The Tang Dynasty's "Guangzhou Tonghai YiDao" was the earliest name for the Chinese Maritime Silk Road and was the longest ocean route in the world at that time. During the Ming Dynasty, Zheng He's voyage to the West marked the development of the Maritime Silk Road to its peak. The South China Sea Silk Road passes through China through the Indochina Peninsula and the countries of the South China Sea, through the Indian Ocean, into the Red Sea, to East Africa and Europe, passing through more than 100 countries and regions, becoming a major maritime channel for trade exchanges and cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries, and promoting the common development of countries along the route.
The East China Sea Route, also known as the "Eastern Maritime Silk Road". During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the State of Qi opened a golden passage from the Jiaodong Peninsula to the Liaodong Peninsula, the Korean Peninsula, the Japanese Archipelago and Southeast Asia. During the Tang Dynasty, Sino-Korean-Japanese maritime trade on the Shandong Peninsula and the coasts of Jiangsu and Zhejiang gradually arose. During the Song Dynasty, Ningbo became a major port for Sino-Korean-Japanese maritime trade.
Maritime Ceramics Road Artifacts
The Maritime Silk Road in China mainly consists of three main ports of Guangzhou, Quanzhou and Ningbo and other branch ports. On April 20, 2017, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage officially identified Guangzhou as the leading city for the Maritime Silk Road application, and jointly cooperated with Nanjing, Ningbo, Jiangmen, Yangjiang, Beihai, Fuzhou, Zhangzhou, Putian, Lishui and other cities to carry out the protection and application for the Maritime Silk Road.
At the side-court meeting on the theme of "Protection and Research of the Heritage of the Maritime Silk Road", Song Xinchao pointed out that in his congratulatory letter to the 44th World Heritage Conference, Chinese President Xi Jinping stressed that world cultural and natural heritage is an important achievement in the development and natural evolution of human civilization and an important carrier for promoting exchanges and mutual learning among different civilizations. The Maritime Silk Road is the witness and continuation of the interaction and coexistence of different cultures of mankind. In recent years, China has achieved a series of positive results in the protection, research, display and interpretation of the maritime Silk Road heritage, and international exchanges. He said that China will continue to strengthen international consultation and cooperation with international organizations such as UNESCO and countries along the Silk Road, jointly do a good job in the protection of the Silk Road, carry out thematic research, explore the strategy of transnational joint heritage application, and jointly protect, inherit and make good use of the precious historical and cultural wealth of all mankind.
Jing Feng reviewed UNESCO's 1987 project "The Road to Dialogue: A Holistic Study of the Silk Roads" and the series of silk road heritage applications promoted by this opportunity. It is the result of decades of coordination and joint protection, setting a viable precedent. He quoted Mandela's famous quote that "until things work out, everything always seems impossible" and encouraged countries to continue to exchange and cooperate within the framework of the Silk Road. He also introduced the Chinese edition of the latest World Heritage magazine Silk Road issue.
Theresa Patricio, President of the International Council on Monuments and Sites, delivered a speech
Theresa Patricio, President of the International Council on Monuments and Sites, said that the maritime Silk Road application needs to develop a time and space framework, strengthen dialogue, respect and understanding, set up an overall strategy, define the contribution of each heritage site to the outstanding universal value and its relationship with each other, and study the relationship between heritage sites in the process of change. She noted that today's meeting had taken a very important first step and that the study of the Sea Silk Framework should be further strengthened in the future, and that the International Council on Monuments and Sites was willing to provide technical support and capacity-building assistance to contribute to the construction of a more inclusive and sustainable World Heritage Convention.
Chai Xiaoming, president of the China Academy of Cultural Heritage, delivered a speech
Chai Xiaoming, president of the China Academy of Cultural Heritage, said in his speech that the China Cultural Heritage Research Institute, as the main professional support institution for the protection of Chinese historical sites on the Maritime Silk Road, will continue to serve well, connect with provinces, cities and heritage sites under the guidance of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, provide professional technical support for the protection and research of the Maritime Silk Road, tell the Chinese story well, and make positive contributions to building a community with a shared future for mankind.
Tim Williams, Professor of University College London, Liu Xiaoming, Chief Engineer of Guangzhou Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Film and Tourism, and Tim Winter, Professor of the University of Western Australia, made keynote speeches respectively.
Tim Williams, Professor at University College London, spoke
Tim Williams reviewed the concepts of the Silk Road and the Maritime Silk Road under the World Heritage System under the Title of "Key Work on the Characteristics of the Maritime Silk Road and the Key Work of Heritage Protection", and introduced the general discussion of the spatial and temporal framework, route characteristics, heritage types and values of the Maritime Silk Road. He emphasized the social context of the Hai Silk Heritage, the dynamic composition of the heritage, the relationship between heritage and people, the complexity of historical influences and the close connection with contemporary society, and proposed to expand the horizon and focus on anthropological, religious and nautical technology research from the perspective of regional interaction, with the port as the center.
Liu Xiaoming, chief engineer of Guangzhou Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Film and Tourism, delivered a speech
Liu Xiaoming introduced the research process of the protection of the Chinese part of the Maritime Silk Road, the achievements of the Maritime Silk City Alliance in recent years, and the research on the historical sites of the China Maritime Silk Road, with Guangzhou as the lead city, with Guangzhou as the leading city, and introduced the research on the historical sites of the Maritime Silk Road in China. He said that Guangzhou will resolutely implement the national "Belt and Road" initiative and the new concept of the construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, seize the development opportunities, continue to do a good job in the protection of the cultural heritage of the Maritime Silk Road, and strengthen cooperation with the regions along the Maritime Silk Road, promote the cross-border joint application of the Maritime Silk Road, and give play to the positive role of cultural heritage protection in social and economic sustainable development, so as to achieve the beautiful vision of peace, sharing, exchange and mutual benefit.
The anchorage on the Huangpu River, Guangzhou was the starting point of the most important Maritime Silk Road during the Qing Dynasty.
Professor Tim Winter of the University of Western Australia spoke
Tim Winter, titled "Foreign Policy of Maritime Heritage: The History of Connectivity", explores the role of the Maritime Silk Road in the connection and circulation of major cultural systems from the perspective of maritime heritage, and believes that this connectivity and circulation is not only limited to goods, but also includes cultural, technological and ideological concepts, which not only has rich historical and cultural value, but also provides an important resource for future exchanges and interactions between countries. He suggested that China use the Belt and Road Initiative as an opportunity to provide more opportunities for cooperation and play a leading role.
Subsequently, international experts such as Lee And Chung (South Korea), Jun Kimura (Japan), nia naelul hasanah ridwan (Indonesia), shikha jain (India) and other international experts conducted dialogues on the protection and research of the Maritime Silk Road, and online and offline participants exchanged thoughts on the protection and utilization of the Maritime Silk Road heritage.
Experts in the comment exchange session made speeches
According to the organizers, this side meeting is an important international academic exchange activity in the field of protection and research of the Maritime Silk Road. At about the same time five years ago, during the 40th World Heritage Conference in Istanbul, Turkey, China's elaborately prepared Maritime Silk Road side meeting was not held due to the impact of an attempted coup d'état there. "In the past five years, we have had a deeper and more personal reflection on the historical value and international cooperation of the Sea Silk Road. Especially in today's common face of the epidemic, countries work together to promote the joint research and protection of transnational heritage, which is conducive to realizing a community with a shared future for mankind on a larger scale. The protection and research of the Maritime Silk Road is not only China's mission, but also the common cause of the countries along the Maritime Silk Road. Under the UNESCO Silk Road Heritage Framework System, China will work with other countries to carry out joint work under the international multilateral framework to promote the protection of the Heritage of the Silk Road and build a rich and colorful cultural heritage exchange and cooperation system. It is reported that more than 50 people from the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, the Chinese Cultural Heritage Research Institute, the China Association for the Protection of Monuments and Sites, as well as representatives of Guangzhou, Fuzhou, Nanjing, Ningbo, Macao and other cities of the Silk Road Alliance attended the meeting offline at the Fuzhou Strait Convention and Exhibition Center. Representatives of the national committees of the International Council on Monuments and Sites, representatives of countries along the Silk Road, and experts from research related to the Silk Road at home and abroad attended the meeting online. In order to promote the Maritime Silk Road, a photo exhibition of the Maritime Silk Heritage was also held at the venue to introduce the heritage profile of the cities of the Maritime Silk Alliance.
(Part of this article is a synthesis of the article "The 44th World Heritage Conference "The Protection and Research of the Maritime Silk Road Heritage" Theme Conference will be held in Fuzhou" published by the Voice of World Heritage.) ）
Editor-in-Charge: Li Mei
Proofreader: Shi Gong