China News Service, Linfen, September 22, title: Shan Jixiang: From the "gatekeeper" of the Forbidden City to the "gatekeeper" of Chinese culture

　　Author Gao Yuqing

　　Still in a tunic suit, Shan Jixiang opened his Nth speech on Yunqiu Mountain in Linfen, Shanxi.

Nearly seventy years old, he, as always, is on the road of protecting Chinese culture.

　　At the "Second Dahe Civilization Tourism Forum and World Tourism Alliance·Yellow River Dialogue" event held in Linfen, Shanxi, Shan Jixiang delivered a keynote speech on cultural heritage protection as the dean of the Palace Museum.

　　Just a week ago, Shan Jixiang gave an online speech in the "Fangyuange Talks" column of the 2020 China Urban Planning Academic Season.

On the same day, he gave a lecture on "Strengthening Cultural Confidence and Being a Faithful Watcher of Chinese Culture" in Beijing.

On September 18, Shan Jixiang appeared in Shenzhen again, continuing to work for the protection of cultural relics.

　　On Wednesday, this is probably Shan Jixiang's life after retirement.

In fact, this is not Shan Jixiang's first visit to Shanxi.

As early as when he was the director of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage of China, he went to Shanxi Taiyuan, Jinzhong, Xinzhou, Linfen, Yuncheng, Jincheng and other places for research and inspection.

　　"Shanxi's cultural and cultural relic workers have done a lot of work to protect cultural heritage." Shan Jixiang recalled that once, an ancient city wall in Linfen, Shanxi, was damaged due to the surrounding buildings.

"The cultural relics workers and museum workers in Linfen blocked the gates of the construction site, guarded them day and night, protected my city wall, and loved me Linfen. I was very moved." Shan Jixiang said.

Still in a tunic suit, Shan Jixiang opened his Nth speech on Yunqiu Mountain in Linfen, Shanxi.

Nearly seventy years old, he, as always, is on the road of protecting Chinese culture.

Photo by Gao Yuqing

　　Shanxi is a major cultural relic province in China. At present, there are 531 key cultural relics protection units nationwide, ranking first in China in number.

In 2007, Wutai Mountain successfully applied for World Cultural Heritage, and Shanxi Province reached 3 World Cultural Heritage sites.

　　Speaking of the process of applying for a heritage, Shan Jixiang said, “When Wutaishan submitted an application for a heritage, we went to the site to see that all more than 20 sites needed remediation, especially Taihuai Town.” After environmental remediation, including demolition and relocation, The artistic conception of "ancient temple hidden in the deep mountains" is back again with the construction of supporting tourist facilities.

　　"We rescued and protected a large number of cultural relics and cultural heritage." Shan Jixiang said with emotion after carefully reviewing China's application for the Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage in 1985. "In the process, The most valuable thing is that it has changed our attitude towards cultural relics. "This is a process of transformation from the protection of cultural relics in the past to the protection of cultural heritage today.

　　Over the years, Shan Jixiang has traveled almost all over China, rushing to rescue and protect cultural heritage.

He has multiple identities, the most well-known of which is the "President of the Palace Museum".

For seven years, he was called the "master" of the Forbidden City by the outside world, but he himself claimed to be the "gatekeeper".

　　In his retirement days, Shan Jixiang shared the story of the Forbidden City with the people in almost every speech.

He confessed that in 2012, when he was the sixth president of the Forbidden City, the Forbidden City was the largest ancient palace complex in the world, with 99% of the 1.86 million cultural relics in the warehouse.

After 7 years of hard work, today, when the Forbidden City was established for 600 years, the Forbidden City has opened more than 80% of its open areas.

　　According to statistics, in 2019, the number of visitors to the Palace Museum exceeded 19 million.

Shan Jixiang said that while feeling the charm of cultural heritage, people must not only protect cultural heritage resources, but also respect cultural heritage resources. Only dignified cultural heritage can become a positive force for social development.

　　After the speech, there were repeated applause at the scene. After a brief conversation with the guests outside the venue, Shan Jixiang hurriedly left the venue.

The reporter found that at 8 o'clock that evening, he was still in Fuyang, Anhui Province to give a special report entitled "Urban Cultural Construction and Cultural Heritage Protection".

The protection of the cultural heritage of the "gatekeeper" of Chinese culture will continue unfinished... (End)