Chinanews.com, Changzhi, May 29th, title: The "Umbrella Man" of Ancient Buildings under the Taihang Mountains
Author Wu Qiong
Visiting, inspecting, preaching about cultural relics protection... There is such a group of people in Luzhou District, Changzhi City, Shanxi Province. They often climb mountains and ridges, walk on the road to inspect county-level cultural relics protection units, and measure and measure the ancient buildings that need to be protected. It is a cultural protection volunteer.
Changzhi City is located in the southeast of Shanxi, surrounded by Taihang Mountains and Taiyue Mountains, and scattered with more than 3,500 ancient buildings.
"During our visit, we went to many counties and districts in Changzhi City and found that there were a large number of ancient buildings in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Due to various reasons, some ancient buildings were unattended and damaged more severely. At that time, I thought about how to conduct minimal intervention. Under the protection of cultural relics.” He Yanjun, the initiator of the Changzhi Civilization Watch Cultural Relics Protection Volunteer Service Center, told reporters that in April 2019, they launched the “Umbrella Rescue Operation” (referred to as the “Umbrella” Operation), and time "race".
The so-called "Umbrella" means that by not damaging the main body of the ancient building, adding a roof or adding a support structure to reduce the damage to the building caused by rain, strong wind and other weather, extend the life of the ancient building, and strive for more waiting for repairs time.
Since the launch of the "Umbrella" operation, cultural preservation volunteers, together with the local cultural relics bureau, have built colored steel tiles for protection of more than 30 ancient rural buildings.
Photo courtesy of He Yanjun
"Each inspection, we will first check the preservation status of ancient buildings, collect relevant historical information, and preach in the village, so that the villagers can truly understand the local historical knowledge of ancient buildings." He Yanjun said, during the "Umbrella" operation, volunteers Together with local cultural relics bureaus and other units, they will protect ancient buildings that are in urgent need of rescue by mobilizing social forces and mobilizing villagers’ enthusiasm for self-protection of cultural heritage.
The Longwang Temple in Cuijiazhuang Village, Pingshun County, Changzhi City has a history of five to six hundred years.
Due to years of disrepair, the back wall and side gable wall of the building showed signs of rain leakage in many places. During the rainy season, rainwater flows into the hall along the broken eaves.
In order to preserve the safety of ancient buildings, cultural preservation volunteers, based on the situation of the Dragon King Temple, jointly launched a fundraising proposal with the local Cultural Relics Bureau and the Cuijiazhuang Village Committee to build colored steel tiles, extend the life span of ancient buildings, and retain this precious cultural heritage.
Since the launch of the "Umbrella" operation, they have built colored steel tiles for protection of more than 30 ancient rural buildings.
"I think the greatest significance of the'Umbrella' operation is not just to build colored steel tiles, but to guide the villagers to protect the ancient buildings on their own." He Yanjun said, by telling the villagers about the local architectural culture, history and culture of ancient buildings. Humanistic culture stimulates villagers’ awareness of protection and makes cultural relics "live".
Today, He Yanjun and the volunteers' footprints extend from Changzhi City to the southeast of Shanxi.
"In recent years, we have carried out research and education for children around cultural relics protection, so that children can understand their hometown and inherit Chinese civilization." He Yanjun said that in the next step, the center plans to hold a photography contest for cultural protection staff to attract more attention to ancient architecture. Happening.
In the journey of cultural relic protection, their footsteps never stop.
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