Traveling through more than 2,500 years and winding nearly 3,200 kilometers, it is not only a water vein for moisturizing the people, but also a context for inheriting history.
[Glow, Cultural Heritage · Wu] The Grand Canal: There are still many stories to tell future generations
Our reporter Tao Wen Wu Fan
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The Grand Canal, which has been flowing for more than 2,000 years, is revived and rejuvenated today.
A few days ago, the reporter learned at the construction site of the Beijing Grand Canal Museum that the main structure of the Grand Canal Museum, located in the sub-center of Beijing, has been capped earlier.
The roof of the main building shaped like a sail and the shared hall like a wooden boat complement each other with the ancient canal flowing quietly not far away. It seems that a "canal boat" full of historical and cultural knowledge is about to set sail.
At the same time, the Capital Museum collects exhibits related to the history and culture of the Grand Canal and Beijing's history and culture from all over the world.
The "Call for Posts" also indicated that it is expected that by the end of next year, the East Pavilion of the Shoubo Museum, that is, the Beijing Grand Canal Museum, will make a wonderful debut.
"As a product of the wisdom and sweat of the Chinese nation, the Grand Canal needs to be further explored, protected, inherited, and promoted, and the story of the Grand Canal needs to be told well. It is still necessary to strengthen the archaeological work of the Grand Canal in various places and fully explore the unique charm of the canal culture in various places. "He Yunao, director of the Institute of Cultural and Natural Heritage of Nanjing University, said in an interview with a reporter from "Workers Daily".
From Caoyun Aorta to Canal Cultural Belt
As the artificial canal with the earliest construction time, the longest use and the largest spatial span in the world, in May 2013, the Grand Canal was announced as the seventh batch of national key cultural relics protection units.
In June 2014, the Grand Canal of China, including the Sui and Tang Dynasty Grand Canal, the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal and the East Zhejiang Canal, was included in the World Heritage List.
"In different historical periods, the state and main functions of the Grand Canal are different." He Yunao said that in the period of agricultural civilization, the main function of the canal was to transport and provide production and living water for people on both sides of the strait. politics.
With the rise of marine transportation and railway transportation, the transportation function of the Grand Canal has weakened, and some river sections have even been abandoned.
In recent years, the cultural value and ecological value of the Grand Canal, including the transportation value, have been recognized and valued again by people.
The staff of Tongzhou District Culture and Tourism Bureau said that Beijing is located at the northernmost end of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, where the canal water that has been flowing for thousands of years has gathered here, condensing the profound cultural heritage of the canal.
In recent years, in order to strengthen the protection of the cultural heritage of the canal, the city's sub-center has built three major buildings along the canal, namely a museum, a library and a theater. , Youshengjiao Temple and other cultural relics buildings have undergone key renovations, forming a shining cultural landmark of the Grand Canal.
In June last year, the 40-kilometer Beijing section of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal was opened to tourism; in June this year, the Beijing-Hebei section of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal was opened to navigation.
The Grand Canal Forest Park built along the river has also become a resort for citizens to enjoy flowers and summer vacations.
"Looking at the wide and green water, imagining the grand occasion of 'the sails stand in a row, the shafts cover the water' in ancient times, I am very shocked, and I am deeply impressed by the great wisdom and hard work of the ancient people." On the Tongzhou Grand Canal in Beijing 2 Said a tourist at the pier who was boarding a boat to browse.
Shining pearls strung together to form a dazzling cultural belt
The Grand Canal passes through eight provincial-level administrative regions including Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shandong, Anhui, Henan, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang.
Chen Xibo, a professor at the Institute of Peking Studies at Beijing Union University, told reporters that at present, the provinces and cities along the Grand Canal have attached great importance to the protection of the cultural heritage of the Grand Canal.
In addition to the eye-catching Beijing section of the Canal, as the starting point of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, Hangzhou has built many cultural and leisure facilities around the canal in recent years, including the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal Museum, the Grand Canal Theatre, and the Grand Canal Asian Games Park.
"Yangzhou China Grand Canal Museum, Wuxi Qingming Bridge, Suzhou Panmen, Changzhou Qingguo Lane, Zhenjiang Jingkou Gate, Huai'an Hexia Ancient Town, Xuzhou Yaowan, etc. are becoming places for young Internet celebrities to check in and study for students." He Yunao told reporters , Henan, Anhui, Shandong and other provinces along the Grand Canal are also in full swing in the excavation, protection and cultural tourism of the canal.
"The Grand Canal, as a 'flowing culture', not only stretches in space but also flows in time. After more than 2,500 years and winding nearly 3,200 kilometers, the Grand Canal connects cities along the canal. It is also a context for inheriting history." He Yunao said that in the new era, the culture of the Grand Canal is unfolding like a scroll, with historical and cultural cities, towns, streets, villages, cultural relics, intangible cultural heritage, agricultural heritage, Industrial heritage, water conservancy heritage, transportation heritage, place-name heritage, cultural landscape, architectural heritage, celebrity heritage, literary heritage, time-honored brands, red heritage, natural heritage, etc., as well as important archaeological discoveries, are like shining pearls. The main stream and tributaries of the Grand Canal are connected to form a splendid cultural landscape.
Excavating local characteristics to show the charm of the canal
As an artificial canal running across the north and south, the Grand Canal has historically played an important role in promoting the coordinated development of the north and the south, the harmonious coexistence of man and nature, and the interaction between China and the world.
"However, the canals in different places have different conditions such as geographical environment, resource endowment, economic level, cultural features, and river construction. Therefore, in the protection and development of canal cultural heritage in the modern context, we should pay full attention to excavating local characteristics and show the unique charm of canal culture. , to avoid similarities and duplication of construction." He Yunao emphasized.
Chen Xibo was impressed that in order to protect the precious cultural heritage of the canal, Bali Bridge, a large stone arch bridge built in the Ming Dynasty on the Tonghui River in Beijing, was "decommissioned" in 2019.
"This bridge has a history of nearly 600 years. Jingtong Avenue connecting Beijing and Tongzhou passes through it. It is also a national key cultural protection unit. In order to protect this bridge, Beijing has built a new bridge on its west side. "Chen Xibo said that in the protection and development of the Grand Canal, various places have done a lot of work on the evacuation of key cultural relics and the management of the ecological environment.
On August 1, the TV series "People by the Canal" was broadcast on CCTV. The drama takes the sewage treatment of the Grand Canal and the protection of ancient buildings as narrative clues to tell the story of the success of promoting the Grand Canal's application to the World Heritage List, and to understand the Grand Canal to the audience. The process of protection and development and utilization provides visual video data.
In addition, there are more and more literature and literary creations about the Grand Canal.
He Yunao said that through literary creation, film and television creation, sports and fitness activities, the culture of the Grand Canal can be brought into people's production and life, and the cultural heritage of the Grand Canal can be 'lived' through digital means. One of the effective means by which the times play a more important role.