Engaged in cultural management work and local history research for more than 30 years, Liu Shiyou, director of the Cultural Relics Management Institute and museum curator of Longde County, Ningxia——

Tell the story of cultural relics to more people (tell one thing in a lifetime).

Biography of the character

Liu Shiyou, born in 1966, from Longde County, Guyuan City, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, director of the Lund County Cultural Relics Management Institute and museum curator, engaged in local history research and cultural management for more than 30 years, has participated in the third national census of cultural relics and the first national census of movable cultural relics, etc., wrote more than 20 articles on local cultural research, was employed as a researcher by Ningxia Academy of Social Sciences and Ningxia Normal University, edited and published 8 works such as "Lund County Cultural Relics", and was rated as an advanced worker in the national cultural relics system in 2022.

In Longde County, Guyuan City, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, the most well-known tourist spot is the old alley of Hongya Village. Walking in the old alley, the earthen walls, theaters, mills, stone carvings, as if telling history everywhere. The uncle who sings Qin on the roadside, the lady who can make six plates of warm pot brew and farmhouse rice vinegar... All show the original style of the northwest countryside.

The preservation of old traditions is inseparable from the insistence of Liu Shiyou, director of the Lund County Cultural Relics Management Institute and director of the museum. At the beginning of the development of the old alley, some people proposed to relocate the villagers and attract investment to renovate. "The biggest attraction of traditional villages is the old buildings and customs. When people leave the village, there is nowhere to rest homesickness; When the village leaves the people, it loses its spirit. Liu Shiyou thought.

Check the laws and regulations of data science, establish a file for cultural relics, and promote the establishment of a three-level cultural relics protection network at the county and rural levels

"Cultural relics management, if not out of love, is a boring chore." Liu Shiyou joined the cultural department of Lund County in 1993 and has been engaged in cultural management and local history research for more than 30 years. He sighed sincerely: "I can't bear Lund, and I can't bear to leave these cultural relics." ”

When he was young, Liu Shiyou, who studied music, originally thought that cultural work was to go to the countryside and the wilderness to collect style, but after joining the company, the actual situation was completely unexpected to him. The premises of the flats are dilapidated, and the conditions for the collection and management of cultural relics are also very weak; The unit has few people, so he has to take turns with his colleagues, day and night.

Starting from searching local chronicles and history books, measuring sizes, and studying laws and regulations, Liu Shiyou built a file for the cultural relics in the cultural management office, completed more than 5000,<> cards, and took thousands of photos, so that each cultural relic has its own "identity card".

It is these tedious tasks that have given Liu Shiyou a preliminary understanding of cultural relics protection and local history, and also made him feel the charm of cultural preservation work, and become more and more calm and cautious when working. "There are many historical stories behind every artifact, and understanding them can feel the details of history." Liu Shiyou said.

Since 2007, the third national census of cultural relics has been carried out. Overcoming various difficulties, Liu Shiyou led the team to conduct on-site inspections of 13 villager groups in 625 townships and towns in Lund County, discovered 229 new cultural relics and completed more than 800 cultural relics census files. With regard to immovable cultural relics, Liu Shiyou combined the work of "four haves" of cultural relics to delineate the scope of protection for cultural relics protection units at all levels, set up marker monuments and boundary posts, and completed the compilation and enrichment of the protection archives of cultural relics protection units at all levels. Under his promotion, Lund County took the lead in establishing a three-level cultural relics protection network at the county, township and village levels in Ningxia.

Field exploration, transfer, restoration, meticulous protection of each cultural relics

There are more than 100 Neolithic cultural relics distributed in the Yuhe, Zhuzhuang River, Ganwei River, Zhuanglang River and other watersheds in Longde County, and many Qi family culture and Yangshao cultural relics have been unearthed at sites such as Shaihezi, Beiyuan and Zhoujiazui... In the face of such a dense distribution of cultural relics, over the years, whether it is the inspection, investigation, field exploration of immovable cultural relics, or the restoration and handling of movable cultural relics, Liu Shiyou has always been rigorous and meticulous.

In order to protect cultural relics, Liu Shiyou once directly confronted lawbreakers. On November 2008, 11, Liu Shiyou was on the night shift as usual. In the middle of the night, the burglar alarm sounded, he patrolled and found nothing abnormal, thinking that there was a problem with the anti-theft system. Just back in the house, the alarm sounded again. He got up again to check and found that the anti-theft railing of the cultural relics warehouse had been cut and the window had been opened.

"You must not take away a single artifact!" Liu Shiyou picked up the shovel and shouted at the outlaws hiding in the shadows. In the darkness, 4 outlaws made a move, Liu Shiyou rushed over with a shovel, and the outlaws were frightened and fled...

"I was still a little scared when I thought about it, but at that time, I just wanted to drive away the criminals and keep the cultural relics." Liu Shiyou said.

Ensuring the safety of cultural relics in transit is something that Liu Shiyou often worries about. Lund County has a collection of more than 2900,3 cultural relics (sets), plus cellar coins, the collection reaches more than <>,<> pieces (sets). All artifacts have never been damaged in many relocations.

At one time, there were several stone artifacts and fragments of inscriptions in the North Lotus Pond in Lund County, which needed to be moved to the museum storehouse. Liu Shiyou found a pickup truck to carry it, but due to the snowy road, the pickup truck could not move forward halfway, almost causing an accident. Liu Shiyou and his colleagues could only step on the thick snow, again and again, using manpower to move all the cultural relics back.

"Until now, I can't understand how I had so much strength at that time, and I carried the stone tablet back with a belt." Liu Shiyou said, "Cultural relics are like my children, and parents pay no matter the cost to their children. ”

At the end of 2018, the new museum in Lund was completed. When the relocation was approaching, a painting scroll nearly 2 meters high and 14 meters long in the old museum, "Over the New Year", was directly framed on one wall, and it could not be removed after many attempts. Many people think that it is not cost-effective to spend a lot of energy on this painting, but Liu Shiyou does not think so. He searched for the top framing master in Ningxia to study the framing process of the painting, and later found the master who originally framed the painting, invited him back to the museum, and finally removed the painting intact and moved to the new museum. "There is no less cultural relic in the collection, and each one must be carefully cared for." Liu Shiyou said.

Publish a chronicle of cultural relics, write explanatory words, and bring cultural relics to life and tell history

In addition to his daily work, Liu Shiyou also has a "stubborn" energy for cultural relics.

There is an old object that has been "lying" in the warehouse for 20 years, and Liu Shiyou has repeatedly pondered it, but he never knows what it is. It was not until he went to the Hunan Museum to study in early 2018 and saw similar artifacts that Liu Shiyou thought of this old object. After returning, he quickly asked the higher unit to carry out restoration work. In this way, a precious Tang Dynasty hand stove was recreated.

When visiting the cultural relics in the collection, the reporter was surprised by Liu Shiyou's rich knowledge reserve, and he treasured every cultural relic like a family. "Dig up the stories behind the artifacts from the classics, tell these stories well, and the artifacts will live." Liu Shiyou said.

In order to tell the story of cultural relics to more people, Liu Shiyou compiled and published the "Lund County Cultural Relics Record". He also wrote 5,<> words of museum commentary, trained commentators, and widely disseminated the story of Lund artifacts.

In recent years, with the gradual enrichment of the cultural life of the rural masses in Lund County, Liu Shiyou has another job. These days, Liu Shiyou is busy sorting out a handout, he combines cultural relics with geography, climate, historical evolution, and even rural revitalization policies, ready to tell the villagers, as close as possible between the cultural relics and the villagers.

"In the past, I went to the countryside to inspect cultural relics and publicize the laws and regulations related to the protection of cultural relics, but now everyone in the village is a cultural protection volunteer." Liu Shiyou said, "Let cultural relics live in the lives of villagers and inspire everyone's pride in their hometown, which is what I want to do and want to see the most." ”

■ Reporter's Notes

Take care of cultural relics and feel happiness

On the day of the interview with Liu Shiyou, he was going to Guyuan on behalf of the Lund County Museum to sign a mutual agreement with the city's museums, and he happily told reporters: "Great, now our cultural relics in Lund County can have the opportunity to be understood by more people." In the afternoon, he rushed back to Lund non-stop to explain the knowledge of cultural relics protection and the stories behind the cultural relics to the visiting citizens and students.

After his full work, he came to the storeroom, sometimes checking one by one, sometimes sitting quietly, full of love for cultural relics. In interviews, Liu Shiyou often said: "The happiness of protecting cultural relics is difficult for others to understand." ”

Liu Shiyou regards the protection and research of cultural relics as the love of his life, does not care about paying, does not care about fame and fortune, and does not know tiredness. He is proud and happy in his heritage conservation profession because everything he does for cultural relics – protecting, inheriting, carrying forward – brings them to life as he wishes.

Reporter Liu Feng